By: Middleton, Creighton S.B. No. 2335
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the accreditation of public institutions of higher
education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter G-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER G-1. ACCREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Sec. 51.371. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Accrediting agency" means any organization,
association, or other entity that accredits postsecondary
educational institutions.
(2) "Commission" means the Texas Higher Education
Accreditation Commission established by this subchapter.
(3) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
(4) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003.
Sec. 51.372. TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION ACCREDITATION
COMMISSION. (a) The commission is administratively attached to
the coordinating board and directly accountable to the governor.
(b) The commission is composed of nine members of the public
appointed as follows:
(1) three members appointed by the governor;
(2) three members appointed by the lieutenant
governor; and
(3) three members appointed by the speaker of the
house of representatives.
(c) Members serve four-year terms and may not be removed
except by the person who appointed the member for wilful neglect of
duty or malfeasance.
(d) The governor shall appoint one member of the commission
as the presiding officer.
(e) The presiding officer shall:
(1) convene meetings of the commission; and
(2) coordinate and direct the activities of the
commission.
(f) At least two of the three commission members appointed
under Subsections (b)(1), (b)(2), and (b)(3) must be an employer or
representative of an association of employers in a target
occupations field, as determined by the Texas Workforce Commission.
(g) A person may not serve on the commission if the person
was employed by an accreditor recognized by the United States
Department of Education at any time during the five years preceding
the date on which the person would be appointed to the commission.
(h) A member of the commission is not entitled to
compensation but is entitled to reimbursement for the travel
expenses incurred by the member while transacting commission
business, as provided by the General Appropriations Act.
(i) The commission is subject to Chapters 551, 552, and
2001, Government Code.
Sec. 51.373. APPROVAL AND REVIEW OF ACCREDITING AGENCIES.
(a) The commission shall identify and approve at least three
accrediting agencies best suited to serve as accreditors for
institutions of higher education.
(b) Subject to Subsections (c) and (d), the commission shall
conduct a biennial evaluation of approved accrediting agencies.
The evaluation must rate each agency as unsatisfactory,
satisfactory, or exemplary based on evaluation standards
established by the commission. The commission shall publish the
evaluation standards on a publicly accessible Internet website.
(c) If an institution of higher education seeks
accreditation from a recognized accrediting agency, as defined by
Section 61.003, that the commission has not reviewed, the
commission shall evaluate the accrediting agency under Subsection
(b) not later than the fifth anniversary of the date the institution
receives accreditation from the accrediting agency.
(d) If at the time the commission would be required to
conduct an evaluation of an accrediting agency under Subsection (b)
the commission does not have sufficient information to conduct the
evaluation, the commission shall conduct the evaluation of the
accrediting agency as soon as practicable after obtaining the
necessary information.
(e) The commission's evaluation of each approved
accrediting agency must include an assessment of:
(1) evidence demonstrating the agency's focus on
educational and labor market outcomes for students attending an
institution accredited by the agency, including:
(A) the percentage of students who return to the
accredited institution after completing their first year of study;
(B) degree or credential completion and
graduation rates;
(C) the percentage of institution graduates
employed in a field related to the credential or degree received
within one year of graduation, to the extent that data is available;
(D) the median student loan debt among borrowers
attending the institution;
(E) the percentage of students at each accredited
institution who fully repay their student loans within the standard
10-year repayment period; and
(F) the median earnings of institution graduates
expressed as a yearly amount and as a percentage of median student
debt among borrowers, as reported by the U.S. Department of
Education's College Scorecard or successor tool; and
(2) evidence of whether the agency takes or considers
taking action with respect to an institution's accreditation in a
manner that would hinder or interfere with the authority of the
institution's governing board and the institution's accountability
to the legislature.
(f) The commission may revoke the approval of an approved
accrediting agency if the commission determines based on an
evaluation under this section that the agency should no longer be
approved.
(g) Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year,
the commission shall submit to the governor, lieutenant governor,
speaker of the house of representatives, Legislative Budget Board,
and chairs of the standing committees of each house of the
legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher education and
publish on a publicly accessible Internet website a report of the
evaluation made under this section. The report must include a
ranking of the performance of approved accrediting agencies and
information on any accrediting agency the commission determines
should no longer be approved due to poor performance.
Sec. 51.374. ACCREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
EDUCATION. (a) Each institution of higher education shall, at the
institution's expense, seek accreditation by an accrediting agency
approved by the commission with a performance rating of
satisfactory or higher.
(b) An institution of higher education accredited by an
accrediting agency that receives an unsatisfactory performance
rating from the commission shall, at the institution's expense,
obtain accreditation from a different approved accrediting agency
with at least a satisfactory performance rating not later than the
earlier of:
(1) the fifth anniversary of the date the agency
receives the unsatisfactory performance rating; or
(2) a date determined by coordinating board rule.
(c) An institution of higher education accredited by an
accrediting agency with a satisfactory performance rating shall, at
the institution's expense, obtain accreditation from a different
approved accrediting agency at the institution's next
accreditation renewal date after 15 years have elapsed from the
date of the institution's current accreditation.
(d) An institution of higher education accredited by an
accrediting agency with an exemplary performance rating may
continue to be accredited by that accrediting agency for as long as
the agency maintains an exemplary performance rating. If as a
result of an evaluation under Section 51.373 the commission assigns
the agency a rating other than exemplary, the institution shall, at
the institution's expense, obtain accreditation from a different
approved accrediting agency not later than:
(1) if the agency receives a satisfactory performance
rating, the 15th anniversary of the date the agency receives a
satisfactory performance rating; or
(2) if the agency receives an unsatisfactory
performance rating, the date described by Subsection (b).
Sec. 51.375. NOTICE OF NONCOMPLIANCE. (a) If the
commission determines that an institution of higher education has
failed to substantially comply with the requirements of Section
51.374, the commission shall provide the institution with written
notice of the institution's substantial noncompliance with that
section.
(b) An institution of higher education that receives notice
under Subsection (a) shall take corrective actions to comply with
the requirements of Section 51.374 not later than the 180th day
after the date of receipt of the notice. If the institution fails
to substantially comply with the requirements of Section 51.374 by
that date, the commission shall notify the comptroller of the
institution's noncompliance.
(c) On receipt of notice under Subsection (b), the
comptroller shall withhold all state funding from the noncompliant
institution of higher education until the commission notifies the
comptroller that the institution is substantially complying with
the requirements of Section 51.374.
Sec. 51.376. RULES. The coordinating board shall adopt
rules as necessary to implement this subchapter.
SECTION 2. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of
the house of representatives shall appoint the members to the Texas
Higher Education Accreditation Commission as provided by Section
51.372, Education Code, as added by this Act.
(b) The Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission
established under Subchapter G-1, Chapter 51, Education Code, as
added by this Act, shall identify and approve accrediting agencies
as required by Section 51.373(a), Education Code, as added by this
Act, not later than September 1, 2024.
SECTION 3. (a) In this section, "commission" means the
Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission.
(b) Notwithstanding any other section of this Act, in a
state fiscal year, the commission is not required to implement a
provision found in another section of this Act that is drafted as a
mandatory provision imposing a duty on the commission to take an
action unless money is specifically appropriated to the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board for that fiscal year to carry
out that duty. The commission may implement the provision in that
fiscal year to the extent other funding is available to the
commission to do so.
(c) If, as authorized by Subsection (b) of this section, the
commission does not implement the mandatory provision in a state
fiscal year, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in its
legislative budget request for the next state fiscal biennium,
shall certify that fact to the Legislative Budget Board and include
a written estimate of the costs of implementing the provision in
each year of that next state fiscal biennium.
(d) This section and the suspension of the commission's duty
to implement a mandatory provision of this Act, as provided by
Subsection (b) of this section, expire and the duty to implement the
mandatory provision resumes on September 1, 2027.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.