| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the transfer of course credit between public and |
|
|
private institutions of higher education. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 61.832, Education Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 61.832. COMMON COURSE NUMBERING SYSTEM. (a) The board |
|
|
shall approve a common course numbering system for all |
|
|
undergraduate [lower-division] courses offered by a public or |
|
|
private institution of higher education, other than a course that |
|
|
is unique to an institution, to facilitate the transfer of those |
|
|
courses among institutions of higher education by promoting |
|
|
consistency in course designation and identification. |
|
|
(b) The board, with the assistance of advisory committees |
|
|
composed of representatives of public and private institutions of |
|
|
higher education, shall develop as part of the common course |
|
|
numbering system a method for determining equivalencies among |
|
|
courses and assigning equivalent courses the same course number |
|
|
[may approve only a common course numbering system already in
|
|
|
common use in this state by institutions of higher education]. |
|
|
(c) The board shall cooperate with public and private |
|
|
institutions of higher education in any [additional] development or |
|
|
alteration of the common course numbering system, including the |
|
|
taxonomy to be used, and in the development of rules for the |
|
|
administration and applicability of the system. |
|
|
(d) A public or private [An] institution of higher education |
|
|
shall include in its course listings the applicable course numbers |
|
|
from the common course numbering system approved by the board under |
|
|
this section. [For good cause, the board may grant to an
|
|
|
institution of higher education an exemption from the requirements
|
|
|
of this subsection.] |
|
|
(e) An undergraduate student who transfers from one public |
|
|
or private institution of higher education to another shall receive |
|
|
course credit from the receiving institution for each undergraduate |
|
|
course that the student has successfully completed that serves as |
|
|
an equivalent course under the common course numbering system at |
|
|
the institution from which the student transfers, subject to any |
|
|
general policy of the receiving institution to deny credit for |
|
|
courses on the basis of the number of years that have passed since |
|
|
the student completed the course. |
|
|
(f) This section does not apply to a private institution of |
|
|
higher education that: |
|
|
(1) does not accept any money from the state; and |
|
|
(2) does not participate in the tuition equalization |
|
|
grant program under Subchapter F. |
|
|
SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies |
|
|
beginning with the 2009 fall semester. |
|
|
(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall |
|
|
develop the common course numbering system required by Section |
|
|
61.832, Education Code, as amended by this Act, not later than |
|
|
January 1, 2009. |
|
|
SECTION 3. 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 not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2007. |