Legislators begin filing bills for next session

Caps on top 10 percent law, tuition increases among first 310 filed

November 14, 2006

By Laura Blewitt

State senators and representatives flocked to file hundreds of bills Monday, the first day to file for the 80th Texas Legislature. Several addressed two of Texas higher education's primary issues: the top 10 percent law and limits on tuition increases.

Texas legislators filed 310 bills Monday, according to the Texas Legislature Web site. Other bills included a sales tax exemption for college students' textbooks and five bills asking for stricter determination of resident status for students wishing to enroll in Texas public colleges and universities.

The first day of filing is always the Monday after the election, said Robert Haney, chief clerk of the Texas House of Representatives. Many legislators get their filing finished early, because the first bills get lower numbers and a sense of importance, Haney said.

Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, submitted one of two bills regarding the top 10 percent rule, which guarantees students in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class admission to any public Texas university or college.

House Bill 78, submitted by Branch, calls for capping top 10 percent admissions at 40 percent of a university's total enrollment.

"After the enactment of this law, minority enrollment has flat-lined, even though the original intent was to increase minority enrollment," Branch said.

Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, submitted a bill Monday calling for a 50-percent cap. Shapiro was unavailable for comment Monday.

President Bill Powers said he has been working with people in the legislature on all the issues regarding higher education and considers having a diverse campus one of his highest priorities.

When the top 10 percent law was first adopted in 1997,

students benefiting from the law made up about 41 percent to 42 percent of the incoming freshman class, whereas now they make up about 70 percent, Powers said. Powers and his predecessor, Larry Faulkner, have both advocated capping the top 10 percent law to prevent losing control of enrollment size. Proponents claim capping admissions will still allow for a diverse student body since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled colleges can consider race in admissions.

"We're looking to get control of the capacity problem," Powers said.

Putting a cap on the rule is a modest approach that will allow flexibility in recruiting diverse classes, Powers said.

Another bill filed Monday by Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, calls for limits on increases in tuition at public universities.

Senate Bill 85 states that the amount of tuition charged to a new student may not increase by more than 5 percent of what a similar student was charged in the previous year and prohibits increases in tuition from the 2006-2007 academic year until after the 2009-2010 academic year. It also calls for refunds on overpaid tuition.

"Education is the best equalizer that we have in our society, and we need to work to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to get one," Hinojosa said.

Compared to other states, Texas is doing poorly in affordability of higher education, making it hard for families and students to budget and participate, Hinojosa said.

Powers said his view is that UT needs to achieve excellence, and that requires a stable, predictable and more robust funding model.

"We have always consulted with students and [the Tuition Policy Advisory Committee], and affordability is a major issue," Powers said.

However, student members of the advisory committee have consistently opted for quality programs with reasonable increases in tuition over a decrease in tuition by foregoing certain programs, Powers said.