By: Pacheco H.B. No. 546
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the application of certain programs that support
certain occupation-related postsecondary educational programs and
students of those programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.605(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The board may provide repayment assistance under this
subchapter for the repayment of any student loan, including a loan
for undergraduate education, received by an eligible person through
any lender for education at:
(1) an institution of higher education;
(2) [,] a private or independent institution of higher
education;
(3) [, or] a public or private out-of-state
institution of higher education accredited by a recognized
accrediting agency; or
(4) a nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally accredited
college or university operating in accordance with a memorandum of
understanding with this state under an executive order issued by
the governor[, including loans for undergraduate education,
received by an eligible person through any lender].
SECTION 2. Section 61.608(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The board shall distribute to each institution of higher
education or private or independent institution of higher
education, each college or university described by Section
61.605(a)(4), and [to] any appropriate state agency and
professional association copies of the rules adopted under this
section and other pertinent information relating to this
subchapter.
SECTION 3. Section 61.9621, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.9621. DEFINITION. In this subchapter,
"professional nursing program" means an educational program that:
(1) is offered by:
(A) a public or private institution of higher
education; or
(B) a nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally
accredited college or university operating in accordance with a
memorandum of understanding with this state under an executive
order issued by the governor; and
(2) either:
(A) prepares [for preparing] students to attain
[for] initial licensure as registered nurses; or
(B) leads students, including registered nurses
holding an associate or comparable degree, to earn a bachelor of
science degree in nursing.
SECTION 4. Section 61.9622, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.9622. PROGRAM. A professional nursing shortage
reduction program is established to increase the number and types
of registered nurses in order to meet the needs for registered
nurses in this state. The board shall administer the professional
nursing shortage reduction program to make grants for those
purposes to professional nursing programs and other entities
involved with those programs [a professional nursing program in the
preparation of students for initial licensure as registered nurses
in order to increase the number and types of registered nurses to
meet the needs for registered nurses in the state].
SECTION 5. Section 61.9623(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A grant from the professional nursing shortage
reduction program to a professional nursing program or other entity
described by Section 61.9622 [involved with a professional nursing
program in the preparation of students for initial licensure as
registered nurses] must be:
(1) expended exclusively on costs related to:
(A) enrolling additional students;
(B) nursing faculty enhancement in accordance
with Section 61.96231;
(C) encouraging innovation in the recruitment
and retention of students, including the recruitment and retention
of Spanish-speaking and bilingual students; or
(D) identifying, developing, or implementing
innovative methods to make the most effective use of limited
professional nursing program faculty, instructional or clinical
space, and other resources, including:
(i) sharing curriculum and administrative
or instructional personnel, facilities, and responsibilities
between two or more professional nursing programs located in the
same region of this state; and
(ii) using preceptors or part-time faculty
to provide clinical instruction in order to address the need for
qualified faculty to accommodate increased student enrollment in
the professional nursing program;
(2) contingent on the professional nursing program's
having been approved as a professional nursing program by the board
or the Texas Board of Nursing, as appropriate;
(3) contingent on the professional nursing program's
not being on probation with the Texas Board of Nursing or other
accrediting body; and
(4) if granted to increase enrollments, contingent on
the professional nursing program's ability to enroll additional
students, including having the necessary classroom space and
clinical slots.
SECTION 6. Sections 61.96232(a) and (b), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The board by rule shall establish a process under which
a public or private institution of higher education or an
institution described by Section 61.9621(2) that offers a
professional nursing program may apply for a grant under this
subchapter and the commissioner of higher education, contingent on
appropriations of money for the grants, selects one or more
applicants to receive a grant based on criteria established by
board rule. The criteria must include the institution's agreement
that the institution's professional nursing program will enroll
additional students or graduate additional students in a program
that:
(1) prepares students [prepared] for initial
licensure as registered nurses; or
(2) leads students, including registered nurses
holding an associate or comparable degree, to earn a bachelor of
science degree in nursing.
(b) The process established under Subsection (a) may
authorize the commissioner of higher education to accept a joint
application from multiple institutions that agree to cooperate on a
regional or joint basis for their professional nursing programs to
enroll additional students or graduate additional students
described by Subsection (a) [prepared for initial licensure as
registered nurses].
SECTION 7. Section 61.9626(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Each institution of higher education that has a
professional nursing program shall submit an annual report to the
board detailing its strategy for increasing the number of students
who [that] graduate from the program prepared to attain initial
[for] licensure as registered nurses or who earn a bachelor of
science degree in nursing. The report must include:
(1) the capacity of the program, either alone or in
cooperation with one or more other programs, to graduate more
students who are prepared to attain initial [for] licensure or who
earn a bachelor of science degree as described by this subsection
[as registered nurses]; and
(2) the resources allocated to increase the number of
students who [that] graduate from the program prepared to attain
initial [for] licensure or who earn a bachelor of science degree as
described by this subsection [as registered nurses].
SECTION 8. Section 61.9751(2), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(2) "Nursing education program" means:
(A) an undergraduate professional nursing
program or a graduate professional nursing program as those terms
are defined by Section 54.355; and
(B) a comparable nursing program offered by a
nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally accredited college or university
operating in accordance with a memorandum of understanding with
this state under an executive order issued by the governor.
SECTION 9. Section 61.9821, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.9821. REPAYMENT AUTHORIZED. The board shall
establish and administer a program to provide, in accordance with
this subchapter and board rules, assistance in the repayment of
student loans for nurses who:
(1) are serving on the faculties of nursing degree
programs at institutions to which this subchapter applies [of
higher education or private or independent institutions of higher
education] in positions that require an advanced degree in
professional nursing; and
(2) apply and qualify for the assistance.
SECTION 10. Subchapter JJ, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.98211 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.98211. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This
subchapter applies to:
(1) an institution of higher education;
(2) a private or independent institution of higher
education; and
(3) a nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally accredited
college or university operating in accordance with a memorandum of
understanding with this state under an executive order issued by
the governor.
SECTION 11. Section 61.9822, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.9822. ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible to receive loan
repayment assistance under this subchapter, a nurse must:
(1) apply to the board;
(2) at the time of application for repayment
assistance have been employed part-time or full-time for at least
one year as, and be currently employed part-time or full-time as, a
faculty member of a nursing degree program at an institution to
which this subchapter applies [of higher education or a private or
independent institution of higher education]; and
(3) comply with any additional requirements adopted by
board rule.
SECTION 12. Sections 61.9823(a) and (b), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) On qualifying for loan repayment assistance under this
subchapter, a nurse may receive repayment assistance for each year
of part-time or full-time employment as a faculty member of a
nursing degree program at an institution to which this subchapter
applies [of higher education or private or independent institution
of higher education], not to exceed five years.
(b) The board by rule shall determine the maximum amount of
loan repayment assistance received by a nurse under this subchapter
[may not exceed $7,000] in any one year. The board shall base the
amount of loan repayment assistance received by a nurse for
part-time employment on the proportion of the number of hours
worked by the nurse to the number of hours worked by a full-time
nurse.
SECTION 13. Section 61.9824(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The board may provide repayment assistance for the
repayment of any student loan received by an eligible person
through any lender that is for education, including undergraduate
education, at:
(1) a public or private institution of higher
education; or
(2) a nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally accredited
college or university operating in accordance with a memorandum of
understanding with this state under an executive order issued by
the governor [any public or private institution of higher
education, including a loan for undergraduate education, received
by an eligible person through any lender].
SECTION 14. Section 61.9828(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The board shall distribute a copy of the rules adopted
under this section and pertinent information regarding this
subchapter to:
(1) each institution to which this subchapter applies
[of higher education and private or independent institution of
higher education];
(2) any appropriate state agency; and
(3) any appropriate professional association.
SECTION 15. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
adopt any rules necessary to administer the changes in law made by
this Act.
SECTION 16. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
may not award grants under the professional nursing shortage
reduction program as provided by the changes in law made by this Act
to Sections 61.9621 and 61.96232, Education Code, before June 1,
2023.
SECTION 17. Subchapter JJ, Chapter 61, Education Code, as
amended by this Act, applies beginning with loan repayment
assistance awarded under that subchapter for the 2022-2023 academic
year. Loan repayment assistance awarded under Subchapter JJ,
Chapter 61, Education Code, for an academic year before the
2022-2023 academic year is governed by the law in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 18. 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, 2021.