By: West, Taylor of Collin S.B. No. 2122
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the coordination of the transfer of course credit
between public institutions of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 51.9685(b), (c), and (d), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (c), not
later than the end of the first regular semester or term immediately
following the semester or term in which the student earned the
following number of semester credit hours for 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, each student enrolled [in an associate or
bachelor's degree program] at an institution of higher education
shall:
(1) following a semester or term in which the student
earned a cumulative total of 15 or more semester credit hours,
receive formal advising regarding the student's degree plan; and
(2) following a semester or term in which the student
earned a cumulative total of 30 or more semester credit hours, file
a degree plan with the institution [not later than the end of the
second regular semester or term immediately following the semester
or term in which the student earned a cumulative total of 45 or more
semester credit hours for 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
second regular semester or term at the institution.
(d) An institution of higher education shall provide to
students to whom this section applies information regarding the
requirement for formal advising and the degree plan filing
requirement under this section and options for consulting with an
academic advisor for those purposes [that purpose], which may
include consultation through electronic communication.
SECTION 2. Section 61.059(p), Education Code, is amended 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; or
(4) a course in a field of study curriculum approved by
the board under Section 61.823 offered by the institution providing
course credit.
SECTION 3. Section 61.822, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (a-1), and (b) and adding Subsections
(a-2), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
(a) The board shall develop and implement a policy regarding
[encourage] 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 semester
credit hours, including a statement of the content, component
areas, and objectives of the core curriculum. The core curriculum
must provide the knowledge and academic competencies foundational
for all future learning. Courses in the core curriculum shall be
general education courses, broad in scope, and may not narrowly
focus on knowledge and competencies specific to a particular
occupation or profession.
(a-2) 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 no less than 42 semester credit hours, including
specific courses comprising the curriculum. The core curriculum
must be approved by the board and shall be consistent with the
common course numbering system approved by the board under Section
61.832 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) The board shall establish a database and collect
information as determined by the board to annually identify the 25
degree programs that have the greatest transfer student enrollment.
Each general academic teaching institution must identify for each
of those degree programs:
(1) a list of the lower-division courses offered by
institutions of higher education that are considered by the board
to be general academic transfer courses that may be offered for
state funding by public junior colleges, public state colleges, and
public technical institutes;
(2) the required courses for the degree program that
satisfy the core curriculum requirements at the institution; and
(3) any additional lower-division requirements for
the degree program at the institution.
(g) Courses identified by a general academic teaching
institution under Subsection (f) are only required to be applied to
the appropriate degree program for a student in the period of the
institution's course catalog beginning with the student's first
enrollment in an institution of higher education.
SECTION 4. Section 61.823, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) Each public junior college, public state college, and
public technical institute that offers a degree program for which a
field of study curriculum is developed shall adopt the field of
study curriculum.
SECTION 5. Section 61.832, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) The board may monitor the use of the common course
numbering system by general academic teaching institutions to
ascertain benefits and problems with the implementation of the
system and issue an annual report, including a timeline for
statutory compliance, to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
speaker of the house of representatives, the chair of the senate
finance committee, and the chair of each standing committee in the
legislature with jurisdiction over higher education.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply
beginning with the 2018-2019 academic year.
SECTION 7. 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, 2017.