By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 22
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to outcomes-based funding for general academic teaching
institutions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 62, Education Code, is
amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER D. OUTCOMES-BASED FUNDING FOR GENERAL ACADEMIC
TEACHING INSTITUTIONS [PERFORMANCE INCENTIVE FUNDING]
Sec. 62.071. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "At-risk student" means an undergraduate student
of an eligible institution:
(A) whose score on the Scholastic Assessment Test
(SAT) or the American College Test (ACT) is less than the national
mean score of students' scores on that test;
(B) who has been awarded a grant under the
federal Pell Grant program;
(C) who was 20 years of age or older on the date
the student initially enrolled in the institution;
(D) who is enrolled as a part-time student; or
(E) who did not receive a high school diploma but
received a high school equivalency certificate [within the last six
years].
(2) ["Critical field" means:
[(A) the field of engineering, computer science,
mathematics, physical science, allied health, nursing, or teacher
certification in a field of science or mathematics; and
[(B) any other field of study identified as a
critical field by the coordinating board in "Closing the Gaps," the
state's master plan for higher education.
[(3) "Eligible institution" means a general academic
teaching institution other than a public state college.
[(4)] "General academic teaching institution" has
[and "public state college" have] the meaning [meanings] assigned
by Section 61.003.
Sec. 62.072. BIENNIAL DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS TO GENERAL
ACADEMIC TEACHING INSTITUTIONS BASED ON OUTCOMES METRICS POINTS.
(a) Except as provided by Section 62.073, for each state fiscal
biennium, the coordinating board shall distribute any funds
appropriated to the coordinating board by the legislature for the
purposes of this subchapter, and any other funds made available for
the purposes of this subchapter, to general academic teaching
institutions in proportion to each institution's percentage of the
total number of outcomes metrics points assigned to all general
academic teaching institutions under Section 62.074 for that state
fiscal biennium.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), for the state fiscal
biennium ending August 31, 2017, the percentage share of
outcomes-based funding allocated to a general academic teaching
institution under that subsection may not be less than 99.5 percent
of the percentage share of instruction and operations funding under
Section 61.059 appropriated to all general academic teaching
institutions for undergraduate education for that biennium that is
allocated to the institution. The coordinating board may adjust in
an equitable manner the distribution amounts to which institutions
would otherwise be entitled under Subsection (a) as necessary to
comply with this subsection. This subsection expires September 1,
2017.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), for the state fiscal
biennium ending August 31, 2019, the percentage share of
outcomes-based funding allocated to a general academic teaching
institution under that subsection may not be less than 99 percent of
the percentage share of instruction and operations funding under
Section 61.059 appropriated to all general academic teaching
institutions for undergraduate education for that biennium that is
allocated to the institution. The coordinating board may adjust in
an equitable manner the distribution amounts to which institutions
would otherwise be entitled under Subsection (a) as necessary to
comply with this subsection. This subsection expires September 1,
2019. [FUNDING. (a) For each state fiscal year, the coordinating
board shall distribute any performance incentive funds
appropriated by the legislature for purposes of this subchapter,
and any other funds made available for the purposes of this
subchapter, to eligible institutions as follows:
[(1) 50 percent to be distributed among eligible
institutions in proportion to the increase, if any, in the average
number of degrees awarded annually by each institution in the two
most recent fiscal years from the average number of degrees awarded
annually by that institution in the two fiscal years immediately
preceding those fiscal years, using the weights assigned to each
degree under the table prescribed by Subsection (b); and
[(2) the remaining 50 percent to be distributed among
eligible institutions in proportion to the average number of
degrees awarded annually by each institution in the three most
recent fiscal years, using the weights assigned to each degree
under the table prescribed by Subsection (b).
[(b) A number of points is assigned for each degree awarded
by an eligible institution according to the following table:
[POINTS
[Noncritical Field/Not At-Risk Student 1.0
[Noncritical Field/At-Risk Student 2.0
[Critical Field/Not At-Risk Student 2.0
[Critical Field/At-Risk Student 3.0]
Sec. 62.073. DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS CONTINGENT ON FULL
FUNDING OF BASE FORMULA FUNDING. Funds may be distributed under
this subchapter for a state fiscal biennium only if the instruction
and operations formula for all general academic teaching
institutions for undergraduate education under Section 61.059 is
funded by appropriation for that biennium at a level, per weighted
semester credit hour, that is equal to or greater than the level at
which that formula was funded by appropriation for all general
academic teaching institutions in the preceding state fiscal
biennium, as that level is adjusted for inflation.
Sec. 62.074. OUTCOMES METRICS POINTS; COMPUTATION
METHODOLOGY. (a) For each state fiscal biennium, scaled points
are assigned to each general academic teaching institution for each
of the following outcomes-based metrics, computed as follows:
(1) Total Number of Undergraduate Degrees--the total
number of undergraduate degrees awarded by the institution,
including degrees awarded to students who transferred to the
institution;
(2) Total Number of Undergraduate Degrees Adjusted By
Graduation Rate--the total number of undergraduate degrees awarded
to students by the institution, or awarded by another institution
to a student who completed at least 50 percent of the student's
degree requirements as a first-time, full-time student at the
institution, multiplied by the institution's three-year graduation
rate for undergraduates, if the institution is a public state
college, or by the institution's six-year graduation rate for
undergraduates, if the institution is not a public state college,
the product of which is multiplied by 7;
(3) Total Number of Undergraduate Degrees Per 100
Undergraduate Full-time Student Equivalents--the total number of
undergraduate degrees awarded by the institution divided by the
number of full-time undergraduate student equivalents enrolled in
the fall semester, as reported in the coordinating board's higher
education accountability system, the quotient of which is
multiplied by 100, and the product of which is multiplied by 25;
(4) Total Number of Undergraduate Degrees Awarded To
At-risk Students--the total number of undergraduate degrees
awarded by the institution to at-risk students, multiplied by 7;
(5) 25 Percent Degree Completion--the total number of
undergraduate students at the institution having successfully
completed at least 25 percent of the student's degree requirements
or having earned at least 30 credit hours toward a 120-credit-hour
degree, including hours earned toward the degree at another
institution before transferring to the institution, multiplied by
1.5;
(6) 50 Percent Degree Completion--the total number of
undergraduate students at the institution having successfully
completed at least 50 percent of the student's degree requirements
or having earned at least 60 credit hours toward a 120-credit-hour
degree, including hours earned toward the degree at another
institution before transferring to the institution, multiplied by
2.5; and
(7) 75 Percent Degree Completion--the total number of
undergraduate students having successfully completed at least 75
percent of the student's degree requirements or having earned at
least 90 credit hours toward a 120-credit-hour degree, including
hours earned toward the degree at another institution before
transferring to the institution, multiplied by 4.
(b) For each state fiscal biennium, each metric prescribed
by Subsection (a) is computed using the average of the applicable
variables for the three most recent academic years for which the
information is available, as determined on the January 1 preceding
the biennium.
(c) Each state fiscal biennium, a general academic teaching
institution shall compute the institution's scaled points on each
of the metrics under Subsection (a). After computing its scaled
points for each of the metrics, the institution shall assign one of
the following percentage weights to each of the metrics' scaled
points:
(1) 25 percent;
(2) 25 percent;
(3) 20 percent;
(4) 15 percent;
(5) 10 percent;
(6) five percent; and
(7) zero percent.
(d) In assigning the percentage weights under Subsection
(c), a general academic teaching institution:
(1) shall prioritize the metrics the institution
considers most advantageous to maximizing the institution's total
number of points under this section; and
(2) may not assign the zero percentage to the Total
Undergraduate Degrees Awarded To At-risk Students metric.
(e) After assigning the percentage weights to its metrics
under Subsection (c), a general academic teaching institution shall
multiply the scaled points for each of its metrics by the applicable
percentage weight to determine its weighted total points for each
metric. The institution's total number of outcomes metrics points
under this section is the sum of the institution's weighted total
points for all metrics.
(f) Notwithstanding Subsection (c) , in the two state fiscal
bienniums following the initial state fiscal biennium for which
percentage weights are assigned under Subsection (c), a general
academic teaching institution must assign the same percentage
weight to each metric as was assigned by the institution under
Subsection (c) in the initial biennium.
Sec. 62.075. COORDINATING BOARD MONITORING; REPORTING. The
coordinating board shall monitor and evaluate the equity and
effectiveness of outcomes-based funding under this subchapter and
report its results, including relevant details and recommendations
for legislative action, to each legislative standing committee or
subcommittee with primary jurisdiction over higher education not
later than October 1 of each even-numbered year. The coordinating
board's report must include any recommendations for refining the
definition of "at-risk students" under Section 62.071.
Sec. 62.076. RULES. The coordinating board shall adopt
rules for the administration of this subchapter, including any
rules the coordinating board considers necessary regarding:
(1) standardization of the computation of metrics
under Section 62.074; and
(2) the submission to the coordinating board by
general academic teaching [eligible] institutions of any
information [student data] required for the coordinating board to
carry out its duties under this subchapter.
SECTION 2. 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, 2015.