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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