Did the fixed nursing-school tuition rate apply to accredited associate-degree and vocational-nursing programs at Texas public junior colleges?

Texas AG Opinion JM-276: Junior College Nursing Tuition

Plain-English summary

The State Auditor asked whether Education Code section 54.051(k)'s $50-per-semester nursing tuition applied to associate-degree nursing and licensed vocational-nursing programs at public junior colleges. He also asked whether $50 was a minimum or an exact charge and whether quarter-based courses changed the result. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

JM-276 concluded that the provision applied to both kinds of nursing programs when they were accredited by the appropriate nursing board, offered for college credit, and located at a public junior college receiving state supplemental funding. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

The $50 amount was a fixed charge rather than a minimum that a junior college could exceed under the cited provision. The opinion treated college credit, not the academic or vocational label, as the important tuition distinction. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

The Attorney General did not answer how a quarter calendar affected tuition. The request did not describe a particular program, and the opinion said it could not adequately address that issue without those facts. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1984. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Did the $50 rate apply to an associate-degree nursing program?

Yes, if the junior-college program was properly accredited, offered for credit, and the college received state supplemental funding. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

Did the same rate apply to a vocational-nursing program?

Yes, under the same accreditation, credit, and funding conditions. JM-276 said the academic-versus-vocational distinction did not control tuition. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

Could the junior college treat $50 as only a minimum?

No. The opinion described the amount in section 54.051(k) as a fixed charge that the junior college had to assess. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

Did noncredit nursing instruction require the same tuition?

The opinion quoted an earlier Attorney General conclusion that tuition applied to credit courses and, by necessary implication, was not required for noncredit courses. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

What did JM-276 decide about nursing courses taught on a quarter basis?

Nothing conclusive. The Attorney General said the request lacked information about a particular program and declined to decide the issue on that record. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

Background and statutory framework

Section 54.051(k) stated that tuition for a student registered in a school of nursing was $50 per semester and per 12-week summer session. Attorney General Opinion M-940 had defined “school of nursing” to include a nursing course of study accredited by the Board of Nurse Examiners or Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

Education Code section 54.002 made chapter 54 applicable to junior colleges to the extent provided by section 130.003(b). The latter provision required a public junior college seeking state supplemental funding to collect tuition and fees in the amounts required for other state-supported higher-education institutions. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

Attorney General Opinion M-1129 had interpreted section 130.003(b) to apply chapter 54's tuition provisions to public junior colleges regardless of whether a particular program was academic or vocational. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

Citations and references

• Education Code sections 54.002, 54.051(k), and 130.003(b)
• Attorney General Opinion M-940 (1971)
• Attorney General Opinion M-1129 (1972)

Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/jim-mattox/jm-0276
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0276.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain. The linked PDF is authoritative.

The Attorney General of Texas

December 28, 1984

Mr. George W. McNiel
State Auditor
P. O. Box 12067
Austin, Texas 78711

Opinion No. JM-276

Re: Whether the tuition charges listed in section 54.051(k) of the Education Code apply to vocational/technical courses taken on the basis of contact hours

Dear Mr. McNiel:

You have requested our opinion about the proper tuition to be charged to students enrolled in nursing programs at junior colleges. Specifically, you ask for answers to the following questions:

1. Does the $50 per semester rate established by section 54.051(k) of the Education Code apply to students enrolled in an associate nursing degree program at a junior college? If so, is the $50 rate a minimum, or must the junior college charge exactly $50 per semester?

2. Does the $50 per semester rate established by section 54.051(k) of the Education Code apply to students enrolled in a licensed vocational nursing degree program at a junior college? If so, is the $50 rate a minimum, or must the junior college charge exactly $50 per semester?

3. Does the fact that nursing courses are taught on a quarter basis rather than a semester length basis have any impact on the required tuition rates addressed in questions 1 and 2 above?

We will turn our attention first to your questions 1 and 2, which may be answered together. Section 54.051(k) of the Texas Education Code reads as follows:

Tuition for students registered in a school of nursing as a nursing student is $50 per semester and per 12-week summer session.

Attorney General Opinion M-940 (1971) defined “school of nursing” as any course of study in nursing receiving accreditation from the Board of Nurse Examiners or the Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners. Therefore, if an associate nursing degree program, or a vocational nursing degree program, at a junior college has received accreditation from the appropriate board, the program is a “school of nursing” for the purposes of section 54.051(k) of the Education Code.

Chapter 54 of the Education Code, of which section 54.051(k) is a part, provides for tuition and fees at state institutions of higher education. The chapter, however, applies to junior colleges “only to the extent provided by Section 130.003(b) . . .” of the Education Code. Educ. Code §54.002. Section 130.003(b) lists eligibility requirements for state supplemental funding of public junior colleges and reads in part as follows:

(b) To be eligible for and to receive a proportionate share of the appropriation, a public junior college must:

. . . .

(4) collect, from each full-time and part-time student enrolled, matriculation and other session fees in the amounts required and provided by law for other state-supported institutions of higher education. . . .

This office has interpreted section 130.003(b) as making “those portions of Chapter 54 pertaining to tuition . . . for other institutions of higher education [applicable] to public junior colleges,” regardless of whether a particular junior college program is academic or vocational. Attorney General Opinion M-1129 (1972).

The important distinction for tuition purposes is not whether a course is academic or vocational, but whether the course is taken for college credit. As stated in an earlier opinion from this office:

We conclude . . . that any course, whether academic or vocational, offered for credit in a public junior college wishing to participate in state funding must be offered on a tuition basis. By necessary implication, no tuition is required for non-credit courses.

For this reason, a strict academic-vocational dichotomy is especially inadequate when examining nursing programs.

We therefore conclude, in response to your first two questions, that the $50 tuition charge in section 54.051(k) of the Education Code applies both to properly accredited associate nursing degree programs and to properly accredited vocational nursing degree programs offered for credit at public junior colleges which receive state supplemental funding. The $50 tuition charge is not a minimum; it is a fixed charge which must be assessed by a junior college.

In your third question, you ask whether the fact that some nursing courses are taught on a quarter basis has any impact on the tuition rate required by section 54.051(k). You have not supplied information regarding a particular program, and without such information we cannot adequately address this issue.

SUMMARY

The $50 tuition charge in section 54.051(k) of the Education Code applies to properly accredited associate nursing degree programs as well as to properly accredited vocational nursing degree programs, if they are offered for credit at public junior colleges which receive state supplemental funding. The $50 tuition charge is a fixed charge rather than a minimum.

Very truly yours,

JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas

TOM GREEN
First Assistant Attorney General

DAVID R. RICHARDS
Executive Assistant Attorney General

RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee

Prepared by Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General

APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE

Rick Gilpin, Chairman
Jon Bible
Colin Carl
Susan Garrison
Jim Moellinger
Jennifer Riggs
Nancy Sutton