e 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General 

The Attorney General of Texas 

Decmber 5, 1984 

Supreme CQurl BulldIn 

P. 0. Box 12549 

*ustIn. TX. 78711- 2549 

512l4752501 

Telex 910/874.1387 

Telecopier 5121475.0288 

Mr. Kenneth H. Ashworth 

Comissloner 

Coordinating Board 

Texas College and University System 

P. 0. BOX 12788 

Austin, Texas 78711 

714 Jackson. Suile 7W 

Dallas. TX. 75202.4506 

214l7428944 

4824 Ahfta Ave.. Suite 180 

El Paso, TX. 799052793 

915633-3494 

11 Texas. Suite 700 

n~‘~.ron. TX. 77w2.3111 

7 234BsB 

St8 Broadway, Suite 312 

Lubbock. TX. 79401-3479 

8081747.5239 

4309 N. Tenth, Suite B 

McAllen. TX. 79501-1885 

512m92.4547 

200 Maln PIUP. suite 400 

San Antonlo. TX. 782052797 

512/2254191 

An Equal Opportunity/ 

Affirmative Action Employa 

Opinion No. Jn-240 

Re: Nonresident tuition 

at the Southwest Collegiate 

Institute for the Deaf 

Dear Mr. Ashworth: 

You seek clarification of the proper method of determining 

nonresident tuition at the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf 

[hereinafter SCID]. Specifically, you ask vhether the method of 

determining nonres:Ltlent tuition at the SCID, which is set forth in 

section 131.005(b) of the Texas Education Code, is exclusive or 

whether certain provisions under chapter 54 of the code, which allov 

certain nonresidents to pay resident tuition, also apply to the SCID. 

Chapter 131 of the Education Code created the SCID. Section 

131.005 provides for resident and nonresident tuition at the SCID as 

follows: 

(a) P, Texas resident student enrolled in the 

instituti-shall pay tuition at the rate p rovided 

by law :%r enrollment at Howard County Junior 

College &.d is not exempt from tuition fees under 

Section 5:.205 of this code. 

(b) P. student who is not a resident of Texas 

shall pa!‘tuition at a rate adopted by the board 

of trust& in accordance with this subsection. 

Before July 1 of each Year. the Coordinatinn 

Board, T&s College and l&iv.&sity System, sha6 

determine: and report to the trustees the estimated 

average cost to rhe institute, not including room 

and board. of educating a student during the 

academic year beginning the next fall. Based on 

that est:lmete. the trustees shall adopt a 

nonresidec,t tuition rate for the academic year 

that wil.1 result Ian the institute collecting 

tuition from each student in an amount 

approximi.tely equal to the cost of educating the 

student. (Emphasis added). 

p. 1079 
Mr. Kenneth il. Ashworth - Pl1ge 2 (Jn-240) 

Chapter 54 of the Pdumtion Code sets forth the provisions for 

tuition and fees which are ~~!nerally applicable 

to all instltutit,rm of higher education, except 

that as to junio:: colleges this chapter applies 

only to the extent provided by Section 130.003(b) 

of this code. (Em~~hasls added). 

Sec. 54.002. Resolution af your request depends upon whether the 

legislature intended that section 131.005 replace chapter 54 as a 

complete and exclusive statment regarding tuition at the SCID. 

No provision of chapter 131 expressly indicates whether the other 

Education Code provisions apply to nonresident SCID students. 

Attorney General Opinion JM-.Z4 (1983) concluded that the SCID is not a 

“public junior college” under chapter 130 of the Education Code and, 

accordingly, that the restr Lctlons of section 130.003 do not apply to 

the SCID. The opinion did not address whether the provisions of 

chapter 54 apply to the SC’LD. We now conclude that the language in 

section 131.005 of the code and the unique nature of the SCID compel 

the conclusion that the t.uition provisions in chapter 131 were 

intended to be exclusive with regard to the SCID. 

Section 131.005(a) emphasizes that resident students enrolled in 

the SCID are not exempted from tuition fees under section 54.205 of 

the Education Code. Subject to certain qualifying conditions, section 

54.205 provides resident deaf and blind students with an exemption 

from payment of tuition felra at any institution of higher education 

which uses public funds. SW. 54.205(b). Thus, the thrust of section 

131.005(a) Is that its pr~risions alone control resident tuition at 

the SCID. 

Similarly, section 131,O05(b) controls nonresident tuition at the 

SCID. Although subsection (b) fails to expressly exclude all 

potentially applicable tuition exemptions which appear elsewhere in 

the Education Code, the provision sets forth, in mandatory language, 

an “actual cost” nonresident tuition scheme. Thus, section 131.005(b) 

specifically replaces the gmeral tuition rates established in chapter 

54 df the code. When two statutes conflict with regard to the same 

subject, the more specific provision controls over the general. white 

v. Sturns, 651 S.W.Zd 372 (::ex. App. - Austin 1983, no writ). - 

The specific nonresiient tuition exceptions about which you 

Inquire appear in the same section of the Education Code which 

establishes tuition rates. See 554.051. As indicated above, the 

specific provisions of suction 131.005(b) supersede the general 

tuition rates established in section 54.051 with regard to the SCID. 

We conclude that the legiskture also intended section 131.005(b) to 

exclude the general tuition $xceptions appearing in section 54.051. 

p. 1080 
3 : 

Mr. Kenneth H. Ashworth - Page 3 (JM-240) 

You express concern that the SCID will not be eligible to receive 

appropriations unless it cmplies with a certain provision of the 

current appropriations act, which provides: 

In order to receive appropriations under this 

Act, the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the 

Deaf shall be subject to the rules and regulations 

related to institutions of higher education coutained in this A’:: and in the Texas Education 

Code. (Emphasis aided). 

Acts 1983. 68th Leg., ch. 1095, art. III, 51, at 6054 (item X16). 

This provision of the appropriations act does not purport to 

require that the SCID comply with all rules and regulations related to 

institutions of higher educ.atiou’-Fbntained in the Texas Education 

Code. Section 131.006(a) of the Education Code provides: 

The governing board of the [SCID] may receive 

appropriations for the institute’s operations only 

if the board operzltes the Institute in compliance 

with this chapter. 

So long as the SCID is operated in compliance with the provisions of 

chapter 131 and other rules and regulations applicable to it, it is 

eligible to receive legj.c;lative appropriations for authorized 

purposes. Attorney General 3pinion JM-24 (1983). 

-SUMMARY 

Section 131.005(b) of the Texas Education Code 

controls the nonresident tuition rate at the 

Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf to the 

exclusion of chapter 54 of the Education Code. 

- 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

TOM GREEN 

First Assistant Attorney General 

DAVID R. RICRARDS 

Executive Assistant Attorney ,:eneral 

RICK GILPIN 

Chairman, Opinion Committee 

p. 1081 
Mr. Kenneth H. Ashvorth - Page 4 (JM-240) 

Prepared by Jennifer Rigge 

Assletant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COhMITTEE 

Rick Gilpin. Chairman 

Colin Carl 

Susan Garrison 

Tony Guillory 

Jim Moellinger 

Jennifer Riggs 

Nancy Sutton 

Bruce Youngblood 

p. 1082