By: González of El Paso H.B. No. 4220
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of certain degree-granting
postsecondary educational institutions by the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board; providing administrative penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.3025 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.3025. DEFINITION: ACADEMIC RECORDS. (a) In this
subchapter, "academic records" means any information that is:
(1) directly related to a student's educational
efforts;
(2) intended to support the student's progress toward
completing a degree program; and
(3) regardless of the format or manner in which or the
location where the information is held, maintained by an
institution for the purpose of sharing among academic officials.
(b) The term "academic records" includes a student's
educational history but does not include medical records, alumni
records other than educational history, human resources records, or
criminal history record information or other law enforcement
records.
SECTION 2. Section 61.303, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.303. EXEMPTIONS. (a) Unless specifically provided
otherwise, the [The] provisions of this subchapter do not [in any
way] apply to an institution that [which] is fully accredited by and
in good standing with a recognized accrediting agency, or an
institution or degree program that has received approval by a state
agency authorizing the institution's graduates to take a
professional or vocational state licensing examination
administered by that agency. The granting of permission by a state
agency to a graduate of an institution to take a licensing
examination does not by itself constitute approval of the
institution or degree program required for an exemption under this
subsection.
(b) The exemptions provided by Subsection (a) apply only to
the degree level for which an institution is accredited, and if an
institution offers to award a degree at a level for which it is not
accredited, the exemption does not apply.
(c) The board may issue to an [An] exempt institution or
person [may be issued] a certificate of authorization to grant
degrees. The board may adopt rules regarding a process to allow an
exempt institution or person to apply for and receive a certificate
of authorization under this section.
(d) The board by rule may require an exempt institution or
person to ensure that the financial resources and financial
stability of the institution or person are adequate to provide
education of a good quality and to fulfill the institution's or
person's commitments to its enrolled students and may require the
institution or person to provide to the board documentation of the
institution's or person's compliance with those requirements.
Rules adopted under this subsection must:
(1) require the institution or person to maintain
reserves, lines of credit, or surety instruments that, when
combined with tuition and fee receipts, are sufficient to allow the
institution or person to fulfill its educational obligations to its
enrolled students if the institution or person is unable to admit
new students in an academic year for any reason; and
(2) require that the financial resources maintained
under Subdivision (1) be conditioned to allow only the board to
withdraw funds for the benefit of the institution's or person's
enrolled students under the circumstance described by Subdivision
(1).
(e) To enable the board to verify the conditions under which
a certificate of authorization issued under this section is held,
the board by rule may require an exempt institution or person to
report to the board on a continuing basis other appropriate
information in addition to the documentation required under
Subsection (d).
(f) An exempt institution or person continues [would
continue] in that status only if the institution or person
maintains [so long as it maintained] accreditation by, and remains
in good standing with, a recognized accrediting agency or otherwise
meets [met] the provisions of Subsection (a).
(g) [(e)] The board by rule shall provide for due process
and shall provide procedures for revoking or placing conditions on
the exemption status of an institution or person or for revoking or
placing conditions on a previously issued certificate of
authorization.
(h) Under the rules described by Subsection (g), the board
may revoke or place conditions on an institution's or person's
exemption status or certificate of authorization only if the board
has reasonable cause to believe that the institution or person has
violated this subchapter or any rule adopted under this subchapter.
(i) Before revoking or placing conditions on an
institution's or person's exemption status or certificate of
authorization under Subsection (h), the board must provide to the
institution or person written notice of the board's impending
action and include the grounds for that action.
(j) If the board places conditions on an institution's or
person's exemption status or certificate of authorization under
Subsection (h), until the board removes the conditions, the board
may reexamine the applicable institution or person at least twice
annually following the date the board provided notice under
Subsection (i).
(k) [(f)] A private postsecondary educational institution
may not establish or operate a branch campus, extension center, or
other off-campus unit in Texas except as provided by this
subsection or the rules of the board. This subsection does not
apply to a private or independent institution of higher education
as defined by Section 61.003.
SECTION 3. Subchapter G, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.3075 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.3075. REQUIRED FINANCIAL RESOURCES. The board by
rule may require an institution operating under a certificate of
authority, or seeking to operate under a certificate of authority,
to ensure that the financial resources and financial stability of
the institution are adequate to provide education of a good quality
and to fulfill the institution's commitments to its enrolled
students and may require the institution to provide to the board
documentation of the institution's compliance with those
requirements. Rules adopted under this subsection must:
(1) require the institution to maintain reserves,
lines of credit, or surety instruments that, when combined with
tuition and fee receipts, are sufficient to allow the institution
to fulfill its educational obligations to its enrolled students if
the institution is unable to admit new students in an academic year
for any reason; and
(2) require that the financial resources maintained
under Subdivision (1) be conditioned to allow only the board to
withdraw funds for the benefit of the institution's enrolled
students under the circumstance described by Subdivision (1).
SECTION 4. Section 61.315, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.315. AGENTS AND RECORDS; ACADEMIC RECORDS
REPOSITORY. (a) The authorized or certified institutions may be
required to provide [furnish] a list of their agents to the board,
and to maintain in a manner specified by the board the academic
records of enrolled or former students [enrolled], including
records of credits [awarded,] and degrees awarded, and provide
those records to the board on request [in a manner specified by the
board].
(b) The board may maintain a repository for academic records
from closed institutions that were exempt or were authorized to
operate under a certificate of authorization or certificate of
authority. The board may discontinue its maintenance of the
repository if adequate funding is not provided for that
maintenance. The academic records repository is considered to be a
repository of last resort. If a closed institution is part of a
larger educational system or corporation, that system or
corporation shall maintain the academic records. If students of
the closed institution transfer to another institution through an
agreement between the institutions to continue the students' degree
programs, the institution responsible for accepting the
transferring students shall maintain those academic records.
SECTION 5. Section 61.316, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
(e-1) Any authorized or certified institution that fails to
maintain in a manner specified by the board the academic records of
enrolled or former students, including records of credits and
degrees awarded, or that fails to protect the personally
identifiable information of enrolled or former students shall be
assessed an administrative penalty of not less than $100 or more
than $500 for each student whose academic record was not maintained
or whose personally identifiable information was not protected.
SECTION 6. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall adopt the rules required by Subchapter G, Chapter 61,
Education Code, as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable after
the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.