By: Lucio III, et al. H.B. No. 269

(Senate Sponsor - Van de Putte)

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2009; May 14, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations; May 22, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 22, 2009, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 269 By: Van de Putte

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to course credit for certain students at a public institution of higher education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 51.3042 to read as follows:

Sec. 51.3042. AWARD OF COURSE CREDIT FOR MILITARY SERVICE. (a) In this section, "institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by Section 61.003.

(b) An institution of higher education shall award to an undergraduate student who is admitted to the institution, including a student who is readmitted under Section 51.9242, course credit for all physical education courses required by the institution for an undergraduate degree and for additional semester credit hours, not to exceed 12, that may be applied to satisfy any equivalent elective course requirements for the student's degree program for courses outside the student's major or minor if the student:

(1) graduated from a public or private high school accredited by a generally recognized accrediting organization or from a high school operated by the United States Department of Defense; and

(2) is an honorably discharged former member of the armed forces of the United States who:

(A) completed at least two years of service in the armed forces; or

(B) was discharged because of a disability.

(c) This section does not prohibit an institution of higher education from awarding additional course credit for a student's military service as the institution considers appropriate.

(d) An institution of higher education may adopt rules requiring reasonable proof from a student of the fact and duration of the student's military service and of the student's military discharge status.

(e) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt rules establishing standards for determining the equivalency of military service experience to elective course requirements for which a student may receive credit under Subsection (b).

SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 51.9112 to read as follows:

Sec. 51.9112. RESERVE OFFICERS' TRAINING CORPS (ROTC) PROGRAM: FEES AND COURSE CREDIT. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in consultation with institutions of higher education, shall determine a standard fee for a course offered through a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program that takes into account the average statewide cost per student to an institution of higher education in providing the program, not including any reimbursement or other amounts the institution receives from the applicable military service or other source for offering the course. Except as provided by Subsection (b), the governing board of each institution of higher education may not charge a student enrolled in an ROTC course any amount for the course in excess of the fee as determined by the coordinating board under this subsection.

(b) If the governing board of an institution of higher education offers course credit toward a student's degree for a course in which the student enrolls for the purposes of an ROTC program, the governing board may charge the student tuition for that course as otherwise provided by Chapter 54 after subtracting any reimbursement or other amount the institution receives from the applicable military service or other source for offering the course.

(c) To the extent it will not adversely affect the accreditation status of an institution of higher education with the appropriate accrediting agency, the governing board of the institution shall count courses in which a student enrolls for the purposes of an ROTC program, including courses for which the student does not receive course credit toward the student's degree, in determining whether the student is enrolled as a full-time student.

SECTION 3. Section 51.3042, Education Code, as added by this Act, applies to a student attending an institution of higher education, without regard to whether the student was admitted to the institution before the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 4. 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, 2009.

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