By: West S.B. No. 2122
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to authorization by the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board to develop and implement transfer policy for
lower division courses among Texas public institutions of higher
education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.822, Education Code is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (a-1), (b), and (c) and adding
Subsections (a-2), (f) and (g) to read as follows:
(a) The board shall encourage develop and implement policy
regarding the transferability of lower division course credit among
institutions of higher education.
(a-1) 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 39
semester credit hours, including a statement of the content,
component areas, and objectives of the core curriculum. 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.
(a-2) The 39 semester credit hour core curriculum provides
the knowledge and academic competencies foundational for all future
learning. Courses in the core curriculum shall be general education
courses, broad in scope, and shall not narrowly focus on knowledge
and competencies specific to a particular occupation or profession.
(b) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a core
curriculum of no less than 39 semester credit hours, including
specific courses comprising the curriculum. The core curriculum
shall be lower division courses, consistent with the common course
numbering system, and approved by the board according to the
statement, recommendations, and rules issued by the board. An
institution may have a core curriculum of other than semester
credit hours only if approved by the board.
(c) If a student successfully completes the 39 42-hour core
curriculum at an institution of higher education, that block of
courses may be transferred to any other institution of higher
education and must be substituted for the receiving institution's
core curriculum. A student shall receive academic credit for each
of the courses transferred and may not be required to take
additional core curriculum courses at the receiving institution
unless the board has approved a larger core curriculum at the
institution.
(f) The Coordinating Board will annually identify in a
database determined by the Coordinating Board the state's top 25
majors among transfer students. General academic teaching
institutions will identify for each of the majors described above
the following:
(1) Required lower-division courses for which
equivalencies exist in the Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM).
(2) Required courses in the top 25 majors that would
satisfy Core Curriculum requirements at that institution.
(3) Required lower-division courses that are not in
the ACGM for the top 25 majors.
(g) Courses identified shall be applied to the appropriate
major for a time period equal to the period students may utilize any
given catalog to graduate at a receiving institution. For this
purpose the time period would start when a student first entered
college, but no more than three years after first entering college.
SECTION 2. Section 61.823, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) A public junior college and a technical institute as
described in 61.003 must adopt board approved fields of study for
any disciplines where they have similar programs.
SECTION 3. Section 51.9685, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (c) to read as follows:
(b) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (c), each
student enrolled in an associate or bachelor's degree program at an
institution of higher education shall file a degree plan with the
institution not later than the end of the first second regular
semester after initially enrolling, or term immediately following
the semester or term in which the student earned a cumulative total
of 45 or more has accumulated a total of 15 semester credit hours
and immediately following the term in which a student has
accumulated 30 semester credit hours for coursework attempted
coursework successfully completed by the student, including
transfer courses, international baccalaureate courses, dual credit
courses, and any other course for which the institution the student
attends has awarded the student college course credit, including
course credit awarded by examination.
(c) A student to whom this section applies who begins the
student's first semester or term at an institution of higher
education with 30 45 or more semester credit hours of course credit
for courses described by Subsection (b) shall file a degree plan
with the institution not later than the end of the student's first
second regular semester or term at the institution.
SECTION 4. Section 61.059, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (p) by adding paragraph (4) to read as follows:
(p) In its instruction and operations formula applicable to
an institution of higher education, the board may not include any
semester credit hours earned for dual course credit by a high school
student for high school and college credit at the institution
unless those credit hours are earned through any of the following:
(1) a course in the core curriculum of the institution
providing course credit;
(2) a career and technical education course that
applies to any certificate or associate 's degree offered by the
institution providing course credit; or
(3) a foreign language course.
(4) a course from a Board approved Field of Study or
Programs of Study offered by the institution providing course
credit.
SECTION 5. Section 61.832, Education code is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) the Board is authorized to monitor the use of the Texas
Common Course Numbering System by general academic teaching
institutions to ascertain benefits and problems and provide a
report for implementation and a timeline for full compliance with
statute.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.