S.B. No. 1781
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of certain 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 is not operating under sanctions imposed by, 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
continue to provide instruction to its enrolled students 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 is not
operating under sanctions imposed by, 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 continue to provide instruction to its
enrolled students 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. Subchapter S, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.835 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.835. TRANSFERABLE COLLEGE CREDIT FOR HEROES
CURRICULA. (a) To promote the purposes of the College Credit for
Heroes program established under Section 302.0031, Labor Code, the
board, in consultation with the Texas Workforce Commission, the
Texas Veterans Commission, and institutions of higher education,
shall:
(1) develop standardized curricula within degree and
certificate programs commonly offered by institutions of higher
education toward which qualified veterans or military service
members may be awarded appropriate academic credit for experience,
education, and training earned during military service; and
(2) require the transferability between institutions
of higher education of course credit for curricula developed under
this section that is awarded to qualified veterans or military
service members.
(b) The board shall adopt rules for the administration of
this section.
SECTION 7. 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 8. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall adopt the initial rules required by Section 61.835, Education
Code, as added by this Act, not later than May 1, 2018.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect only if a specific
appropriation for the implementation of the Act is provided in a
general appropriations act of the 85th Legislature.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1781 passed the Senate on
April 25, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 2; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 27, 2017, by the
following vote: Yeas 28, Nays 3.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1781 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 23, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 97,
Nays 46, three present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor