University of Texas Health Science Center v. Babb

Joy Ann Babb (plaintiff) was enrolled as a nursing student at the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) (defendant). In January 1979, when Babb first enrolled, UTHSC’s catalog (the original catalog) contained admissions requirements. Importantly, the catalog provided that a student whose grade point average (GPA) fell below a 2.0 at the end of a semester would be placed on academic probation. Babb, after being notified that she was failing a course, decided to withdraw from the semester program and reenter the following January, when UTHSC would be operating under a new quarterly system. UTHSC’s new catalog (the new catalog), under which Babb reentered the school, contained a new provision requiring students who received more than two D’s to withdraw from the program. At some point during her coursework, Babb was informed that she would be forced to withdraw because she had received two D’s, and a WF, or withdrawal while failing, for the classes from her first semester. Babb filed suit, seeking an injunction permitting her to resume classes and complete her degree. A trial court granted the injunction. UTHSC appealed, alleging that the trial court erred in ruling that a valid contract existed based on the original catalog. UTHSC argued that the principles of contract law should not apply to a university catalog and, alternatively, that a university catalog should not be binding and unchangeable.