Honorable Bevington Reed Opinion No. H- 26 

Commissioner, Coordinating Board 

Texas College 81 University System Re: Fees collected from 

P. 0. Box 12708, Capitol Station non-resident military 

~Austin, Texas 78711 personnel by institutions 

of higher learning under 

$ 54.058 of the Texas 

Dear Mr. Reed: Education Code. 

Your request for an opinion reads: 

“Section 54.058(d) of the Texas Education Code 

provides that ’ . . . nonresident military personnel 

. . . attending an institution of higher education under 

a contract between the institution and any branch of 

the Armed Forces of the United Smter, in which the 

tuition of the member of the military is paid in full 

by the United States government , . . . shall pay the 

nonresident tuition fee . . . . ’ (emphasis added). 

What is meant by the phrase ‘paid’in full’? If a portion of the tuition is paid by the student or from 

scholarship funds of the college, would the institution 

be required to charge the nonresident tuition fee? If 

the answer to the second question is negative. would 

such nonresident military personnel be subject to the 

provisions of Section 54.058(b) of the Texae Education 

Code? ” 

. 

Section 54.052 of the Texas Education Code sets out the general 

rules for classifying students as “resident” or “non-resident”. Section 

54. 058, formerly Article 2654c, (l)(k),V..T. C. S. , modifies the general 

rule a&s&s out additional rules applicable to non-resident military , 

personnel and their dependents, exempting certain of them from nonresident tuition requirements. Without changing their classification, 

they are accorded certain privileges otherwise reserved to residents. 

Persons who would be classified as residents under other provisions 

p. ll1 
Honorable Bevington Reed, page 2 (H-26) 

: 

of the Code are not affected. Compare Carrington v. Rash, 380 

U. S. 89, 13 L. Ed. 2d 675, 05 S. Ct. 775(1965). Codification of the 

Education Code worked no substantial change in the law. Acts, 1971, 

62nd Leg., p. 3319. 

In effect, the provisions now embodied in subsection 54.0,58(d) 3 

exclude from subsection 54.058(b) exempt status any non-resident 

military personnel attending an institution of higher learning in 

this state under a contract between the institution and any branch 

of the U. S. Armed Forces whereby the person’s tuition is paid. k 

full by the United States government. 

- 

Section 2.01 of~the Code Construction Act, Article 5429b-2, 

V.T.C.S.. specifies that words and phrases shall be read in 

context and construed according to the rules of grammar and common 

usage. In this context the term “paid in full” is synonymous with 

“entirely paid”,’ or “paid in its entirety”. See FULL, 17A Words 

and Phrases 466; and Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 

p. 919, where full is said to mean: 

- 

“3. the requisite or complete amount - often used with ’ 

in [paid in full] . ” 

- 

‘. 

It is our opinion that the Legislature intended the worda in this 

sense and that if any portion of the tuition is paid by the student or 

from some other source, such as scholarship funds, the tuition 

would not be “paid in full” by the United States government and the 

exclusion wou1.d not apply. Subsection 54.058(b) would then control. 

See Attorney General Opinions C-183(1963), M-1106(1972). 

SUMMARY 

Non-resident military personnel who would 

be exempt under subsection 54.058(b) of the Texas 

Education Code from paying non-resident tuition 

fees are’not excluded from such exempt status 

by subsection 54.058(d) if any portion of their tuition is paid from sources other than the federal . 

government. 

Attorney General of Texas 
Honorable Bevington Reed, page 3 (H-26) 

. 

DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman 

Opinion Committee