| 1 | 1 | | 81R956 CAS-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Castro H.B. No. 4049 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to student Internet access to certain financial and |
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| 8 | 8 | | academic information maintained by public institutions of higher |
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| 9 | 9 | | education. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is |
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| 12 | 12 | | amended by adding Section 51.973 to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | Sec. 51.973. STUDENT INTERNET ACCESS TO FINANCIAL AND |
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| 14 | 14 | | ACADEMIC INFORMATION. In accordance with guidelines adopted by the |
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| 15 | 15 | | Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and to the extent the |
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| 16 | 16 | | institution is legally authorized to provide access to relevant |
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| 17 | 17 | | information, each institution of higher education shall provide a |
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| 18 | 18 | | method by which each student enrolled in the institution may |
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| 19 | 19 | | access, through the institution's Internet website: |
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| 20 | 20 | | (1) the student's current financial status, including: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (A) any amount of tuition or fees the student |
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| 22 | 22 | | owes; |
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| 23 | 23 | | (B) any institutional, state, federal, private, |
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| 24 | 24 | | or other grant, loan, or other financial aid available specifically |
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| 25 | 25 | | to the student through the institution's financial aid office, |
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| 26 | 26 | | including the applicable amounts of aid; and |
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| 27 | 27 | | (C) any amount of money the student owes on a |
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| 28 | 28 | | student financial aid loan the student received through the |
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| 29 | 29 | | institution's financial aid office; and |
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| 30 | 30 | | (2) the student's current academic status, including: |
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| 31 | 31 | | (A) a list of the courses in which the student is |
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| 32 | 32 | | currently enrolled; |
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| 33 | 33 | | (B) a list of the courses that the student has |
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| 34 | 34 | | completed at the institution or at another institution for which |
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| 35 | 35 | | the institution has granted or will grant the student course |
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| 36 | 36 | | credit, and the grade assigned for each course; and |
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| 37 | 37 | | (C) information concerning the required and |
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| 38 | 38 | | elective courses, including the number of semester credit hours, |
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| 39 | 39 | | that the student must complete for the student's degree plan. |
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| 40 | 40 | | SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2010, the Texas Higher |
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| 41 | 41 | | Education Coordinating Board shall adopt guidelines as required by |
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| 42 | 42 | | Section 51.973, Education Code, as added by this Act. Not later |
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| 43 | 43 | | than August 1, 2010, each public institution of higher education |
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| 44 | 44 | | shall provide a method by which the institution's students may |
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| 45 | 45 | | access financial and academic information as required by that |
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| 46 | 46 | | section. |
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| 47 | 47 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 48 | 48 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 49 | 49 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 50 | 50 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 51 | 51 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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