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Senate Bill 215 |
Senate Author: Birdwell et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
House Sponsor: Anchia |
Senate Bill 215 amends the Education Code to continue the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board until September 1, 2025, and to amend and add various across-the-board sunset provisions. The bill repeals provisions relating to the administration and functioning of the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation and related fiscal provisions and instead converts the corporation from a public nonprofit corporation to a nonprofit corporation governed by the Business Organizations Code, requiring the corporation to file a certificate of formation or a certificate of conversion, as the secretary of state determines is appropriate. The bill transfers certain of the corporation's financial aid services information functions to the coordinating board but provides for the corporation to continue serving as the state's designated guaranty agency for student loans under federal law.
Senate Bill 215 requires the coordinating board, in consultation with certain stakeholders, to conduct a study regarding the creation of a state-funded financial aid program for students of nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally accredited colleges or universities domiciled in Texas that offer exclusively online or distance education and to submit a report, including proposed draft legislation, to the appropriate legislative committees not later than October 1, 2014.
The bill limits institutional eligibility for the TEXAS grant program to general academic teaching institutions and medical and dental units offering undergraduate degree or certification programs, expressly excluding public state colleges; limits institutional eligibility for the Texas B-On-time loan program to general academic teaching institutions and to medical and dental units and private or independent institutions of higher education offering bachelor's degree programs; and limits student eligibility for both programs to students enrolled in bachelor's degree programs, removing students in certificate programs from eligibility. The bill requires the coordinating board, in collaboration with eligible institutions and other appropriate entities, to adopt and implement measures to improve student participation in the B-On-time loan program and the rate of student satisfaction of the requirements for obtaining loan forgiveness under that program.
The bill requires the coordinating board to reevaluate its rules and policies periodically to ensure the continuing need for data requests it imposes on university systems or public, private, or independent institutions of higher education and to identify and eliminate any unnecessary data requests. The bill also requires the coordinating board to engage institutions of higher education in a negotiated rulemaking process when adopting a policy, procedure, or rule relating to admission policies and the transfer of credit, the allocation or distribution of funds, the reevaluation of data requests, or compliance monitoring and to establish an agency-wide, risk‑based compliance monitoring function to help ensure the proper use of funds allocated by the coordinating board and the accuracy of data reported to and used by the coordinating board for funding or policymaking decisions, including data used for formula funding allocations.
Senate Bill 215 revises the coordinating board's coordination and long-range planning functions with respect to higher education in Texas and the board's powers and duties regarding the review and approval of new degree or certificate programs and its review of capital construction and improvement projects at public institutions of higher education.
Senate Bill 215 requires the comprehensive list of courses submitted to the coordinating board by each institution of higher education specifically to identify any course included in the common course numbering system that has been added to or removed from the list for the current year and requires each institution's governing board to certify at the time of the list's submission that the institution does not prohibit the acceptance of transfer credit based solely on the sending institution's accreditation. The bill also requires each institution of higher education other than a public junior college to report each year to the institution's governing board on the condition of the institution's buildings and facilities, including any issues regarding deferred maintenance.
The bill prohibits a student seeking an associate's degree from being required by an institution of higher education to complete more than the minimum number of semester credit hours required for the degree by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools without a compelling academic reason for requiring the additional credit hours.
The bill requires the coordinating board to report to the governor, the legislature's presiding officers, and the appropriate house and senate committee not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year on its assessment of the adequacy of graduate medical education opportunities in Texas and sets out the limited circumstances under which the coordinating board may administer or oversee a program to identify best practices, initiate a new pilot project, or assist in the implementation of proven programs and best practices. The bill requires the coordinating board to establish and administer a student loan default prevention and financial aid literacy pilot program to ensure students are informed consumers with regard to all aspects of student financial aid. The bill requires the coordinating board to establish and publish by rule, after consulting with affected stakeholders, allocation methodologies for any funds trusteed to the coordinating board for allocation to public or private institutions of higher education.
The bill prohibits the coordinating board from issuing a certificate of authority for a private postsecondary institution to grant a professional degree or to represent that credits earned in Texas are applicable to such a degree if the institution is chartered in a foreign country or has its principal office or primary educational program in a foreign country. The bill requires the coordinating board to encourage the transferability of lower division course credit among institutions of higher education; replaces the research university development fund with the Texas competitive knowledge fund; and consolidates administrative provisions for the advanced technology program and the Norman Hackerman advanced research program.
The bill limits the term of the articulation agreement to be entered into by a public junior college offering a bachelor's degree program and one or more general academic teaching institutions to the first five years of the program. The bill repeals certain unfunded or obsolete programs and reporting requirements under the purview of or applicable to the coordinating board.
Senate Bill 215 amends the Occupations Code to make a conforming change.