Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1322 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R9188 CXP-F
2	2	By: Hagenbuch S.B. No. 1322
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the accreditation of public institutions of higher
10	10	education.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding
13	13	Subchapter G-1 to read as follows:
14	14	SUBCHAPTER G-1. ACCREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
15	15	Sec. 51.371. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
16	16	(1) "Accrediting agency" means any organization,
17	17	association, or other entity that accredits postsecondary
18	18	educational institutions.
19	19	(2) "Commission" means the Texas Higher Education
20	20	Accreditation Commission established by this subchapter.
21	21	(3) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
22	22	Education Coordinating Board.
23	23	(4) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
24	24	assigned by Section 61.003.
25	25	Sec. 51.372. TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION ACCREDITATION
26	26	COMMISSION. (a) The commission is administratively attached to
27	27	the coordinating board and directly accountable to the governor.
28	28	(b) The commission is composed of nine members of the public
29	29	appointed as follows:
30	30	(1) three members appointed by the governor;
31	31	(2) three members appointed by the lieutenant
32	32	governor; and
33	33	(3) three members appointed by the speaker of the
34	34	house of representatives.
35	35	(c) Members serve four-year terms and may not be removed
36	36	except by the person who appointed the member for wilful neglect of
37	37	duty or malfeasance.
38	38	(d) The governor shall appoint one member of the commission
39	39	as the presiding officer.
40	40	(e) The presiding officer shall:
41	41	(1) convene meetings of the commission; and
42	42	(2) coordinate and direct the activities of the
43	43	commission.
44	44	(f) At least two of the three commission members appointed
45	45	under Subsections (b)(1), (2), and (3) must be employers or
46	46	representatives of an association of employers in a target
47	47	occupations field, as determined by the Texas Workforce Commission.
48	48	(g) A person may not serve on the commission if the person
49	49	was employed by an accreditor recognized by the United States
50	50	Department of Education at any time during the five years preceding
51	51	the date on which the person would be appointed to the commission.
52	52	(h) A member of the commission is not entitled to
53	53	compensation but is entitled to reimbursement for the travel
54	54	expenses incurred by the member while transacting commission
55	55	business, as provided by the General Appropriations Act.
56	56	(i) The commission is subject to Chapters 551, 552, and
57	57	2001, Government Code.
58	58	Sec. 51.373. APPROVAL AND REVIEW OF ACCREDITING AGENCIES.
59	59	(a) The commission shall identify and approve at least three
60	60	accrediting agencies best suited to serve as accreditors for
61	61	institutions of higher education.
62	62	(b) Subject to Subsections (c) and (d), the commission shall
63	63	conduct a biennial evaluation of approved accrediting agencies.
64	64	The evaluation must rate each agency as unsatisfactory,
65	65	satisfactory, or exemplary based on evaluation standards
66	66	established by the commission. The commission shall publish the
67	67	evaluation standards on a publicly accessible Internet website.
68	68	(c) If an institution of higher education seeks
69	69	accreditation from a recognized accrediting agency, as defined by
70	70	Section 61.003, that the commission has not reviewed, the
71	71	commission shall evaluate the accrediting agency under Subsection
72	72	(b) not later than the fifth anniversary of the date the institution
73	73	receives accreditation from the accrediting agency.
74	74	(d) If at the time the commission would be required to
75	75	conduct an evaluation of an accrediting agency under Subsection (b)
76	76	the commission does not have sufficient information to conduct the
77	77	evaluation, the commission shall conduct the evaluation of the
78	78	accrediting agency as soon as practicable after obtaining the
79	79	necessary information.
80	80	(e) The commission's evaluation of each approved
81	81	accrediting agency must include an assessment of:
82	82	(1) evidence demonstrating the agency's focus on
83	83	educational and labor market outcomes for students attending an
84	84	institution accredited by the agency, including:
85	85	(A) the percentage of students who return to the
86	86	accredited institution after completing their first year of study;
87	87	(B) degree or credential completion and
88	88	graduation rates;
89	89	(C) the percentage of institution graduates
90	90	employed in a field related to the credential or degree received
91	91	within one year of graduation, to the extent that data is available;
92	92	(D) the median student loan debt among borrowers
93	93	attending the institution;
94	94	(E) the percentage of students at each accredited
95	95	institution who fully repay their student loans within the standard
96	96	10-year repayment period; and
97	97	(F) the median earnings of institution graduates
98	98	expressed as a yearly amount and as a percentage of median student
99	99	debt among borrowers, as reported by the U.S. Department of
100	100	Education's College Scorecard or successor tool; and
101	101	(2) evidence of whether the agency takes or considers
102	102	taking action with respect to an institution's accreditation in a
103	103	manner that would hinder or interfere with the authority of the
104	104	institution's governing board and the institution's accountability
105	105	to the legislature.
106	106	(f) The commission may revoke the approval of an approved
107	107	accrediting agency if the commission determines based on an
108	108	evaluation under this section that the agency should no longer be
109	109	approved.
110	110	(g) Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year,
111	111	the commission shall submit to the governor, lieutenant governor,
112	112	speaker of the house of representatives, Legislative Budget Board,
113	113	and chairs of the standing committees of each house of the
114	114	legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher education and
115	115	publish on a publicly accessible Internet website a report of the
116	116	evaluation made under this section. The report must include a
117	117	ranking of the performance of approved accrediting agencies and
118	118	information on any accrediting agency the commission determines
119	119	should no longer be approved due to poor performance.
120	120	Sec. 51.374. ACCREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
121	121	EDUCATION. (a) Each institution of higher education shall, at the
122	122	institution's expense, seek accreditation by an accrediting agency
123	123	approved by the commission with a performance rating of
124	124	satisfactory or higher.
125	125	(b) An institution of higher education accredited by an
126	126	accrediting agency that receives an unsatisfactory performance
127	127	rating from the commission shall, at the institution's expense,
128	128	obtain accreditation from a different approved accrediting agency
129	129	with at least a satisfactory performance rating not later than the
130	130	earlier of:
131	131	(1) the fifth anniversary of the date the agency
132	132	receives the unsatisfactory performance rating; or
133	133	(2) a date determined by coordinating board rule.
134	134	(c) An institution of higher education accredited by an
135	135	accrediting agency with a satisfactory performance rating shall, at
136	136	the institution's expense, obtain accreditation from a different
137	137	approved accrediting agency at the institution's next
138	138	accreditation renewal date after 15 years have elapsed from the
139	139	date of the institution's current accreditation.
140	140	(d) An institution of higher education accredited by an
141	141	accrediting agency with an exemplary performance rating may
142	142	continue to be accredited by that accrediting agency for as long as
143	143	the agency maintains an exemplary performance rating. If as a
144	144	result of an evaluation under Section 51.373 the commission assigns
145	145	the agency a rating other than exemplary, the institution shall, at
146	146	the institution's expense, obtain accreditation from a different
147	147	approved accrediting agency not later than:
148	148	(1) if the agency receives a satisfactory performance
149	149	rating, the 15th anniversary of the date the agency receives a
150	150	satisfactory performance rating; or
151	151	(2) if the agency receives an unsatisfactory
152	152	performance rating, the date described by Subsection (b).
153	153	Sec. 51.375. NOTICE OF NONCOMPLIANCE. (a) If the
154	154	commission determines that an institution of higher education has
155	155	failed to substantially comply with the requirements of Section
156	156	51.374, the commission shall provide the institution with written
157	157	notice of the institution's substantial noncompliance with that
158	158	section.
159	159	(b) An institution of higher education that receives notice
160	160	under Subsection (a) shall take corrective actions to comply with
161	161	the requirements of Section 51.374 not later than the 180th day
162	162	after the date of receipt of the notice. If the institution fails
163	163	to substantially comply with the requirements of Section 51.374 by
164	164	that date, the commission shall notify the comptroller of the
165	165	institution's noncompliance.
166	166	(c) On receipt of notice under Subsection (b), the
167	167	comptroller shall withhold all state funding from the noncompliant
168	168	institution of higher education until the commission notifies the
169	169	comptroller that the institution is substantially complying with
170	170	the requirements of Section 51.374.
171	171	Sec. 51.376. RULES. The coordinating board shall adopt
172	172	rules as necessary to implement this subchapter.
173	173	SECTION 2. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
174	174	date of this Act, the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of
175	175	the house of representatives shall appoint the members to the Texas
176	176	Higher Education Accreditation Commission as provided by Section
177	177	51.372, Education Code, as added by this Act.
178	178	(b) The Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission
179	179	established under Subchapter G-1, Chapter 51, Education Code, as
180	180	added by this Act, shall identify and approve accrediting agencies
181	181	as required by Section 51.373(a), Education Code, as added by this
182	182	Act, not later than September 1, 2026.
183	183	SECTION 3. (a) In this section, "commission" means the
184	184	Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission.
185	185	(b) Notwithstanding any other section of this Act, in a
186	186	state fiscal year, the commission is not required to implement a
187	187	provision found in another section of this Act that is drafted as a
188	188	mandatory provision imposing a duty on the commission to take an
189	189	action unless money is specifically appropriated to the Texas
190	190	Higher Education Coordinating Board for that fiscal year to carry
191	191	out that duty. The commission may implement the provision in that
192	192	fiscal year to the extent other funding is available to the
193	193	commission to do so.
194	194	(c) If, as authorized by Subsection (b) of this section, the
195	195	commission does not implement the mandatory provision in a state
196	196	fiscal year, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in its
197	197	legislative budget request for the next state fiscal biennium,
198	198	shall certify that fact to the Legislative Budget Board and include
199	199	a written estimate of the costs of implementing the provision in
200	200	each year of that next state fiscal biennium.
201	201	(d) This section and the suspension of the commission's duty
202	202	to implement a mandatory provision of this Act, as provided by
203	203	Subsection (b) of this section, expire and the duty to implement the
204	204	mandatory provision resumes on September 1, 2029.
205	205	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.