HBA-MPM H.B. 2686 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2686 By: Coleman Higher Education 3/30/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The University of Houston's College of Optometry (college) is one of only nine public optometry colleges and boasts the highest enrollment. In 1999, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (board) conducted a study that revealed that student-to-faculty ratios at the college were high, while faculty salaries, tuition, and related fees were comparatively low. An increase in tuition for this college would give the college a larger operating budget to increase faculty salaries to a more competitive level and allow the college to start reducing the student-to-faculty ratio. Current law provides that tuition for the college may be three times the prescribed undergraduate rate of tuition. H.B. 2686 authorizes the University of Houston to increase tuition for the optometry program to four times that rate. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 54.008(e), Education Code, to require the governing board of an institution of higher education to set tuition for an optometry program at the institution at a rate that is at least equal to that prescribed by Subchapter B (Tuition Rates), Chapter 54 (Tuition and Fees), Education Code, but not more than four, rather than three, times the rate prescribed by that subchapter. SECTION 2.Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.