Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2335 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Middleton, Creighton S.B. No. 2335
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the accreditation of public institutions of higher
7	7	education.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding
10	10	Subchapter G-1 to read as follows:
11	11	SUBCHAPTER G-1. ACCREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
12	12	Sec. 51.371. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
13	13	(1) "Accrediting agency" means any organization,
14	14	association, or other entity that accredits postsecondary
15	15	educational institutions.
16	16	(2) "Commission" means the Texas Higher Education
17	17	Accreditation Commission established by this subchapter.
18	18	(3) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
19	19	Education Coordinating Board.
20	20	(4) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
21	21	assigned by Section 61.003.
22	22	Sec. 51.372. TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION ACCREDITATION
23	23	COMMISSION. (a) The commission is administratively attached to
24	24	the coordinating board and directly accountable to the governor.
25	25	(b) The commission is composed of nine members of the public
26	26	appointed as follows:
27	27	(1) three members appointed by the governor;
28	28	(2) three members appointed by the lieutenant
29	29	governor; and
30	30	(3) three members appointed by the speaker of the
31	31	house of representatives.
32	32	(c) Members serve four-year terms and may not be removed
33	33	except by the person who appointed the member for wilful neglect of
34	34	duty or malfeasance.
35	35	(d) The governor shall appoint one member of the commission
36	36	as the presiding officer.
37	37	(e) The presiding officer shall:
38	38	(1) convene meetings of the commission; and
39	39	(2) coordinate and direct the activities of the
40	40	commission.
41	41	(f) At least two of the three commission members appointed
42	42	under Subsections (b)(1), (b)(2), and (b)(3) must be an employer or
43	43	representative of an association of employers in a target
44	44	occupations field, as determined by the Texas Workforce Commission.
45	45	(g) A person may not serve on the commission if the person
46	46	was employed by an accreditor recognized by the United States
47	47	Department of Education at any time during the five years preceding
48	48	the date on which the person would be appointed to the commission.
49	49	(h) A member of the commission is not entitled to
50	50	compensation but is entitled to reimbursement for the travel
51	51	expenses incurred by the member while transacting commission
52	52	business, as provided by the General Appropriations Act.
53	53	(i) The commission is subject to Chapters 551, 552, and
54	54	2001, Government Code.
55	55	Sec. 51.373. APPROVAL AND REVIEW OF ACCREDITING AGENCIES.
56	56	(a) The commission shall identify and approve at least three
57	57	accrediting agencies best suited to serve as accreditors for
58	58	institutions of higher education.
59	59	(b) Subject to Subsections (c) and (d), the commission shall
60	60	conduct a biennial evaluation of approved accrediting agencies.
61	61	The evaluation must rate each agency as unsatisfactory,
62	62	satisfactory, or exemplary based on evaluation standards
63	63	established by the commission. The commission shall publish the
64	64	evaluation standards on a publicly accessible Internet website.
65	65	(c) If an institution of higher education seeks
66	66	accreditation from a recognized accrediting agency, as defined by
67	67	Section 61.003, that the commission has not reviewed, the
68	68	commission shall evaluate the accrediting agency under Subsection
69	69	(b) not later than the fifth anniversary of the date the institution
70	70	receives accreditation from the accrediting agency.
71	71	(d) If at the time the commission would be required to
72	72	conduct an evaluation of an accrediting agency under Subsection (b)
73	73	the commission does not have sufficient information to conduct the
74	74	evaluation, the commission shall conduct the evaluation of the
75	75	accrediting agency as soon as practicable after obtaining the
76	76	necessary information.
77	77	(e) The commission's evaluation of each approved
78	78	accrediting agency must include an assessment of:
79	79	(1) evidence demonstrating the agency's focus on
80	80	educational and labor market outcomes for students attending an
81	81	institution accredited by the agency, including:
82	82	(A) the percentage of students who return to the
83	83	accredited institution after completing their first year of study;
84	84	(B) degree or credential completion and
85	85	graduation rates;
86	86	(C) the percentage of institution graduates
87	87	employed in a field related to the credential or degree received
88	88	within one year of graduation, to the extent that data is available;
89	89	(D) the median student loan debt among borrowers
90	90	attending the institution;
91	91	(E) the percentage of students at each accredited
92	92	institution who fully repay their student loans within the standard
93	93	10-year repayment period; and
94	94	(F) the median earnings of institution graduates
95	95	expressed as a yearly amount and as a percentage of median student
96	96	debt among borrowers, as reported by the U.S. Department of
97	97	Education's College Scorecard or successor tool; and
98	98	(2) evidence of whether the agency takes or considers
99	99	taking action with respect to an institution's accreditation in a
100	100	manner that would hinder or interfere with the authority of the
101	101	institution's governing board and the institution's accountability
102	102	to the legislature.
103	103	(f) The commission may revoke the approval of an approved
104	104	accrediting agency if the commission determines based on an
105	105	evaluation under this section that the agency should no longer be
106	106	approved.
107	107	(g) Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year,
108	108	the commission shall submit to the governor, lieutenant governor,
109	109	speaker of the house of representatives, Legislative Budget Board,
110	110	and chairs of the standing committees of each house of the
111	111	legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher education and
112	112	publish on a publicly accessible Internet website a report of the
113	113	evaluation made under this section. The report must include a
114	114	ranking of the performance of approved accrediting agencies and
115	115	information on any accrediting agency the commission determines
116	116	should no longer be approved due to poor performance.
117	117	Sec. 51.374. ACCREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
118	118	EDUCATION. (a) Each institution of higher education shall, at the
119	119	institution's expense, seek accreditation by an accrediting agency
120	120	approved by the commission with a performance rating of
121	121	satisfactory or higher.
122	122	(b) An institution of higher education accredited by an
123	123	accrediting agency that receives an unsatisfactory performance
124	124	rating from the commission shall, at the institution's expense,
125	125	obtain accreditation from a different approved accrediting agency
126	126	with at least a satisfactory performance rating not later than the
127	127	earlier of:
128	128	(1) the fifth anniversary of the date the agency
129	129	receives the unsatisfactory performance rating; or
130	130	(2) a date determined by coordinating board rule.
131	131	(c) An institution of higher education accredited by an
132	132	accrediting agency with a satisfactory performance rating shall, at
133	133	the institution's expense, obtain accreditation from a different
134	134	approved accrediting agency at the institution's next
135	135	accreditation renewal date after 15 years have elapsed from the
136	136	date of the institution's current accreditation.
137	137	(d) An institution of higher education accredited by an
138	138	accrediting agency with an exemplary performance rating may
139	139	continue to be accredited by that accrediting agency for as long as
140	140	the agency maintains an exemplary performance rating. If as a
141	141	result of an evaluation under Section 51.373 the commission assigns
142	142	the agency a rating other than exemplary, the institution shall, at
143	143	the institution's expense, obtain accreditation from a different
144	144	approved accrediting agency not later than:
145	145	(1) if the agency receives a satisfactory performance
146	146	rating, the 15th anniversary of the date the agency receives a
147	147	satisfactory performance rating; or
148	148	(2) if the agency receives an unsatisfactory
149	149	performance rating, the date described by Subsection (b).
150	150	Sec. 51.375. NOTICE OF NONCOMPLIANCE. (a) If the
151	151	commission determines that an institution of higher education has
152	152	failed to substantially comply with the requirements of Section
153	153	51.374, the commission shall provide the institution with written
154	154	notice of the institution's substantial noncompliance with that
155	155	section.
156	156	(b) An institution of higher education that receives notice
157	157	under Subsection (a) shall take corrective actions to comply with
158	158	the requirements of Section 51.374 not later than the 180th day
159	159	after the date of receipt of the notice. If the institution fails
160	160	to substantially comply with the requirements of Section 51.374 by
161	161	that date, the commission shall notify the comptroller of the
162	162	institution's noncompliance.
163	163	(c) On receipt of notice under Subsection (b), the
164	164	comptroller shall withhold all state funding from the noncompliant
165	165	institution of higher education until the commission notifies the
166	166	comptroller that the institution is substantially complying with
167	167	the requirements of Section 51.374.
168	168	Sec. 51.376. RULES. The coordinating board shall adopt
169	169	rules as necessary to implement this subchapter.
170	170	SECTION 2. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
171	171	date of this Act, the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of
172	172	the house of representatives shall appoint the members to the Texas
173	173	Higher Education Accreditation Commission as provided by Section
174	174	51.372, Education Code, as added by this Act.
175	175	(b) The Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission
176	176	established under Subchapter G-1, Chapter 51, Education Code, as
177	177	added by this Act, shall identify and approve accrediting agencies
178	178	as required by Section 51.373(a), Education Code, as added by this
179	179	Act, not later than September 1, 2024.
180	180	SECTION 3. (a) In this section, "commission" means the
181	181	Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission.
182	182	(b) Notwithstanding any other section of this Act, in a
183	183	state fiscal year, the commission is not required to implement a
184	184	provision found in another section of this Act that is drafted as a
185	185	mandatory provision imposing a duty on the commission to take an
186	186	action unless money is specifically appropriated to the Texas
187	187	Higher Education Coordinating Board for that fiscal year to carry
188	188	out that duty. The commission may implement the provision in that
189	189	fiscal year to the extent other funding is available to the
190	190	commission to do so.
191	191	(c) If, as authorized by Subsection (b) of this section, the
192	192	commission does not implement the mandatory provision in a state
193	193	fiscal year, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in its
194	194	legislative budget request for the next state fiscal biennium,
195	195	shall certify that fact to the Legislative Budget Board and include
196	196	a written estimate of the costs of implementing the provision in
197	197	each year of that next state fiscal biennium.
198	198	(d) This section and the suspension of the commission's duty
199	199	to implement a mandatory provision of this Act, as provided by
200	200	Subsection (b) of this section, expire and the duty to implement the
201	201	mandatory provision resumes on September 1, 2027.
202	202	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.