81R2741 KEL-D

By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 667

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to student Internet access to financial and academic information maintained by public institutions of higher education and to a fixed tuition rate provided by certain institutions of higher education to students for satisfactory academic performance.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 51.973 to read as follows:

Sec. 51.973. STUDENT INTERNET ACCESS TO FINANCIAL AND ACADEMIC INFORMATION. In accordance with guidelines adopted by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and to the extent the institution is legally authorized to provide access to relevant information, each institution of higher education shall provide a method by which each student enrolled in the institution may access, through the institution's Internet website:

(1) the student's current financial status, including:

(A) any amount of tuition or fees the student owes;

(B) any institutional, state, federal, private, or other grant, loan, or other financial aid available specifically to the student through the institution's financial aid office, including the applicable amounts of aid; and

(C) any amount of money the student owes on a student financial aid loan the student received through the institution's financial aid office; and

(2) the student's current academic status, including:

(A) a list of the courses in which the student is currently enrolled;

(B) a list of the courses that the student has completed at the institution or at another institution for which the institution has granted or will grant the student course credit, and the grade assigned for each course; and

(C) information concerning the required and elective courses, including the number of semester credit hours, that the student must complete for the student's degree plan.

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 54, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 54.0105 to read as follows:

Sec. 54.0105. FIXED TUITION RATE FOR SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. (a) In this section:

(1) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

(2) "General academic teaching institution" has the meaning assigned by Section 61.003.

(b) Except as otherwise provided by this section, in a semester or other academic term, the governing board of a general academic teaching institution may not charge an undergraduate student tuition under Section 54.0513, or under any other law granting the institution discretion to set the tuition rate, at a rate that exceeds the rate the institution charged the student during the first semester or other academic term the student enrolled in the institution if the student:

(1) enrolled in the institution:

(A) as a first-time freshman; or

(B) not later than the first fall semester following the student's graduation from high school;

(2) has been continuously enrolled at the institution since initial enrollment in the institution;

(3) is currently and at all times while enrolled at the institution has been a resident of this state for purposes of Subchapter B or was otherwise entitled to pay tuition at the rate provided for residents of this state;

(4) is enrolled for a full course load for an undergraduate student, as determined by the coordinating board, in a baccalaureate degree program;

(5) has completed at least 75 percent of the semester credit hours previously attempted at the institution; and

(6) has earned a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5 on a four-point scale or the equivalent on all coursework previously attempted at the institution.

(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to a student enrolled in a general academic teaching institution after:

(1) the fourth anniversary of the date the student first enrolls in the institution, if on that anniversary the student is enrolled in a four-year baccalaureate degree program; or

(2) the end of the standard completion period established by the institution for the student's degree program, if the student is enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program of longer than four years.

(d) Each general academic teaching institution shall notify each entering undergraduate student of the eligibility requirements for a fixed tuition rate under this section.

(e) In consultation with general academic teaching institutions, the coordinating board shall adopt any rules the coordinating board considers appropriate for the administration of this section, including rules necessary for purposes of Subsection (f).

(f) The coordinating board shall adopt rules requiring a general academic teaching institution to provide a fixed tuition rate under this section to a student who satisfies the other requirements of this section but, solely as a result of a hardship or other good cause shown as determined by board rule, is unable to satisfy the requirements of Subsection (b)(1), (2), (4), or (5).

(g) This section does not apply to a student who transfers from one institution of higher education to another.

(h) This section does not apply to a student who enters a general academic teaching institution for the first time before the 2010 fall semester. This subsection expires January 1, 2016.

SECTION 3. (a) Not later than January 1, 2010, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt guidelines as required by Section 51.973, Education Code, as added by this Act, and rules as required by Section 54.0105, Education Code, as added by this Act.

(b) Not later than August 1, 2010, each public institution of higher education shall provide a method by which the institution's students may access financial and academic information as required by Section 51.973, Education Code, as added by 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.