88R8268 CXP-F
By: Turner H.B. No. 3486
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the requirements for the early college education
program and the transfer of course credit among public institutions
of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.908(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The program must:
(1) provide for a course of study that enables a
participating student to combine high school courses and
college-level courses during grade levels 9 through 12;
(2) allow a participating student to complete high
school and enroll in a program at an institution of higher education
that will enable the student to, on or before the fifth anniversary
of the date of the student's first day of high school, receive a
high school diploma and either:
(A) an applied associate degree, as defined by
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rule; or
(B) an academic associate degree, as defined by
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rule, with a completed
field of study curriculum developed under Section 61.823 that is
transferable [at least 60 semester credit hours] toward a
baccalaureate degree at one or more general academic teaching
institutions, as defined by Section 61.003;
(3) include articulation agreements with colleges,
universities, and technical schools in this state to provide a
participating student access to postsecondary educational and
training opportunities at a college, university, or technical
school; and
(4) provide a participating student flexibility in
class scheduling and academic mentoring.
SECTION 2. Section 51.4033, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.4033. REPORT OF NONTRANSFERABLE CREDIT. (a) Not
later than May [March] 1 of each year and in the form prescribed by
the coordinating board, each general academic teaching institution
shall provide to the coordinating board and the legislature a
report describing any courses in the Lower-Division Academic Course
Guide Manual or its successor adopted by the coordinating board for
which a student who transfers to the institution from another
institution of higher education is not granted:
(1) academic credit at the receiving institution; or
(2) if the student has declared a major and has not
changed majors, academic credit toward the student's major at the
receiving institution.
(b) A report required by this section must indicate:
(1) the course name and type;
(2) which institution of higher education provided
academic credit for the course; and
(3) the reason why the receiving institution did not
grant academic credit for the course as described by Subsection
(a), including whether the institution complied with the dispute
resolution process under Section 61.826.
SECTION 3. Section 51.4034(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Not later than May [March] 1 of each year and in the form
prescribed by the coordinating board, each public junior college
shall provide to the coordinating board and the legislature a
report on courses taken by students who, during the preceding
academic year, transferred to a general academic teaching
institution or earned an associate degree at the college.
SECTION 4. Section 61.823, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (b) to read as
follows:
(a-1) The board by rule may authorize a general academic
teaching institution to adopt, for each field of study curriculum
developed by the board for which the institution offers a degree
program, a set of courses specific to that field of study, not to
exceed a total of six semester credit hours or the equivalent, that
must be completed as part of the field of study curriculum for that
institution. Each general academic teaching institution that
adopts a set of courses for a field of study curriculum under this
subsection shall post on the institution's Internet website in a
manner easily accessible to students the set of courses with the
associated course numbers under the common course numbering system.
(b) If a student successfully completes a field of study
curriculum developed by the board, that block of courses may be
transferred to a general academic teaching institution and, subject
to completion of the set of courses adopted by the institution for
that field of study under Subsection (a-1), must be substituted for
that institution's lower division requirements for the degree
program for the field of study into which the student transfers, and
the student shall receive full academic credit toward the degree
program for the block of courses transferred.
SECTION 5. Sections 61.826(c), (d), and (e), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) If an institution of higher education proposes to deny
the application toward a student's degree requirements of [does not
accept] course credit earned by the [a] student at another
institution of higher education in the other institution's core
curriculum or in a field of study curriculum developed by the board
under Section 61.823, that institution must:
(1) [shall] give written notice to the student and the
other institution of that institution's intent to deny [that] the
application [transfer] of the course credit to the student's degree
requirements and the reasons for the proposed denial;
(2) [is denied. The two institutions and the student
shall] attempt to resolve the application [transfer] of the course
credit to the student's degree requirements with the other
institution and the student in accordance with board rules;
(3) resolve the dispute not later than the 45th day
after the date on which the student enrolls in that institution; and
(4) if [. If] the [transfer] dispute is not resolved
to the satisfaction of the student or the institution at which the
credit was earned, [within 45 days after the date the student
received written notice of the denial, the institution that denies
the transfer of the course credit shall] notify the commissioner of
higher education of its denial to apply the course credit to the
student's degree requirements and the reasons for the denial.
(d) Not later than the 20th business day after the date the
commissioner of higher education receives notice of a dispute
concerning the application of course credit to a student's degree
requirements under Subsection (c)(4), the [The] commissioner [of
higher education] or the commissioner's designee shall make the
final determination about the [a] dispute [concerning the transfer
of course credit] and give written notice of the determination to
the involved student and institutions. If the commissioner or the
commissioner's designee determines that the institution may not
deny the application of course credit described by Subsection (c)
to the student's degree requirements, the institution shall apply
that course credit toward the student's degree requirements. A
determination by the commissioner or the commissioner's designee
under this subsection is final and may not be appealed.
(e) The board shall:
(1) collect data on the types of transfer disputes
that are reported and the disposition of each case that is
considered by the commissioner of higher education or the
commissioner's designee; and
(2) post on the board's Internet website a list of each
case that is considered by the commissioner of higher education or
the commissioner's designee under this section, including the
disposition of the case.
SECTION 6. Subchapter S, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.834 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.834. TEXAS DIRECT ASSOCIATE DEGREE. An institution
of higher education shall award a student a "Texas Direct"
associate degree and include an appropriate notation on the
student's transcript if the student completes a field of study
curriculum developed by the board under Section 61.823 and:
(1) the institution's core curriculum; or
(2) 42 semester credit hours of lower-division courses
transferable to one or more general academic teaching institutions.
SECTION 7. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
academic year.
SECTION 8. 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, 2023.