By: Branch, et al. H.B. No. 30
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to measures to facilitate the transfer, academic progress,
and timely graduation of students in public higher education;
authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 51.968, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 51.968. ALTERNATE METHODS FOR EARNING UNDERGRADUATE
COURSE CREDIT [FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS COMPLETING
POSTSECONDARY-LEVEL PROGRAM].
SECTION 2. Section 51.968(a)(4), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(4) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned [means an institution of higher education, as defined] by
Section 61.003[, that offers freshman-level courses].
SECTION 3. Section 51.968, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (d-1), and (f-1) and
amending Subsections (b), (c), and (e) to read as follows:
(a-1) This section applies only to an institution of higher
education that offers freshman-level and sophomore-level courses.
(a-2) To maximize opportunities for students to earn
undergraduate course credit at the institution, each institution of
higher education may develop and administer one or more
institution-specific examinations or assessments by which entering
or current undergraduate students may earn freshman-level or
sophomore-level course credit in the same manner as an entering
freshman student may earn course credit through a CLEP examination
or Advanced Placement examination. The institution may charge
students a reasonable fee for taking an examination or assessment
described by this subsection. The institution may develop and
administer examinations or assessments for course credit for as
many freshman-level and sophomore-level courses as practicable and
may develop those examinations or assessments using source material
from other institutions of higher education.
(a-3) Each institution of higher education that ceases to
offer credit through the College-Level Examination Program or the
Advanced Placement Program for a specific course shall offer credit
for the course through an institution-specific examination or
assessment administered under Subsection (a-2).
(b) Each institution of higher education [that offers
freshman-level courses] shall adopt and implement a policy to grant
[undergraduate] course credit for freshman-level and
sophomore-level courses to undergraduate [entering freshman]
students who have:
(1) successfully completed the International
Baccalaureate Diploma Program;
(2)[, who have] achieved required scores on one or more
examinations in the Advanced Placement Program or the College-Level
Examination Program;
(3)[, or who have] successfully completed one or more
courses offered through concurrent enrollment in high school and at
an institution of higher education; or
(4) achieved required scores on one or more
institution-specific examinations or assessments administered by
the institution under Subsection (a-2).
(c) In the policy, the institution shall:
(1) establish the institution's conditions for
granting course credit, including the minimum required scores on
CLEP examinations, Advanced Placement examinations, [and]
examinations for courses constituting the International
Baccalaureate Diploma Program, and institution-specific
examinations or assessments administered by the institution under
Subsection (a-2); and
(2) based on the correlations identified under
Subsections [Subsection] (f) and (f-1), identify the specific
freshman-level or sophomore-level course credit or other academic
requirements of the institution, including the number of semester
credit hours or other course credit, that the institution will
grant to a student who successfully completes a course or program or
achieves a required score on an examination or assessment as
described by Subsection (b) [the diploma program, who successfully
completes a course through concurrent enrollment, or who achieves
required scores on CLEP examinations or Advanced Placement
examinations].
(d-1) Each institution of higher education shall:
(1) report to the coordinating board:
(A) a list of courses for which the institution
offers undergraduate students the opportunity to earn course credit
through an institution-specific examination or assessment;
(B) the institution's policy adopted under this
section; and
(C) any fee charged for an examination or
assessment administered under Subsection (a-2); and
(2) include a copy of the list, policy, and applicable
fee schedule with the institution's undergraduate student
application materials, including application materials available
on the institution's Internet website.
(e) On request of an applicant for admission as an entering
undergraduate student [freshman], an institution of higher
education, based on information provided by the applicant, shall
determine and notify the applicant regarding:
(1) the amount and type of any course credit that would
or could be granted to the applicant under the policy; and
(2) any other academic requirement that the applicant
would satisfy under the policy.
(f-1) An institution of higher education shall:
(1) identify correlations between the subject matter
and content of courses offered by the institution and the subject
matter and content of institution-specific examinations or
assessments administered by the institution under Subsection
(a-2); and
(2) make that information available to the public on
the institution's Internet website in a manner that conforms to the
requirements of Section 51.974.
SECTION 4. 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 5. 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 6. 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 7. 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 single 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
single 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 8. Section 61.822, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) 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.
(b) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a core
curriculum of not [no] less than 42 semester credit hours,
including specific courses comprising the curriculum. The core
curriculum shall be consistent with the single common course
numbering system approved by the board under Section 61.832(a) and
with the statement, recommendations, and rules issued by the board.
An institution may have a core curriculum of other than 42 semester
credit hours only if approved by the board.
(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 9. Section 61.830, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.830. PUBLICATION OF GUIDELINES ADDRESSING TRANSFER
PRACTICES. In its course catalogs and on its website, each
institution of higher education shall publish guidelines
addressing the practices of the institution regarding the transfer
of course credit. In the guidelines, the institution must identify
a course by using the single common course numbering system
approved by the board under Section 61.832(a).
SECTION 10. Section 61.832, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.832. COMMON COURSE NUMBERING SYSTEM. (a) The board
shall approve a single common course numbering system for
lower-division courses to facilitate the transfer of those courses
among institutions of higher education by promoting consistency in
course designation and identification.
(b) The board shall solicit input from institutions of
higher education regarding the development of the single common
course numbering system.
(c) Each institution of higher education other than The
University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University shall:
(1) use the approved common course numbering system
for each course for which a common number designation and course
description are included in that system; and
(2) include the applicable course numbers from that
system in its course catalogs and other course listings.
(d) The board may approve only a common course numbering
system already in common use in this state by one or more
institutions of higher education.
(e) [(c)] The board shall cooperate with institutions of
higher education in any additional development or alteration of the
common course numbering system approved under Subsection (a),
including the taxonomy to be used, and in the development of rules
for the administration and applicability of the system.
(f) 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 single common course numbering system at the institution from
which the student transfers.
(g) Not later than June 1, 2014, the board shall:
(1) approve a single common course numbering system as
required by Subsection (a); and
(2) establish a timetable that requires the
institutions of higher education to which Subsection (c) applies to
phase in the inclusion of the applicable course numbers from the
single common course numbering system in their individual course
listings and course numbering systems as required by this section
so that each institution fully complies with this section for all
courses offered for the 2018-2019 academic year and subsequent
years.
(g-1) Subsection (g) and this subsection expire January 1,
2020. [(d) An institution of higher education shall include in its
course listings the applicable course numbers from the common
course numbering system approved by the board under this section.
For good cause, the board may grant to an institution of higher
education an exemption from the requirements of this subsection.]
SECTION 11. The change in law made by this Act to Section
51.968, Education Code, applies beginning with the 2014-2015
academic year. An academic year occurring before that academic year
is covered by the law in effect immediately before the effective
date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 12. 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 13. 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 14. 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 15. 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 16. Section 61.832(f), Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies beginning with the 2013 fall semester.
SECTION 17. 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.