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Senate Bill 1714 |
Senate Author: Zaffirini |
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Effective: 6-16-15 |
House Sponsor: Howard |
Senate Bill 1714 amends Education Code provisions relating to the release of student academic information by a public institution for certain purposes and the manner in which the information is used. The bill authorizes a public institution of higher education to request the submission of a signed consent form authorizing the institution to release academic course, grade, and credit information with each application for undergraduate transfer admission to a general academic teaching institution to be used for credit transfer for an associate degree or with each request from a student for a release of the student's transcript by the institution. The bill authorizes an institution of higher education to release such student information through the National Student Clearinghouse or a similar national electronic data sharing and exchange platform operated by an agent of the institution that meets nationally accepted standards, conventions, and practices.
The bill requires a general academic teaching institution, after a student has submitted a signed consent form authorizing the institution to release the student's academic course, grade, and credit information, to release such information to a lower-division institution of higher education that the student previously attended for the purpose of determining whether the student has earned the credits required for an associate degree awarded by the lower-division institution of higher education. The bill requires a general academic teaching institution to request from a transfer student who has met certain criteria and has not submitted a signed consent form authorization to release the student's course, grade, and credit information to each lower-division institution of higher education that the student previously attended or to a reverse transfer data sharing platform for the same purpose and requires the institution, on receipt of the student's authorization, to release the information to the lower-division institution or higher education or to a reverse transfer data program. Among other things, the bill specifies that its provisions regarding the release of student academic information do not affect the ability of a lower-division institution of higher education to determine the course work required to earn an associate degree awarded by that institution.