Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 3443	House Author:  Howard, Donna
Effective:  6-15-07	Senate Sponsor:  West, Royce et al.

            House Bill 3443 amends the Education Code to establish a grant program administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, whereby the board makes grants to hospital-based nursing education partnerships to help meet the state's needs for registered nurses.  The bill establishes conditions and limitations on grant awards, including a requirement that a partnership meet applicable standards for instruction and student competency for the associate, bachelor of science, or master of science nursing degrees granted.  Other conditions and limitations include a minimum enrollment in each program as determined by the board and a marginal cost per program graduate, excluding reasonable start-up costs, comparable to the marginal cost per graduate of a nonparticipating program.  The bill also establishes criteria for the board to consider in giving priority for awarding grants to a hospital-based nursing education partnership, and it requires each partnership that receives a grant to submit to the board narrative and financial reports that include information concerning the extent to which it has complied with accountability standards.