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BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center

S.B. 1963

87R11925 KJE-D

By: West

 

Higher Education

 

4/6/2021

 

As Filed

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

S.B. 25, passed in the 86th Legislature requires general academic teaching institutions to provide annually to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and the legislature a report describing nontransferable credit for transfer students. Specifically, institutions are required to report any courses in the Lower Division Academic Course Guide Manual for which a student who transfers to the institution from another institution of higher education is not granted: academic credit at the receiving institution; or if the student has declared a major and has not changed majors, academic credit toward the student's major at the receiving institution.

 

The report must indicate the course name and type, which institution of higher education (HEI) provided academic credit for the course, and the reason why the receiving institution did not grant academic credit for the course. Public community colleges are required to report 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.

 

The report must include the total number of courses attempted and completed at the college disaggregated by lower-division academic courses or workforce education courses, courses not in the core curriculum, and dual credit courses. Institutions began submitting data to THECB in November.

 

The first report was due March 1, 2021. Using this statutory requirements above, S.B. 1963 would require HEIs to place on their website a transferability report card that would indicate the number of credit hours transferred to their campus yearly and the percentage of those hours that were successfully accepted for transfer towards a degree. This would be their transferability percentage rate. The information would come from the before-mentioned report that is submitted to THECB and THECB would work, in conjunction with 2-year and 4-year HEIs, and THECB related advisory committees/councils, to create the template that is to be placed on each website. THECB would also have on their website a list of all of the higher education institutions and their transferability percentage rates.

 

As proposed, S.B. 1963 amends current law relating to a transferability report card for public institutions of higher education.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1.  Amends Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, by adding Section 51.96854, as follows:

Sec. 51.96854.  TRANSFERABILITY REPORT CARD. (a) Defines "coordinating board" and "institution of higher education."

(b) Requires an institution of higher education, not later than March 1 of each year, to post on the institution's Internet website a transferability report card that indicates for the preceding academic year:

(1)  the total number of semester credit hours or the equivalent for which undergraduate students transferring to the institution applied for transfer credit; and

(2)  the percentage of the semester credit hours or the equivalent described by Subdivision (1) for which students received transfer credit.

(c)  Requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), in consultation with institutions of higher education, to develop a model transferability report card for use under Subsection (b).

(d) Requires THECB, not later than April 1 of each year, to post on THECB's Internet website a list of each institution of higher education's transferability percentage described by Subsection (b)(2).

SECTION 2.  Requires THECB, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act, to develop the model transferability report card required under Section 51.96854(c), Education Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 3. (a) Requires each public institution of higher education, not later than March 1, 2022, to post on the institution's Internet website the initial transferability report card required under Section 51.96854(b), Education Code, as added by this Act.

(b) Requires THECB, not later than April 1, 2022, to post on THECB's Internet website the initial list required under Section 51.96854(d), Education Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 2021.