The Honorable Mike Jackson Chair, Committee on Nominations Texas State Senate Post Office Box 12068 Austin, Texas 78711-2068
Re: Education Code section
Dear Senator Jackson:
Your predecessor asked about Education Code section
Education Code chapter 54 contains provisions related to tuition and fees for institutions of higher education.2See generally Tex. Educ. Code Ann. §§ 54.001-.643 (Vernon 1996 Supp. 2005). Section 54.208, entitled "Firemen Enrolled in Fire Science Courses," provides a limited tuition and fee exemption for Texas fire fighters:
The governing boards of the state institutions of collegiate rank supported in whole or in part by public funds shall exempt from the payment of tuition and laboratory fees any person who is employed as a fireman by any political subdivision of the state and who enrolls in a course or courses offered as part of a fire science curriculum. The exemption provided does not apply to deposits which may be required in the nature of security for the return or proper care of property loaned for the use of students.
Id. § 54.208 (Vernon 1996). Regarding this provision, we are specifically asked about the courses that may be considered as part of a fire science curriculum; whether a student is eligible for the section's exemption even after having already obtained a degree in fire science; whether section 54.208's exemption applies only to four-year universities; and whether a public junior college's general fees are in fact tuition. See Request Letter and Supplemental Request Letter, supra note 1.
I. Fire Science Curriculum
We first address the question concerning the definition of "fire science curriculum." See Request Letter, supra note 1. The Texas Commission on Fire Protection (the "Commission"), which is the state agency charged with regulating and assisting fire fighters and fire departments,3 has by rule established the minimum educational, training, physical, and mental standards for a person to be certified4 as a fire fighter.5 In addition to the minimum certification standards, the Commission has established a scheme by which fire fighters may acquire advanced levels of certification. See, e.g., 37 Tex. Admin. Code § 423.3 (2005) ("Minimum Standards for Basic Structure Fire Protection Personnel Certification"); id. § 423.9 ("Minimum Standards for a Master Structure Fire Protection Personnel Certification"). To fulfill these certification requirements, fire fighters may take fire science courses offered at institutions of higher education. See, e.g., id. § 423.9(a)(2) (requiring eighteen college semester hours in fire science subjects); id. § 423.205(a)(2)(A) (allowing applicant for Intermediate Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting Personnel Certification to complete six semester hours of fire science or fire technology from a college towards that certification).
Texas institutions of higher education offer courses and degrees in the area of fire science.6 Apparently, however, some colleges have moved away from designating their fire-related curricula as "fire science" and instead designate them, for example, "Fire and Safety Engineering" or "Fire Service Management." See Request Letter, supra note 1 (Attachment No. 3). Other schools do maintain a fire science curriculum, but narrowly define it to include only certain courses while relegating, for example, emergency management courses to a curriculum not designated as fire science. See Soteriou Letter,supra note 6. As a result, fire fighters who take courses towards a fire engineering degree or who are taking courses in emergency management or the like outside of a strict fire science curriculum are being denied the tuition and fee exemption under section 54.208. See Request Letter, supra note 1 (Attachment No. 5). Thus, we are asked to clarify the meaning of "fire science" as it is used in Education Code section
In construing section 54.208, we must give effect to the legislature's intent. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §§
The Education Code does not define "fire science"; neither is this term defined elsewhere in Texas statutes. We have also reviewed Texas judicial opinions and opinions from this office, none of which offer a definition of "fire science." The Commission writes that "fire science" as it was used at the time section 54.208's language became law was a "consensus term" that applied to the practice of fire fighting in all its realms. See Soteriou Letter, supra note 6. We can find nothing that contradicts this assertion that the term has an acquired technical meaning, especially given the dearth of material related to this provision.
We note that the Commission has offered its own definition of the term. In its rules outlining minimum certification requirements, the Commission defines "college credits" acceptable as "fire science credit" as a "course of study . . . that isprimarily related to Fire Service, Emergency Medicine, EmergencyManagement, or Public Administration. . . ."
II. Exemption Eligibility after Earning a Degree in FireScience
We are also asked whether a student would be exempt from tuition after the student has obtained a degree in fire science.See Supplemental Request Letter, supra note 1.
Nothing in the statute ties the tuition exemption to earning a degree in fire science or disqualifies a person who has already obtained a degree in fire science. See Tex. Educ. Code Ann. §
III. Institutions Covered by Section 54.208
We next address the question concerning the educational institutions covered by section 54.208. See Request Letter,supra note 1. It is specifically stated that "[t]here is confusion regarding which schools may grant exempt status, whether it be a four-year university and/or a community college."See id. Though the term "community college" is used in the request letter, we will use the term "junior college," which in Texas is equivalent. See Tex. Educ. Code Ann. §
Section 54.208 is applicable to all "state institutions of collegiate rank supported in whole or in part by public funds."Id. § 54.208 (Vernon 1996). The revisor's note to section 54.001, which defines "institution of higher education," informs us that the phrase state "institutions of collegiate rank supported in whole or in part by public funds" includes junior colleges and is another description for "institution of higher education." Id. § 54.001 revisor's note. "Institution of higher education" is an "accurate and convenient substitute for various terms used in the source laws for [Education Code chapter 54]."Id. This revisor's note, however, also informs us that "as to the applicability of this chapter to junior colleges, see Section 54.002 of this code." Id.
Section 54.002 states that chapter 54 applies to all institutions of higher education, except that the chapter applies to junior colleges only to the extent provided by section
IV. Whether a General Fee is Tuition
We are next asked "[w]hether general fees charged by certain schools should also be considered tuition." Supplemental Request Letter, supra note 1.
A brief submitted in response to this request informs us that Houston Community College charges a general fee for "registration, student services matriculation, and other administrative fees to cover general classroom use, library facilities, student facilities, etc."8 The brief argues that Education Code section
Education Code section
We assume that Houston Community College is a public junior college to which sections 54.051(n) and 130.084(b) would apply. Here, this college has determined that the "general fee" is a fee and not tuition. We must, accordingly, conclude that it is a fee. As a result, Education Code section
V. Conclusion
In sum, in Education Code section
A fire fighter seeking an exemption from tuition under section 54.208 need not be pursuing a degree in fire science and may already have a degree in fire science.
Section 54.208 exempts a fire fighter from paying tuition and laboratory fees at public junior colleges and four-year colleges and universities.
Education Code section
Very truly yours,
GREG ABBOTT Attorney General of Texas
BARRY McBEE First Assistant Attorney General
ELLEN L. WITT Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel
NANCY S. FULLER Chair, Opinion Committee
Daniel C. Bradford Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee
(A) permanent, full-time law enforcement officers designated as fire and arson investigators by an appropriate local authority;
(B) aircraft rescue and fire protection personnel; or
(C) permanent, full-time fire department employees who are not secretaries, stenographers, clerks, budget analysts, or similar support staff persons or other administrative employees and who are assigned duties in one or more of the following categories:
(i) fire suppression;
(ii) fire inspection;
(iii) fire and arson investigation;
(iv) marine fire fighting;
(v) aircraft rescue and fire fighting;
(vi) fire training;
(vii) fire education;
(viii) fire administration; and
(ix) any other position necessarily or customarily related to fire prevention or suppression.
Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §