By Swinford H.B. No. 2456
75R2867 JSA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to state funding for and tuition charged to certain
1-3 undergraduate students who accumulate excessive credit hours and to
1-4 the number of credit hours required in a degree program.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 61.0595 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 61.0595. FUNDING FOR CERTAIN EXCESS UNDERGRADUATE
1-9 CREDIT HOURS. (a) In the formulas established under Section
1-10 61.059, the board may not include funding for semester credit hours
1-11 earned by a resident undergraduate student who before the semester
1-12 or other academic session begins has previously earned 170 or more
1-13 semester credit hours for courses taken at any institution of
1-14 higher education while classified as a resident student for tuition
1-15 purposes.
1-16 (b) For a student enrolled in a baccalaureate program under
1-17 Section 51.931, semester credit hours earned by the student 10 or
1-18 more years before the date the student begins the new degree
1-19 program under Section 51.931 are not counted for purposes of
1-20 determining whether the student has previously earned the number of
1-21 semester credit hours specified by Subsection (a).
1-22 (c) The following are not counted for purposes of
1-23 determining whether the student has previously earned the number of
1-24 semester credit hours specified by Subsection (a):
2-1 (1) semester credit hours earned by the student before
2-2 receiving a baccalaureate degree that has previously been awarded
2-3 to the student;
2-4 (2) semester credit hours earned by the student by
2-5 examination or under any other procedure by which credit is earned
2-6 without registering for a course for which tuition is charged; and
2-7 (3) credit for a remedial education course or another
2-8 course that does not count toward a degree program at the
2-9 institution.
2-10 SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
2-11 amended by adding Section 54.068 to read as follows:
2-12 Sec. 54.068. TUITION FOR EXCESSIVE UNDERGRADUATE HOURS. An
2-13 institution of higher education may charge a resident student
2-14 tuition at a higher rate than the rate charged to other resident
2-15 students, not to exceed the rate charged to nonresident students,
2-16 for a course for which Section 61.0595 requires the Texas Higher
2-17 Education Coordinating Board to exclude funding for the semester
2-18 credit hours that the student would earn if the student completed
2-19 the course.
2-20 SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
2-21 amended by adding Sections 61.0551 and 61.0552 to read as follows:
2-22 Sec. 61.0551. CREDIT HOURS REQUIRED FOR DEGREE. (a) An
2-23 institution of higher education may not require a student to
2-24 complete more than 120 semester credit hours to complete a
2-25 baccalaureate degree program, except as otherwise provided by this
2-26 section.
2-27 (b) The board may permit an institution to require a student
3-1 to complete more than the number of semester credit hours permitted
3-2 by Subsection (a) to complete a baccalaureate degree program if the
3-3 institution establishes to the satisfaction of the board that the
3-4 requirement is reasonable considering the requirements for
3-5 comparable degree programs at other institutions, applicable
3-6 accreditation standards, professional trends and licensing
3-7 requirements in the field, and other relevant factors. The board
3-8 shall require an institution that receives approval of the semester
3-9 credit hour requirement for a degree program under this subsection
3-10 to reestablish the reasonableness of the requirement for that
3-11 degree program every five years.
3-12 (c) Subsection (a) does not prohibit a student from
3-13 completing more semester hours than required for the degree
3-14 program.
3-15 (d) Subsection (a) does not apply to a degree program in
3-16 existence on January 1, 1997, until September 1, 2002. On and
3-17 after that date, every baccalaureate degree program at an
3-18 institution of higher education must comply with this section.
3-19 Sec. 61.0552. INVENTORY OF PREREQUISITES. In connection
3-20 with its other duties under this subchapter, the board shall
3-21 maintain an up-to-date inventory of the prerequisites required for
3-22 each degree or certificate program at each institution of higher
3-23 education other than a junior college.
3-24 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-25 (b) The change in law made by Section 1 of this Act applies
3-26 only to a funding formula established under Section 61.059,
3-27 Education Code, on or after the effective date of this Act and does
4-1 not affect a formula established before the effective date.
4-2 (c) Section 54.068, Education Code, as added by this Act,
4-3 applies beginning with tuition charged for the 1999 fall semester.
4-4 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.