83R16616 KSD-D
By: Branch, et al. H.B. No. 30
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 30:
By: Branch C.S.H.B. No. 30
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to measures to facilitate the transfer of students within
the public higher education system and the timely graduation of
students from public institutions of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.96852 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.96852. TRANSFER OF CREDIT FROM LOWER-DIVISION
INSTITUTIONS; ARTICULATION AGREEMENTS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Articulation agreement" means a formal written
agreement between a public junior college and a general academic
teaching institution identifying courses offered by the public
junior college that must be accepted for credit toward specific
course requirements at the general academic teaching institution.
(2) "Lower-division institution of higher education"
means a public junior college, public state college, or public
technical institute.
(3) "Public junior college" and "general academic
teaching institution" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.
(b) Each general academic teaching institution shall:
(1) publish on the institution's Internet website for
use by prospective undergraduate students a detailed description
developed by the institution's faculty of the learning objectives,
content, and prior knowledge requirements for at least 12 courses
offered by the institution for which credit is frequently
transferred to the institution from lower-division institutions of
higher education;
(2) identify the public junior colleges from which the
general academic teaching institution regularly receives transfer
students; and
(3) establish, for at least five degree plans for
which credit is frequently transferred to the institution from
lower-division institutions of higher education, articulation
agreements with each public junior college from which the general
academic teaching institution has received an average of at least
five percent of the institution's transfer students in the three
preceding academic years.
(c) A general academic teaching institution's participation
in an articulation agreement under this section does not affect the
institution's admissions policies.
(d) In consultation with general academic teaching
institutions and public junior colleges, the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board shall adopt any rules the coordinating board
considers necessary for the administration of this section.
SECTION 2. Section 61.0515, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a) To earn a baccalaureate degree, a student may not be
required by a general academic teaching institution to complete
more than the minimum number of semester credit hours required for
the degree by the institution's board-recognized accrediting
agency [Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or its
successor] unless the institution determines that there is a
compelling academic reason for requiring completion of additional
semester credit hours for the degree.
(d) The board shall adopt any rules the board considers
necessary for the administration of this section.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.05151 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.05151. SEMESTER CREDIT HOURS REQUIRED FOR ASSOCIATE
DEGREE. (a) To earn an associate degree, a student may not be
required by an institution of higher education to complete more
than the minimum number of semester credit hours required for the
degree by the institution's board-recognized accrediting agency
unless academic accreditation or professional licensure
requirements require the completion of additional semester credit
hours for the degree.
(b) The board may review one or more of an institution's
associate degree programs to ensure compliance with this section.
(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to an associate degree
awarded by an institution to a student enrolled in the institution
before the 2015 fall semester.
(d) The board shall adopt any rules the board considers
necessary for the administration of this section.
SECTION 4. Section 61.052, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
read as follows:
(a) Each governing board shall submit to the board once each
year on dates designated by the board a comprehensive list by
department, division, and school of all courses, together with a
description of content, scope, and prerequisites of all these
courses, that will be offered by each institution under the
supervision of that governing board during the following academic
year. The list for each institution must also specifically
identify any course included in the common course numbering system
under Section 61.832 that has been added to or removed from the
institution's list for the current academic year, and the board
shall distribute that information as necessary to accomplish the
purposes of Section 61.832.
(b) After the comprehensive list of courses is submitted by
a governing board under Subsection (a) [of this section], the
governing board shall submit on dates designated by the board any
changes in the comprehensive list of courses to be offered,
including any changes relating to offering a course included in the
common course numbering system.
(b-1) Each governing board must certify at the time of
submission under Subsection (a) that the institution does not:
(1) prohibit the acceptance of transfer credit based
solely on the accreditation of the sending institution; or
(2) include language in any materials published by the
institution, whether in printed or electronic form, suggesting that
such a prohibition exists.
SECTION 5. Section 61.822, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
follows:
(a) The board, with the assistance of advisory committees
composed of representatives of institutions of higher education,
shall develop a recommended core curriculum of at least 42 semester
credit hours, including a statement of the content, component
areas, and objectives of the core curriculum. Administrators of an
institution of higher education may serve as representatives of the
institution on any advisory committee under this section. At least
a majority of the members of any advisory committee named under this
section shall be faculty members of an institution of higher
education. An institution shall consult with the faculty of the
institution before nominating or recommending a person to the board
as the institution's representative on an advisory committee.
(f) In an effort to facilitate the transfer of major-related
coursework beyond the general education core curriculum, the board,
with the assistance of the advisory committees described by
Subsection (a), shall:
(1) develop a course-specific core curriculum for each
broad academic discipline within the general core curriculum; and
(2) identify those degree programs offered at
institutions of higher education to which the course-specific core
curriculum, if successfully completed by a student at another
institution of higher education, is fully transferable.
SECTION 6. Section 61.832, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) A student who transfers from one institution of higher
education to another shall receive academic credit from the
receiving institution for each course that the student has
successfully completed that serves as an equivalent course under
the common course numbering system at the institution from which
the student transfers.
SECTION 7. Not later than May 31, 2015, each general
academic teaching institution shall publish on the institution's
Internet website the information required by Section 51.96852,
Education Code, as added by this Act, and establish articulation
agreements in accordance with that section.
SECTION 8. The change in law made by this Act to Section
61.0515(a), Education Code, applies beginning with undergraduate
students who initially enroll in a general academic teaching
institution for the 2015 fall semester. An undergraduate student
who initially enrolls in a general academic teaching institution
before that semester is covered by the law in effect before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
61.052, Education Code, apply to the comprehensive lists of courses
offered by public institutions of higher education beginning with
lists required to be submitted for the 2014-2015 academic year.
Course lists for an academic year before that academic year are
covered by the law in effect before the effective date of this Act,
and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. Not later than May 31, 2015, the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board shall develop core curricula for broad
academic disciplines included within the general core curriculum
that conform to the requirements of Section 61.822, Education Code,
as amended by this Act.
SECTION 11. Section 61.832(e), Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies beginning with the 2013 fall semester.
SECTION 12. 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, 2013.