Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-240 Page: 2 of 4
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Mr. Kenneth H. Ashworth - Pge 2 (JM-240)
Chapter 54 of the Fdu:ation Code sets forth the provisions for
tuition and fees which are J!nerall applicable
to all institutions 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. (Eimphasis added).
Sec. 54.002. Resolution of your request depends upon whether the
legislature intended that section 131.005 replace chapter 54 as a
complete and exclusive statement 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-.24 (1983) concluded that the SCID is not a
"public junior college" under chapter 130 of the Education Code and,
accordingly, that the restrictions of section 130.003 do not apply to
the SCID. The opinion did not address whether the provisions of
chapter 54 apply to the SCI). 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 tuition provisions in chapter 131 were
intended to be exclusive wi:h regard to the SCID.
Section 131.005(a) empilasizes 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 fens; at any institution of higher education
which uses public funds. Suic. 54.205(b). Thus, the thrust of section
131.005(a) is that its pro'r:sions alone control resident tuition at
the SCID.
Similarly, section 131,005(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 general tuition rates established in chapter
54 of 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.2d 372 ('ex. App. - Austin 1983, no writ).
The specific nonresident 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 section 131.005(b) supersede the general
tuition rates established in section 54.051 with regard to the SCID.
We conclude that the legislature also intended section 131.005(b) to
exclude the general tuition exceptions appearing in section 54.051.p. 1080
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-240, text, December 5, 1984; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth272680/m1/2/?q=%221984~%22: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.