Sec. 61.003. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Board" means the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

(2) "Public junior college" means any junior college listed as a public junior college in accordance with Section 61.063.

(3) "General academic teaching institution" means The University of Texas at Austin; The University of Texas at El Paso; The University of Texas of the Permian Basin; The University of Texas at Dallas; The University of Texas at San Antonio; Texas A&M University, Main University; The University of Texas at Arlington; Tarleton State University; Prairie View A&M University; Texas Maritime Academy; Texas Tech University; University of North Texas; Lamar University; Lamar State College--Orange; Lamar State College--Port Arthur; Texas A&M University--Kingsville; Texas A&M University--Corpus Christi; Texas Woman's University; Texas Southern University; Midwestern State University; University of Houston; The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Texas A&M University--Commerce; Sam Houston State University; Texas State University; West Texas A&M University; Stephen F. Austin State University; Sul Ross State University; Angelo State University; The University of Texas at Tyler; and any other college, university, or institution so classified as provided in this chapter or created and so classified, expressly or impliedly, by law.

(4) "Public senior college or university" means a general academic teaching institution as defined above.

(5) "Medical and dental unit" means The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center and its component institutions, agencies, and programs; the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center; the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso; the University of Houston College of Medicine; the Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine; The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; The University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio; The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston; The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston; The University of Texas Dental School at San Antonio; The University of Texas Medical School at Houston; the Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin; the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; the nursing institutions of The Texas A&M University System and The University of Texas System; and The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston; and such other medical or dental schools as may be established by statute or as provided in this chapter.

(6) "Other agency of higher education" means The University of Texas System, System Administration; The University of Texas at El Paso Museum; Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; The Texas A&M University System, Administrative and General Offices; Texas A&M AgriLife Research; Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service; Rodent and Predatory Animal Control Service (a part of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service); Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (including the Texas A&M Transportation Institute); Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service; Texas A&M Forest Service; Texas Division of Emergency Management; Texas Tech University Museum; Texas State University System, System Administration; Sam Houston Memorial Museum; Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum; Cotton Research Committee of Texas; Texas Water Resources Institute; Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory; and any other unit, division, institution, or agency which shall be so designated by statute or which may be established to operate as a component part of any public senior college or university, or which may be so classified as provided in this chapter.

(7) "Public technical institute" means the Lamar Institute of Technology or the Texas State Technical College System.

(8) "Institution of higher education" means any public technical institute, public junior college, public senior college or university, medical or dental unit, public state college, or other agency of higher education as defined in this section.

(9) "Governing board" means the body charged with policy direction of any public technical institute, public junior college, public senior college or university, medical or dental unit, or other agency of higher education, including but not limited to boards of directors, boards of regents, boards of trustees, and independent school district boards insofar as they are charged with policy direction of a public junior college.

(10) "University system" means the association of one or more public senior colleges or universities, medical or dental units, or other agencies of higher education under the policy direction of a single governing board.

(11) "Degree program" means any grouping of subject matter courses which, when satisfactorily completed by a student, will entitle the student to:

(A) a degree from a public senior college or university or a medical or dental unit; or

(B) an academic associate degree, as defined by board rule, or baccalaureate degree from a public junior college.

(12) "Certificate program" means a grouping of subject-matter courses which, when satisfactorily completed by a student, will entitle the student to:

(A) a certificate;

(B) an associate degree, other than an academic associate degree, as defined by board rule, from a technical institute or junior college; or

(C) documentary evidence, other than a degree, of completion of a course of study at the postsecondary level.

(13) "Recognized accrediting agency" means the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and any other association or organization so designated by the board.

(14) "Educational and general buildings and facilities" means buildings and facilities essential to or commonly associated with teaching, research, or the preservation of knowledge, including the proportional share used for those activities in any building or facility used jointly with auxiliary enterprises. Excluded are auxiliary enterprise buildings and facilities, including but not limited to dormitories, cafeterias, student union buildings, stadiums, and alumni centers, used solely for those purposes.

(15) "Private or independent institution of higher education" includes only a private or independent college or university that is:

(A) organized under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-1.01 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);

(B) exempt from taxation under Article VIII, Section 2, of the Texas Constitution and Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 501); and

(C) accredited by:

(i) the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools;

(ii) the Liaison Committee on Medical Education; or

(iii) the American Bar Association.

(16) "Public state college" means Lamar State College--Orange, Lamar State College--Port Arthur, or the Lamar Institute of Technology.

Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., p. 3072, ch. 1024, art. 1, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1971. Amended by Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 1657, ch. 601, Sec. 3, eff. June 15, 1973; Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3054, ch. 524, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1983; Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 646, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 26, 1985; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 180, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 31, 1987; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 823, Sec. 1.03, eff. June 20, 1987; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 1070, Sec. 4, eff. May 15, 1988; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 644, Sec. 1, eff. June 14, 1989; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 1.32, eff. Sept. 1, 1989; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 287, Sec. 29, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 305, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 516, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 126, Sec. 2, eff. May 19, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 227, Sec. 4, eff. May 23, 1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 767, Sec. 5, eff. June 18, 1999; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1322, Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 1999; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 386, Sec. 7, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 373 (S.B. 480), Sec. 1, eff. June 15, 2007.

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1341 (S.B. 98), Sec. 3, eff. June 19, 2009.

Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1049 (S.B. 5), Sec. 8.02, eff. June 17, 2011.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 30 (S.B. 974), Sec. 10, eff. September 1, 2013.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 65 (S.B. 120), Sec. 11, eff. May 18, 2013.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 179 (H.B. 1844), Sec. 6, eff. September 1, 2013.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 8 (H.B. 826), Sec. 5, eff. May 1, 2019.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 294 (H.B. 2867), Sec. 5, eff. May 29, 2019.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 517 (S.B. 479), Sec. 2, eff. June 7, 2019.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 602 (S.B. 799), Sec. 1, eff. June 10, 2019.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 852 (H.B. 2794), Sec. 1, eff. June 10, 2019.

Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 188 (S.B. 1467), Sec. 6, eff. May 30, 2021.

Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 889 (S.B. 1780), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2021.

Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 165 (S.B. 1887), Sec. 4, eff. May 23, 2023.

Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 378 (H.B. 8), Sec. 17, eff. September 1, 2023.