By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1529
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2005; March 22, 2005, read
first time and referred to Subcommittee on Higher Education;
April 12, 2005, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute to Committee on Education; April 25, 2005, reported
adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute from Committee on
Education by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 25, 2005,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1529 By: Zaffirini
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to policies and measures to promote timely graduation of
students from public institutions of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.4032 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.4032. REPORT OF EFFORTS CONCERNING TIMELY
GRADUATION. (a) Not later than November 1 of each year, the
president of each general academic teaching institution, as defined
by Section 61.003, shall provide to the governing board of the
institution a report for the preceding academic year that examines
the institution's efforts concerning timely graduation of its
undergraduate students.
(b) The report must:
(1) state, for each undergraduate degree program, the
average number of semester credit hours attempted and the average
number of fall and spring semesters attended by a student
completing the program;
(2) state the specific efforts implemented by the
institution to ensure that undergraduate students graduate in a
timely manner and do not attempt an excessive number of semester
credit hours beyond the minimum number required to complete the
students' degree programs, including the institution's efforts to
provide academic counseling concerning timely graduation and to
implement tuition policies that encourage timely graduation; and
(3) include any other information required by the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
(c) An institution's report must be in the form prescribed
by coordinating board rule adopted in consultation with general
academic teaching institutions.
SECTION 2. Section 54.068, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 54.068. TUITION FOR REPEATED OR EXCESSIVE
UNDERGRADUATE HOURS. (a) An institution of higher education may
charge a resident undergraduate student tuition at a higher rate
than the rate charged to other resident undergraduate students, not
to exceed the rate charged to nonresident undergraduate students,
if before the semester or other academic session begins the student
has previously attempted a number of semester credit hours for
courses taken at any institution of higher education while
classified as a resident student for tuition purposes that exceeds
by at least 30 [45] hours the number of semester credit hours
required for completion of the degree program in which the student
is enrolled. For purposes of this subsection, an undergraduate
student who is not enrolled in a degree program is considered to be
enrolled in a degree program requiring a minimum of 120 semester
credit hours. An institution of higher education that charges
students tuition at a higher rate under this subsection may adopt a
policy under which the institution exempts from the payment of that
higher rate a student that is subject to the payment of the higher
rate solely as a result of hardship as determined by the institution
under the policy.
(b) Semester credit hours or other credit listed in Section
61.0595(d) is not counted in determining the number of semester
credit hours previously attempted by a student for purposes of
Subsection (a).
(c) Subsection (a) applies only [does not apply] to the
tuition charged to a student who initially enrolled as an
undergraduate student in an institution of higher education during
or after [before] the 1999 fall semester, except that the
institution of higher education may not require a student who
initially enrolls as an undergraduate student in an institution of
higher education before the 2006 fall semester to pay higher
tuition as permitted by Subsection (a) until the number of semester
credit hours previously attempted by the student as described by
that subsection exceeds the number of semester credit hours
required for the student's degree program by at least 45 hours
(d) In its appropriations to institutions of higher
education, the legislature shall compute the local funds available
to each institution as if the tuition collected under Subsections
[Subsection] (a) and (f) were not collected.
(e) Each institution of higher education shall inform each
new undergraduate student enrolling at the institution in writing
of the limitation provided by this section on the number of hours or
type of courses that a Texas resident is entitled to complete while
paying tuition at the rate provided for Texas residents.
(f) An institution of higher education may charge a resident
undergraduate student tuition at a higher rate than the rate
charged to other resident undergraduate students, not to exceed the
rate charged to nonresident undergraduate students, for any course
in which the student enrolls that is the same as or substantively
identical to a course for which the student previously completed.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt a rule
that exempts a resident undergraduate student from this subsection
if the student enrolls in a course that is the same as or
substantially similar to a course that the student previously
completed, solely as a result of a hardship or other good cause.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.0515 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.0515. SEMESTER CREDIT HOURS REQUIRED FOR
BACCALAUREATE DEGREE. (a) To earn a baccalaureate degree, a
student may not be required by a general academic teaching
institution to complete more than the minimum number of semester
credit hours required for the degree by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools or its successor unless the institution
determines that there is a compelling academic reason for requiring
completion of additional semester credit hours for the degree under
standards prescribed by the board.
(b) The board by rule shall prescribe standards for
determining whether there is a compelling academic reason for an
institution to require completion of additional semester credit
hours for a particular baccalaureate degree. A compelling academic
reason may include certification, industry, or national academic
accreditation requirements.
(c) The board may review one or more of an institution's
baccalaureate degree programs to ensure compliance with this
section.
(d) Subsection (a) does not apply to a baccalaureate degree
awarded by an institution to a student enrolled in the institution
before the 2008 fall semester. This subsection does not prohibit
the institution from reducing the number of semester credit hours
the student must complete to receive the degree.
SECTION 4. Section 61.0595, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read
as follows:
(a) In the formulas established under Section 61.059, the
board may not include funding for semester credit hours earned by a
resident undergraduate student who before the semester or other
academic session begins has previously attempted a number of
semester credit hours for courses taken at any institution of
higher education while classified as a resident student for tuition
purposes that exceeds by a least 30 [45] hours the number of
semester credit hours required for completion of the degree program
in which the student is enrolled.
(e) Subsection (a) applies only [does not apply] to funding
for semester credit hours earned by a student who initially
enrolled as an undergraduate student in any institution of higher
education during or after [before] the 1999 fall semester, except
that with respect to semester credit hours earned by a student who
initially enrolls as an undergraduate student in any institution of
higher education before the 2006 fall semester, the board may not
reduce funding under this section until the number of semester
credit hours previously attempted by the student as described by
this section exceeds the number of semester credit hours required
for the student's degree program by at least 45 hours
(f) In the formulas established under Section 61.059, the
board shall include without consideration of Subsection (a) funding
for semester credit hours earned by a student who initially
enrolled as an undergraduate student in any institution of higher
education before the 1999 fall semester [for those semester credit
hours without consideration of Subsection (a)].
SECTION 5. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 61.822,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The board, with the assistance of advisory committees
composed of representatives of institutions of higher education,
shall develop recommendations for a [recommended] core curriculum
that could be satisfied through completion of a number of [at least
42] semester credit hours permitted by Subsection (b). The
recommendations must include[, including] a statement of the
content, component areas, and objectives of the core curriculum.
At least a majority of the members of any advisory committee named
under this section must [shall] be faculty members of an
institution of higher education. An institution shall consult with
the faculty of the institution before nominating or recommending a
person to the board as the institution's representative on an
advisory committee.
(b) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a core
curriculum of not fewer than 36 and not more [no less] than 42
semester credit hours, including specific courses comprising the
curriculum. The core curriculum must [shall] be consistent with
the common course numbering system approved by the board and with
the statement, recommendations, and rules issued by the board. [An
institution may have a core curriculum of other than 42 semester
credit hours only if approved by the board.]
(c) If a student successfully completes the [42-hour] core
curriculum at an institution of higher education, that block of
courses may be transferred to any other institution of higher
education and must be substituted for the receiving institution's
core curriculum. A student shall receive academic credit for each
of the courses transferred and may not be required to take
additional core curriculum courses at the receiving institution
unless the receiving institution [board] has adopted [approved] a
[larger] core curriculum that requires completion of more semester
credit hours than the sending [at the] institution.
SECTION 6. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
Sections 54.068 and 61.0595, Education Code, apply beginning with
the 2005 fall semester.
(b) Not later than May 31, 2006, the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board shall adopt the rules required by Section
61.0515, Education Code, as added by this Act, relating to the
number of semester credit hours required for completion of a
baccalaureate degree program at a general academic teaching
institution.
(c) Not later than May 31, 2006, the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board shall develop recommendations for the core
curriculum to conform to the requirements of Section 61.822,
Education Code, as amended by this Act. Each public institution of
higher education in this state shall revise its core curriculum as
necessary to conform to the requirements of Section 61.822,
Education Code, as amended by this Act, and shall require students
to comply with the institution's revised core curriculum beginning
with the 2008 fall semester, except that an institution shall
permit a student who was enrolled in the institution before the 2008
fall semester to comply with the core curriculum requirements
applicable to that student before that semester. Each institution
of higher education shall issue course catalogs that reflect the
applicable core curriculum under Section 61.822, Education Code,
consistent with this subsection. This subsection expires at the
beginning of the 2010 fall semester.
(d) The change in law made by this Act to Subsection (c),
Section 61.822, Education Code, applies to students who transfer
between institutions of higher education beginning with the 2008
fall semester. Students who transfer between institutions of
higher education before the 2008 fall semester are covered by
Subsection (c), Section 61.822, Education Code, as that subsection
existed before its amendment by this Act, and that law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act
takes effect September 1, 2005.
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