Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB543 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Seliger S.B. No. 543
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed January 19, 2017; February 8, 2017,
3	3	read first time and referred to Committee on Higher Education;
4	4	March 28, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
5	5	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; March 28, 2017,
6	6	sent to printer.)
7	7	Click here to see the committee vote
8	8	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 543 By: Seliger
9	9
10	10
11	11	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
12	12	AN ACT
13	13	relating to performance-based tuition limitations for certain
14	14	public institutions of higher education and a temporary tuition
15	15	limitation for those institutions.
16	16	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
17	17	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
18	18	amended by adding Sections 54.05131 and 54.05132 to read as
19	19	follows:
20	20	Sec. 54.05131. PERFORMANCE-BASED DESIGNATED TUITION
21	21	LIMITATIONS. (a) In this section:
22	22	(1) "Administrative costs" means the percentage of an
23	23	institution's operating budget expended on institutional expenses,
24	24	as designated in an institution's annual financial reports in the
25	25	subcategories of executive management, fiscal operations, general
26	26	administrative and logistical services, administrative computing
27	27	support, and public relations/development.
28	28	(2) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
29	29	Education Coordinating Board.
30	30	(3) "General academic teaching institution" and
31	31	"public state college" have the meanings assigned by Section
32	32	61.003.
33	33	(4) "Performance measure" means a performance measure
34	34	defined by coordinating board rule under Subsection (b).
35	35	(b) The coordinating board, using the negotiated rulemaking
36	36	procedures under Chapter 2008, Government Code, shall define the
37	37	following performance measures to be used for purposes of this
38	38	section:
39	39	(1) the total number of undergraduate degrees awarded
40	40	by the institution;
41	41	(2) the total number of undergraduate degrees awarded
42	42	by the institution, adjusted by the institution's six-year
43	43	graduation rate under Subdivision (10);
44	44	(3) the total number of undergraduate degrees awarded
45	45	by the institution per 100 undergraduate full-time student
46	46	equivalents;
47	47	(4) the total number of undergraduate degrees awarded
48	48	by the institution to at-risk students;
49	49	(5) the total number of undergraduate students at the
50	50	institution having successfully completed at least 25 percent of
51	51	the student's degree requirements or having earned at least 30
52	52	credit hours toward a 120-credit-hour degree;
53	53	(6) the total number of undergraduate students at the
54	54	institution having successfully completed at least 50 percent of
55	55	the student's degree requirements or having earned at least 60
56	56	credit hours toward a 120-credit-hour degree;
57	57	(7) the total number of undergraduate students at the
58	58	institution having successfully completed at least 75 percent of
59	59	the student's degree requirements or having earned at least 90
60	60	credit hours toward a 120-credit-hour degree;
61	61	(8) the average length of a student's enrollment, by
62	62	number of semesters, for undergraduate degree completion;
63	63	(9) the four-year graduation rate of first-time,
64	64	full-time, bachelor's degree-seeking students who enrolled in at
65	65	least 12 semester credit hours in the student's first fall semester
66	66	at the institution and who graduated from the institution or from
67	67	any other institution of higher education or private or independent
68	68	institution of higher education;
69	69	(10) the six-year graduation rate of first-time,
70	70	full-time, bachelor's degree-seeking students who enrolled in at
71	71	least 12 semester credit hours in the student's first fall semester
72	72	at the institution and who graduated from the institution or from
73	73	any other institution of higher education or private or independent
74	74	institution of higher education; and
75	75	(11) the institution's administrative costs.
76	76	(c) This section applies only to a general academic teaching
77	77	institution other than a public state college.
78	78	(d) Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year,
79	79	the coordinating board shall:
80	80	(1) in consultation with the president of each
81	81	institution to which this section applies, establish a target level
82	82	for each performance measure applicable to the institution for each
83	83	of the two next academic years to encourage the institution to
84	84	achieve reasonable incremental progress toward appropriate
85	85	long-term goals for performance in each performance measure, taking
86	86	into account the mission, resources, and circumstances of the
87	87	particular institution; and
88	88	(2) submit to the standing committee of each house of
89	89	the legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher education and
90	90	to each institution to which this section applies a report that
91	91	includes the target levels established by the coordinating board
92	92	under Subdivision (1) for each institution.
93	93	(e) The coordinating board, using the negotiated rulemaking
94	94	procedures under Chapter 2008, Government Code, by rule shall
95	95	develop standards to be considered by the coordinating board in
96	96	establishing an institution's target levels for performance
97	97	measures under Subsection (d). In developing the standards, the
98	98	negotiated rulemaking committee established for purposes of this
99	99	subsection and the coordinating board shall consider institutional
100	100	improvement on target levels. The coordinating board shall
101	101	reconvene the negotiated rulemaking committee to assist the
102	102	coordinating board whenever the coordinating board modifies or
103	103	updates the standards.
104	104	(f) In adopting rules under this section, the coordinating
105	105	board shall prescribe any necessary adjustments or exceptions for
106	106	institutions that offer only upper-division courses and to which
107	107	certain performance measures prescribed by Subsection (b) do not
108	108	apply.
109	109	(g) As soon as practicable after each academic year, the
110	110	coordinating board shall determine whether an institution has
111	111	achieved the applicable target levels for that academic year.
112	112	Using the negotiated rulemaking procedures under Chapter 2008,
113	113	Government Code, the coordinating board by rule shall establish the
114	114	process by which an institution's achievement on a performance
115	115	measure is submitted to and verified by the coordinating board.
116	116	(h) After the coordinating board makes a determination for
117	117	an institution under Subsection (g), the coordinating board shall
118	118	notify the governing board of the institution that Subsection (i)
119	119	or (j), as applicable, applies to the tuition charged by the
120	120	institution for the second academic year following the academic
121	121	year for which the determination is made and of the limitation
122	122	prescribed by the applicable subsection on the amount of tuition
123	123	that may be charged by the institution for that academic year.
124	124	(i) This subsection applies to tuition charged for an
125	125	academic year by an institution to which this section applies only
126	126	if the institution did not achieve, in the second academic year
127	127	preceding that academic year, the target level assigned by the
128	128	coordinating board for the administrative costs performance
129	129	measure as applicable to the institution for that preceding
130	130	academic year and a majority of the target levels assigned to the
131	131	remaining performance measures by the coordinating board as
132	132	applicable to the institution for that preceding academic year.
133	133	For an academic year in which this subsection applies to the tuition
134	134	charged by an institution, unless the institution has been granted
135	135	an exception under Subsection (m) for that year, the amount of
136	136	tuition the governing board of the institution charges under
137	137	Section 54.0513 to a student for that academic year may not exceed
138	138	the total amount of tuition that the governing board would have
139	139	charged under that section to a similarly situated student in the
140	140	preceding academic year, as that amount is adjusted for each
141	141	academic year for inflation as determined under Subsection (l).
142	142	The governing board may not increase the amount of tuition charged
143	143	under this subsection to a student more than once in any academic
144	144	year.
145	145	(j) This subsection applies to tuition charged for an
146	146	academic year by an institution to which this section applies only
147	147	if the institution achieved, in the second academic year preceding
148	148	that academic year, the target level assigned by the coordinating
149	149	board for the administrative costs performance measure as
150	150	applicable to the institution for that preceding academic year and
151	151	a majority of the target levels assigned to the remaining
152	152	performance measures by the coordinating board as applicable to the
153	153	institution for that preceding academic year. For an academic year
154	154	in which this subsection applies to the tuition charged by an
155	155	institution, the amount of tuition the governing board of the
156	156	institution charges under Section 54.0513 to a student for that
157	157	academic year may not exceed by more than three percent the total
158	158	amount of tuition that the governing board would have charged under
159	159	that section to a similarly situated student in the preceding
160	160	academic year, as that amount is adjusted for each academic year for
161	161	inflation as determined under Subsection (l). The governing board
162	162	may not increase the amount of tuition charged under this
163	163	subsection to a student more than once in any academic year.
164	164	(k) For purposes of this section:
165	165	(1) an institution is considered to have achieved a
166	166	target level assigned to a performance measure if the institution
167	167	has achieved at least 98 percent of the target level; and
168	168	(2) students are similarly situated if they share the
169	169	same residency status, degree program, course load, course level,
170	170	tuition exemption status, and other circumstances affecting the
171	171	tuition charged to the student.
172	172	(l) Not later than August 31 of each year, or as soon
173	173	thereafter as practicable, the Legislative Budget Board shall
174	174	publish and certify to the governing board of each institution to
175	175	which this section applies the inflation rate to be used for
176	176	purposes of this section for the next academic year. The inflation
177	177	rate is the percentage increase, if any, as expressed in decimal
178	178	form rounded to the nearest thousandth of one percent, in the
179	179	consumer price index, as defined by Section 341.201, Finance Code,
180	180	for the preceding 12-month period as compared to the consumer price
181	181	index for the 12-month period preceding that period.
182	182	(m) The coordinating board, using the negotiated rulemaking
183	183	procedures under Chapter 2008, Government Code, by rule shall
184	184	establish an exception to the application of Subsection (i) for an
185	185	institution to which that subsection would otherwise apply for an
186	186	academic year in the event of a natural disaster or other
187	187	extraordinary circumstance affecting the institution's achievement
188	188	on performance measures. In an academic year for which an
189	189	institution is granted an exception under this subsection,
190	190	Subsection (j) applies to the institution.
191	191	Sec. 54.05132. TEMPORARY LIMITATION ON TOTAL AMOUNT OF
192	192	TUITION. (a) In this section:
193	193	(1) "General academic teaching institution" and
194	194	"public state college" have the meanings assigned by Section
195	195	61.003.
196	196	(2) "Tuition" includes:
197	197	(A) tuition for which the rates are prescribed by
198	198	this chapter; and
199	199	(B) tuition charged by an institution of higher
200	200	education under Section 54.0513 or another law authorizing an
201	201	institution to establish tuition rates.
202	202	(b) Notwithstanding Section 54.0513, the total amount of
203	203	tuition charged by a general academic teaching institution other
204	204	than a public state college to a student for the 2018-2019 or
205	205	2019-2020 academic year may not exceed by more than one percent the
206	206	total amount of tuition that the institution would have charged
207	207	under this chapter to a similarly situated student for the
208	208	preceding academic year, as that amount is adjusted for each
209	209	academic year for inflation as determined under Subsection (c).
210	210	For purposes of this subsection, students are similarly situated if
211	211	they share the same residency status, degree program, course load,
212	212	course level, tuition exemption status, and other circumstances
213	213	affecting the tuition charged to the student. This subsection does
214	214	not ensure that the total amount of tuition charged to an individual
215	215	student does not increase based on a change in the student's
216	216	residency status, degree program, course load, course level,
217	217	tuition exemption status, or other circumstance affecting the
218	218	tuition charged to the student.
219	219	(c) Not later than August 31 of each year, or as soon
220	220	thereafter as practicable, the Legislative Budget Board shall
221	221	publish and certify to the governing board of each institution to
222	222	which this section applies the inflation rate to be used for
223	223	purposes of this section for the next academic year. The inflation
224	224	rate is the percentage increase, if any, as expressed in decimal
225	225	form rounded to the nearest thousandth of one percent, in the
226	226	consumer price index, as defined by Section 341.201, Finance Code,
227	227	for the preceding 12-month period as compared to the consumer price
228	228	index for the 12-month period preceding that period.
229	229	(d) This section expires September 1, 2020.
230	230	SECTION 2. Section 54.05131, Education Code, as added by
231	231	this Act, applies beginning with tuition charged by a general
232	232	academic teaching institution to which that section applies for the
233	233	2020-2021 academic year.
234	234	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
235	235	* * * * *