81R12120 KEL-D
By: Hunter H.B. No. 3974
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the exemption of certain maritime courses of
instruction from proprietary school certification.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 132.002(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The following schools or educational institutions may
be exempted from this chapter by the commission under Subsection
(d):
(1) a school or educational institution supported by
taxation from either a local or state source;
(2) a nonprofit school owned, controlled, operated,
and conducted by a bona fide religious, denominational,
eleemosynary, or similar public institution exempt from property
taxation under the laws of this state;
(3) a school or training program that offers
instruction of purely avocational or recreational subjects as
determined by the commission;
(4) a course or courses of instruction or study
sponsored by an employer for the training and preparation of its own
employees, and for which no tuition fee is charged to the student;
(5) a course or courses of study or instruction
sponsored by a recognized trade, business, or professional
organization for the instruction of the members of the organization
with a closed membership;
(6) a private college or university that awards a
recognized baccalaureate, or higher degree, and that maintains and
operates educational programs for which a majority of the credits
given are transferable to a college, junior college, or university
supported entirely or partly by taxation from either a local or
state source;
(7) a school or course that is otherwise regulated and
approved under and pursuant to any other law or rulemaking process
of this state or approved for continuing education credit by an
organization that accredits courses for the maintenance of a
license, except as provided by Subsection (c);
(8) an aviation school or instructor approved by and
under the supervision of the Federal Aviation Administration;
(9) a school that offers intensive review of a
student's acquired education, training, or experience to prepare
the student for an examination, other than a high school
equivalency examination, that the student by law may not take
unless the student has completed or substantially completed a
particular degree program, or that the student is required to take
as a precondition for enrollment in or admission to a particular
degree program;
(10) a private school offering primary or secondary
education, which may include a kindergarten or prekindergarten
program, and that satisfies the compulsory attendance requirements
of Section 25.085 pursuant to Section 25.086(a)(1);
(11) a course or courses of instruction by bona fide
electrical trade associations for the purpose of preparing students
for electrical tests required for licensing and for the purpose of
providing continuing education to students for the renewal of
electrical licenses;
(12) a nonprofit arts organization that has as its
primary purpose the provision of instruction in the dramatic arts
and the communications media to persons younger than 19 years of
age;
(13) a course or training program conducted by a
nonprofit association of air conditioning and refrigeration
contractors approved by the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Contractors Advisory Board to provide instruction for technical,
business, or license examination preparation programs relating to
air conditioning and refrigeration contracting, as that term is
defined by Chapter 1302, Occupations Code;
(14) a course of instruction by a plumbing trade
association to prepare students for a plumbing test or program
required for licensing, certification, or endorsement or to provide
continuing education approved by the Texas State Board of Plumbing
Examiners; [and]
(15) a course of instruction in the use of
technological hardware or software if the course is offered to a
purchaser of the hardware or software or to the purchaser's
employee by a person who manufactures and sells, or develops and
sells, the hardware or software, and if the seller is not primarily
in the business of providing courses of instruction in the use of
the hardware or software, as determined by the commission; and
(16) a maritime school that is approved by and is under
the supervision of the United States Coast Guard.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a course of instruction beginning on or after the effective date
of this Act. A course of instruction beginning before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the course
began, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.