S.B. No. 3039

AN ACT

relating to the transfer of students in public higher education and to transparency regarding certificate or degree program requirements.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 51.4033 and 51.4034, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

Sec. 51.4033. TRANSFER REPORT [OF NONTRANSFERABLE CREDIT]. (a) Not later than May 1 of each year and in the form prescribed by the coordinating board, each general academic teaching institution shall provide to the coordinating board and the legislature a report that:

(1) describes [describing] any courses in the Lower-Division Academic Course Guide Manual or its successor adopted by the coordinating board for which a student who transfers to the institution from another institution of higher education is not granted:

(A) [(1)] academic credit at the receiving institution; or

(B) [(2)] if the student has declared a major and has not changed majors, academic credit toward the student's major at the receiving institution;

(2) details the institution's goals to increase the number, success, and persistence, as measured by the coordinating board, of students who transfer to the institution from a public junior college;

(3) assesses the institution's academic and technical transfer pathways;

(4) identifies:

(A) any existing barriers to transferring to the institution; and

(B) emerging issues affecting transfer students at the institution;

(5) details the institution's actions to serve current and prospective transfer students through local and regional articulation agreements that include:

(A) faculty collaboration;

(B) public junior college program enhancements;

(C) student outreach and advising services;

(D) website information development;

(E) targeted financial aid;

(F) student success programs; and

(G) degree program alignment; and

(6) contains any other information relating to the transfer of academic credit to the institution required by coordinating board rule.

(b) A report required by this section must indicate for each course described by Subsection (a)(1):

(1) the course name, [and] type, and common course number;

(2) the name of:

(A) the institution of higher education or other postsecondary educational institution at which the student completed the course; and

(B) the [which] institution of higher education that awarded or transcribed [provided] academic credit for the course; and

(3) the reason why the receiving institution did not grant academic credit for the course as described by Subsection (a), including whether the institution complied with the dispute resolution process under Section 61.826.

(c) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the coordinating board shall submit to the governor, the Legislative Budget Board, the house appropriations committee, and the senate finance committee a report that evaluates actions to increase the number, success, and persistence of students who transfer to a general academic teaching institution from a public junior college. The report must include:

(1) a comparative analysis of institution reports and performance data, including application and admission rates, financial aid awarded, time-to-degree, and baccalaureate graduation rates of students, including transfer students, by program completion at public junior colleges and general academic teaching institutions during the preceding academic year;

(2) a study of public junior college transfer practices; and

(3) recommendations for legislative or other action to meet the transfer student-related goals of the state's master plan for higher education developed under Section 61.051.

(d) The coordinating board may adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

Sec. 51.4034. REPORT OF COURSES TAKEN AT PUBLIC JUNIOR COLLEGES. (a) Not later than May 1 of each year and in the form prescribed by the coordinating board, each public junior college shall provide to the coordinating board and the legislature a report on courses taken by students who, during the preceding academic year, transferred to a general academic teaching institution, completed a field of study curriculum, or earned an associate degree at the college.

(b) A report required by this section must include:

(1) the total number of:

(A) [(1)] courses attempted and completed at the college, including the total number of semester credit hours for those courses, disaggregated by whether the course is in:

(i) [(A)] the Workforce Education Course Manual or its successor adopted by the coordinating board; or

(ii) [(B)] the Lower-Division Academic Course Guide Manual or its successor adopted by the coordinating board;

(B) [(2)] courses attempted and completed at the college that are not in the recommended core curriculum developed by the coordinating board under Section 61.822; and

(C) [(3)] dual credit courses, including courses for joint high school and junior college credit under Section 130.008, attempted and completed at the college; and

(2) any other relevant information required by coordinating board rule.

(c) The coordinating board may adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

SECTION 2. Subchapter H, Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 51.4035 to read as follows:

Sec. 51.4035. PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION REGARDING DENIAL OF TRANSFER CREDIT. (a) Each institution of higher education shall maintain on the admissions page of the institution's Internet website a list of:

(1) the five majors or degree or certificate programs offered by the institution with the highest number of courses for which academic credit is denied or not applied toward the major or program; and

(2) the five courses for each major or degree or certificate program described by Subdivision (1) for which academic credit is most frequently denied because the credit is not applicable toward the major or program.

(b) The coordinating board annually shall provide to each institution of higher education a list of the courses described by Subsection (a)(2).

(c) The coordinating board may adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 61.07771 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.07771. TRANSPARENCY IN CERTIFICATE AND DEGREE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. (a) The board, in consultation with institutions of higher education, shall adopt rules requiring institutions of higher education to provide transparency in certificate and degree program requirements for students enrolling at or transferring to the institution.

(b) The rules must require each institution of higher education to:

(1) ensure that the requirements for each certificate or degree program offered by the institution:

(A) are current, accessible to students enrolled at the institution and members of the public through the following sources, as applicable, and uniform at each of the following sources:

(i) the institution's internal Internet website for students;

(ii) the institution's Internet website; and

(iii) the Internet website of the department at the institution that offers the certificate or degree program; and

(B) state:

(i) the prerequisites for each course required as part of the certificate or degree program; and

(ii) any non-course requirements for the certificate or degree program and, if the institution offers different tracks for completing the program, those requirements for each track; and

(2) post on the institution's Internet website the minimum requirements to be accepted as a transfer student at the institution.

SECTION 4. Subchapter S, Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 61.8231 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.8231. TRANSFER LIAISON. (a) Each institution of higher education, using existing resources, shall designate at least one employee of the institution to serve as a single point of contact for other institutions of higher education and the board regarding transfer issues and to act as a liaison officer for current or incoming students at the institution who will transfer into or out of the institution.

(b) On a transfer or request to transfer to or from an institution of higher education, the institution's transfer liaison shall provide a current, former, or prospective student, as applicable, with:

(1) a complete and current list of the institution's core curriculum applicable to the student;

(2) a complete and current list of the institution's field of study curricula that may be applicable to the student;

(3) for a receiving institution, a list of courses completed by the student:

(A) for which the institution will accept academic credit; and

(B) for which the institution proposes to deny academic credit in accordance with Section 61.826, including the procedures for credit transfer dispute required by that section; and

(4) any other information required by board rule.

(c) On the admission of a transfer student, the receiving institution of higher education's transfer liaison shall assist the student in obtaining a degree audit to determine whether the student's completed coursework satisfies the institution's core curriculum, satisfies a field of study curriculum of the institution, or qualifies the student to be awarded a Texas Direct associate degree under Section 61.834 or any other degree or certificate offered by the institution.

(d) The board shall adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

SECTION 5. (a) Not later than January 1, 2026, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt the rules required by Section 61.07771, Education Code, as added by this Act.

(b) A public institution of higher education shall comply with the rules adopted under Subsection (a) of this section beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year.

SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year.

SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 3039 passed the Senate on May 6, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 30, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 3039 passed the House, with amendments, on May 28, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 77, Nays 60, four present not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

______________________________

Date

______________________________

Governor