Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2714 Compare Versions

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

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1	1	By: Middleton S.B. No. 2714
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6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to a prohibition on public institutions of higher
9	9	education requiring students to enroll in certain courses to
10	10	complete a certificate or degree program, using such courses to
11	11	satisfy general education requirements, funding such courses using
12	12	state appropriations, or requiring related faculty practices, and
13	13	to freshman student orientation at those institutions.
14	14	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	15	SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
16	16	amended by adding Section 51.311 to read as follows:
17	17	Sec. 51.311. PROHIBITION ON REQUIRING CERTAIN COURSES. (a)
18	18	In this section:
19	19	(1) "governing board" and "institution of higher
20	20	education" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.
21	21	(2) "general education curriculum" means "core
22	22	curriculum" as assigned by Section 61.821(1) and any content-based
23	23	academic course requirement or guideline applicable to all students
24	24	of a college within a university.
25	25	(3) "constrain" means:
26	26	(A) establishing required curricular course
27	27	classifications based upon, or
28	28	(B) failing during any semester to provide
29	29	sufficient open seats in alternative courses for a student to
30	30	complete or progress toward completion of a degree or program
31	31	requirements.
32	32	(b) Except as provided by Subsections (d) and (e), the
33	33	governing board of an institution of higher education shall
34	34	prescribe courses and programs at the institution in a manner that
35	35	does not require or constrain students enrolled at the institution
36	36	to complete, as part of any program or degree requirement, a course
37	37	whose course description, course overview, course objectives,
38	38	proposed student learning outcomes, written examinations, or
39	39	written or oral assignments for which the student will receive a
40	40	grade do any of the following:
41	41	(1) relate to contemporary American society the topic
42	42	of critical theory, whiteness, systemic racism, institutional
43	43	racism, anti-racism, microaggressions, systemic or structural
44	44	bias, implicit bias, unconscious bias, intersectionality, gender
45	45	identity, social justice, cultural competence, decolonization,
46	46	allyship, race-based reparations, race- or gender-based privilege,
47	47	race- or gender-based diversity, race- or gender-based equity,
48	48	race- or gender-based inclusion, race- or gender-based
49	49	stratification, race- or gender-based power, or race- or
50	50	gender-based marginalization;
51	51	(2) promote the idea that racially neutral or
52	52	colorblind laws, policies, or institutions perpetuate oppression,
53	53	injustice, race-based privilege, including white supremacy or
54	54	white privilege, or inequity by failing to actively differentiate
55	55	on the basis of race, sex, or gender;
56	56	(3) promote the differential treatment of any
57	57	individual or group of individuals based on race or ethnicity in
58	58	contemporary American society;
59	59	(4) promote the idea that a student is biased on
60	60	account of the student's race or sex.
61	61	(c) Except as provided by Subsections (d) and (e), an
62	62	institution of higher education or the institution's employee may
63	63	not require, solicit, or incentivize the institution's faculty
64	64	members to, as a condition of approving a course, certificate, or
65	65	degree program or as a factor in the faculty member's performance
66	66	assessment or a decision regarding the faculty member's promotion,
67	67	tenure, salary, or any other incentive:
68	68	(1) include in a course content described by
69	69	Subsection (b);
70	70	(2) include or curate instructional materials on the
71	71	basis of the race, sex, or gender identity of the author or authors;
72	72	(3) participate in a workshop, training, seminar or
73	73	professional development on content described by Subsection (b).
74	74	(d) The governing board of an institution of higher
75	75	education may exempt in writing from the prohibitions under
76	76	Subsections (b) and (c) courses required for a certificate or
77	77	degree program whose title clearly establishes the program's course
78	78	of study as primarily focused on racial, ethnic, or gender studies,
79	79	provided that each of the following applies:
80	80	(1) a student enrolled at the institution is not
81	81	required or constrained to enroll in such a course to satisfy the
82	82	requirements of any other certificate or degree program.
83	83	(2) courses offered or listed under such programs
84	84	shall satisfy the academic degree program requirements of those
85	85	respective programs only and shall not be used to satisfy the degree
86	86	or program requirements for general education or other major,
87	87	minor, or certificate requirements beyond satisfying overall
88	88	university credit hour graduation requirements.
89	89	(3) the title of any currently established department
90	90	or degree or certificate program is not altered or replaced to
91	91	establish an emphasis on racial, ethnic, or gender studies.
92	92	(e) Subsections (b) and (c) shall not be construed to
93	93	prohibit:
94	94	(1) identifying and discussing historical movements,
95	95	ideologies or instances of racial hatred or discrimination,
96	96	including, but not limited to slavery, Indian removal, the
97	97	Holocaust, or Japanese-American internment.
98	98	(2) identifying genetic predispositions,
99	99	epidemiology, or physiology in medical education or biological
100	100	sciences that does not posit race-based injustice, discrimination,
101	101	or oppression.
102	102	(3) the identification of differences between, or bona
103	103	fide qualifications based on, biological sex that are reasonably
104	104	necessary to the normal operation of public institutions.
105	105	(f) The governing board of an institution of higher
106	106	education shall prescribe general education curricula in a manner
107	107	that does not include courses that distort significant historical
108	108	events or include curriculum that teaches identity politics or is
109	109	based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and
110	110	privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and
111	111	were created to maintain social, political, and economic
112	112	inequities.
113	113	(g) Nothing in this section may be construed to limit any
114	114	programming explicitly required by, and limited to, the institution
115	115	of higher education's obligations to comply with state or federal
116	116	anti-discrimination law or an applicable court order.
117	117	(h) A public institution of higher education may not require
118	118	a student to complete an additional course to meet a course
119	119	requirement that was completed by the student with a course that has
120	120	since been removed as meeting a general education or program
121	121	requirement.
122	122	(i) Beginning with the fiscal year beginning September 1,
123	123	2026, each public institution of higher education shall include as
124	124	part of its annual report to the Texas Higher Education
125	125	Coordinating Board as provided by Section 51.3525, Subsection (e)
126	126	certification of its compliance with this section. Violations of
127	127	this section shall be subject to the procedures provided by Section
128	128	51.3525, Subsections (g) through (i).
129	129	SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
130	130	amended by adding Section 51.312 to read as follows:
131	131	Sec. 51.312. REQUIRED SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR CERTAIN
132	132	COURSES. (a) Instructional expenses associated with courses
133	133	specified in Section 51.311(b) shall not be funded by state
134	134	appropriations.
135	135	Section 3. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Act or its
136	136	application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
137	137	invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this
138	138	Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or
139	139	application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are declared
140	140	to be severable.
141	141	SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
142	142	academic year.
143	143	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
144	144	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
145	145	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
146	146	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
147	147	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.