H.B. No. 2504
AN ACT
relating to requiring a public institution of higher education to
establish uniform standards for publishing cost of attendance
information, to conduct student course evaluations of faculty, and
to make certain information available on the Internet.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.974 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.974. INTERNET ACCESS TO COURSE INFORMATION. (a)
Each institution of higher education, other than a medical and
dental unit, as defined by Section 61.003, shall make available to
the public on the institution's Internet website the following
information for each undergraduate classroom course offered for
credit by the institution:
(1) a syllabus that:
(A) satisfies any standards adopted by the
institution;
(B) provides a brief description of each major
course requirement, including each major assignment and
examination;
(C) lists any required or recommended reading;
and
(D) provides a general description of the subject
matter of each lecture or discussion;
(2) a curriculum vitae of each regular instructor that
lists the instructor's:
(A) postsecondary education;
(B) teaching experience; and
(C) significant professional publications; and
(3) if available, a departmental budget report of the
department under which the course is offered, from the most recent
semester or other academic term during which the institution
offered the course.
(a-1) A curriculum vitae made available on the
institution's Internet website under Subsection (a) may not include
any personal information, including the instructor's home address
or home telephone number.
(b) The information required by Subsection (a) must be:
(1) accessible from the institution's Internet website
home page by use of not more than three links;
(2) searchable by keywords and phrases; and
(3) accessible to the public without requiring
registration or use of a user name, a password, or another user
identification.
(c) The institution shall make the information required by
Subsection (a) available not later than the seventh day after the
first day of classes for the semester or other academic term during
which the course is offered. The institution shall continue to make
the information available on the institution's Internet website
until at least the second anniversary of the date on which the
institution initially posted the information.
(d) The institution shall update the information required
by Subsection (a) as soon as practicable after the information
changes.
(e) The governing body of the institution shall designate an
administrator to be responsible for ensuring implementation of this
section. The administrator may assign duties under this section to
one or more administrative employees.
(f) Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, each
institution of higher education shall submit a written report
regarding the institution's compliance with this section to the
governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
representatives, and the presiding officer of each legislative
standing committee with primary jurisdiction over higher
education.
(g) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may adopt
rules necessary to administer this section.
(h) Institutions of higher education included in this
section shall conduct end-of-course student evaluations of faculty
and develop a plan to make evaluations available on the
institution's website.
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 56, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 56.080 to read as follows:
Sec. 56.080. ONLINE LIST OF WORK-STUDY EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITIES. Each institution of higher education shall:
(1) establish and maintain an online list of
work-study employment opportunities, sorted by department as
appropriate, available to students on the institution's campus; and
(2) ensure that the list is easily accessible to the
public through a clearly identifiable link that appears in a
prominent place on the financial aid page of the institution's
Internet website.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.0777 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.0777. UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR PUBLICATION OF COST OF
ATTENDANCE INFORMATION. (a) The board shall prescribe uniform
standards intended to ensure that information regarding the cost of
attendance at institutions of higher education is available to the
public in a manner that is consumer-friendly and readily
understandable to prospective students and their families. In
developing the standards, the board shall examine common and
recommended practices regarding the publication of such
information and shall solicit recommendations and comments from
institutions of higher education and interested private or
independent institutions of higher education.
(b) The uniform standards must:
(1) address all of the elements that constitute the
total cost of attendance, including tuition and fees, room and
board costs, book and supply costs, transportation costs, and other
personal expenses; and
(2) prescribe model language to be used to describe
each element of the cost of attendance.
(c) Each institution of higher education that offers an
undergraduate degree or certificate program shall:
(1) prominently display on the institution's Internet
website in accordance with the uniform standards prescribed under
this section information regarding the cost of attendance at the
institution by a full-time entering first-year student; and
(2) conform to the uniform standards in any electronic
or printed materials intended to provide to prospective
undergraduate students information regarding the cost of
attendance at the institution.
(d) Each institution of higher education shall consider the
uniform standards prescribed under this section when providing
information to the public or to prospective students regarding the
cost of attendance at the institution by nonresident students,
graduate students, or students enrolled in professional programs.
(e) The board shall prescribe requirements for an
institution of higher education to provide on the institution's
Internet website consumer-friendly and readily understandable
information regarding student financial aid opportunities. The
required information must be provided in connection with the
information displayed under Subsection (c)(1) and must include a
link to the primary federal student financial aid Internet website
intended to assist persons applying for student financial aid.
(f) The board shall provide on the board's Internet website
a program or similar tool that will compute for a person accessing
the website the estimated net cost of attendance for a full-time
entering first-year student attending an institution of higher
education. The board shall require each institution to provide the
board with the information the board requires to administer this
subsection.
(g) The board shall prescribe the initial standards and
requirements under this section not later than January 1, 2010.
Institutions of higher education shall comply with the standards
and requirements not later than April l, 2010. This subsection
expires January 1, 2011.
(h) The board shall encourage private or independent
institutions of higher education approved under Subchapter F to
participate in the tuition equalization grant program, to the
greatest extent practicable, to prominently display the
information described by Subsections (a) and (b) on their Internet
websites in accordance with the standards established under those
subsections, and to conform to those standards in electronic and
printed materials intended to provide to prospective undergraduate
students information regarding the cost of attendance at the
institutions. The board shall also encourage those institutions to
include on their Internet websites a link to the primary federal
student financial aid Internet website intended to assist persons
applying for student financial aid.
(i) The board shall make the program or tool described by
Subsection (f) available to private or independent institutions of
higher education described by Subsection (h), and those
institutions shall make that program or tool, or another program or
tool that complies with the requirements for the net price
calculator required under Section 132(h)(3), Higher Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 1015a), available on their Internet
websites not later than the date by which the institutions are
required by Section 132(h)(3) to make the net price calculator
publicly available on their Internet websites.
SECTION 4. Section 51.974, Education Code, as added by this
Act, applies beginning with the 2010 fall semester.
SECTION 5. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, each public institution of higher education shall
establish an online list of work-study employment opportunities for
students as required by Section 56.080, Education Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2504 was passed by the House on May 8,
2009, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2504 on May 29, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2504 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor