By: Shapleigh, Shapiro S.B. No. 111
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to undergraduate course credit granted by public
institutions of higher education for the completion of certain
postsecondary-level programs by high school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.968 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.968. UNDERGRADUATE COURSE CREDIT FOR HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS COMPLETING POSTSECONDARY-LEVEL PROGRAM. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Advanced placement examination" means an
examination administered through the advanced placement program.
(2) "CLEP examination" means an examination
administered through the college-level examination program.
(3) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
(4) "Institution of higher education" means an
institution of higher education, as defined by Section 61.003, that
offers freshman-level courses.
(5) "International baccalaureate diploma program"
means the curriculum and examinations leading to an international
baccalaureate diploma awarded by the International Baccalaureate
Organization.
(b) Each institution of higher education that offers
freshman-level courses shall adopt and implement a policy to grant
undergraduate course credit to entering freshman students who have
successfully completed the international baccalaureate diploma
program, who have achieved required scores on one or more
examinations in the advanced placement program or the college-level
examination program, or who have successfully completed one or more
courses offered through concurrent enrollment in high school and at
an institution of higher education.
(c) In the policy, the institution shall:
(1) establish the institution's conditions for
granting course credit, including the minimum required scores on
CLEP examinations, advanced placement examinations, and
examinations for courses constituting the international
baccalaureate diploma program; and
(2) based on the correlations identified under
Subsection (f), identify the specific course credit or other
academic requirements of the institution, including the number of
semester credit hours or other course credit, that the institution
will grant to a student who successfully completes the diploma
program, who successfully completes a course through concurrent
enrollment, or who achieves required scores on CLEP examinations or
advanced placement examinations.
(d) Each institution of higher education shall report to the
coordinating board the institution's policy adopted under this
section and shall include a copy of the policy with the
institution's undergraduate student application materials,
including application materials available on the institution's
Internet website.
(e) On request of an applicant for admission as an entering
freshman, an institution of higher education, based on information
provided by the applicant, shall determine and notify the applicant
regarding:
(1) the amount and type of any course credit that would
be granted to the applicant under the policy; and
(2) any other academic requirement that the applicant
would satisfy under the policy.
(f) The coordinating board, in consultation with the Texas
Education Agency, shall:
(1) identify correlations between the subject matter
and content of courses offered by each institution of higher
education and the subject matter and content of courses and
examinations in the international baccalaureate diploma program,
the advanced placement program, and the college-level examination
program; and
(2) make that information available to the public on
the coordinating board's Internet website.
(g) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, an
institution of higher education shall grant at least 24 semester
credit hours or equivalent course credit in appropriate subject
areas to an entering freshman student for successful completion of
the international baccalaureate diploma program. The institution
may grant fewer than 24 semester credit hours if the student
received a score of less than four on an examination administered as
part of the diploma program. The institution may grant fewer credit
hours only with respect to courses that are substantially related
to the subject of that examination.
SECTION 2. Each public institution of higher education in
this state shall:
(1) not later than December 31, 2005, adopt and make
available to students and the public and to the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board the policy required by Section 51.968,
Education Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) implement the policy beginning with admissions to
the institution for the 2006-2007 academic year.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.