Honorable Bevington Reed Opinion No. H- 26 Commissioner, Coordinating Board Texas College 81University 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 ofhigher education under a contract between the institution and 

### anybranch of 

### theArmed Forces of the United Smter, inwhich the tuition of

### themember of the military is paid infull by the United States government , . . . shall pay the nonresident tuition fee
. . . . ’ (emphasis added). What is meant by the phrase ‘paid’in full’? Ifa portion ofthe tuition is paid by the student or 

### from scholarship funds ofthe college, would the institution be required to charge the 

### nonresident tuitionfee? 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. ll1Honorable Bevington Reed, page 2 (H-26) : of the Code are not affected. Compare Carrington v. Rash, 380 U. S. 89, 13L. Ed. 2d 675, 05 S. Ct. 775(1965). Codification of the Education Code worked no substantial change inthe 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. Inthis context the term “paid infull” is synonymous with

“entirely paid”,’ or “paid in its entirety”
. See FULL, 17A Words and Phrases 466; andWebster’s Third New International Dictionary, p. 919, where full is said to mean:

-

“3. the requisite or complete amount - often used with ’ in [paid infull]
.” - ‘
. 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 infull” by the United States government and the exclusion wou1.dnot 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) ofthe Texas Education Code from paying non-resident tuition fees are’not excluded from such exempt status by subsection 54.058(d) if any portion oftheir tuition is paid from sources other than the federal
. government.

Attorney General of TexasHonorable Bevington Reed, page 3

### (H-26)

.

DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman Opinion Committee