BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 736

By: Patrick, Diane

Higher Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Institutions of higher education in Texas have online resumes posted on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's website containing certain statistics, such as enrollment numbers, retention rates, and graduation rates. Interested parties note the importance of easy access to that information as concerns grow regarding the affordability of higher education. Accessible and detailed information, the parties assert, allow consumers of higher education to make informed decisions as higher education costs increase and financial aid remains limited.

C.S.H.B. 736 seeks to achieve the goal of augmenting existing online resume requirements by changing statutes relating to required online information regarding public institutions of higher education.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in SECTION 1 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 736 amends the Education Code to require each institution of higher education, other than a medical or dental unit, to make available to the public on the institution's Internet website certain faculty information for the institution and to require each institution to update this information for the preceding academic or fiscal year, as applicable, not later than December 31 of each year. The bill makes the administrator designated by an institution of higher education to implement Internet access to certain undergraduate course information responsible for ensuring the implementation of these provisions and authorizes the administrator to assign duties to one or more administrative employees. The bill authorizes the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to adopt rules necessary to administer these provisions, including rules to ensure the consistency of information made available by institutions of higher education. The bill makes these provisions applicable beginning with the 2012 fall semester.

C.S.H.B. 736 changes the manner in which a link to the online resume of each institution of higher education is required to appear on the respective Internet websites of the coordinating board and of each institution from being in a prominent place on the websites to being on the first frame of the website's home page in a font that is larger than the font of the majority of the text on the home pages.

C.S.H.B. 736, in a provision setting out the information required to be included on the online resume maintained by the coordinating board for each general academic teaching institution and designed for use by legislators and other interested policy makers, adds to the information relating to the institution for the most recent state fiscal year for which the information is available that is compared to the same information for the state fiscal year preceding that most recent state fiscal year and the state fiscal year preceding that most recent state fiscal year by five years as follows:

· under the heading "ENROLLMENT," the percentage of undergraduate students enrolled in the institution for the first time during the fall semester that ended in the fiscal year covered by the resume who are transfer students

· under the heading "COSTS," at the institution and at the institution's in-state and out-of-state peer institutions, the percentage of students receiving student loans, the average annual amount of student loans received by a student, the percentage of students receiving federal or state grants, and the average annual amount of federal and state grants received by a student

· under the heading "STUDENT SUCCESS," the five-year graduation rates of full-time bachelor's degree-seeking students at the institution and at the institution's in-state and out-of-state peer institutions

· under the heading "FUNDING," the total amount of federal funds from all federal sources, including grants and research funds, received by the institution in that state fiscal year and the corresponding percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state fiscal year that the total amount of federal funds represents and the total academic costs charged to students by the institution in that state fiscal year and the corresponding percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state fiscal year that the total academic costs represent.

The bill requires the resume to include under the heading "COSTS" the average annual amount and percentage by which the total academic costs charged to a resident undergraduate student enrolled in 30 semester credit hours have increased in each of the five most recent state fiscal years for which the information is available at the institution and at the institution's in-state and out-of-state peer institutions. The bill specifies that the full-time degree-seeking students under the heading "STUDENT SUCCESS" are bachelor's degree-seeking students and that, under the heading "FUNDING," the total amount of money appropriated by the legislature to the institution is for that state fiscal year. The bill adds the corresponding percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state fiscal year that the total amount of money appropriated by the legislature represents under the heading "FUNDING."

C.S.H.B. 736, in a provision setting out the information required to be included on the online resume maintained by the coordinating board for each general academic teaching institution and designed for use by prospective students of the institution, their parents, and other interested members of the public, adds to the information relating to the most recent state fiscal year for which the information is available as follows:

· under the heading "FINANCIAL AID," the percentage of undergraduate students enrolled in the institution who receive student loans and the average amount of an undergraduate student's student loans

· under the heading "BACCALAUREATE SUCCESS," the retention rate of first-time, full-time, degree-seeking entering undergraduate students enrolled in the institution after one academic year and after two academic years

· under a new heading "FUNDING," the total amount of money appropriated by the legislature to the institution, including money appropriated for faculty and staff health coverage and retirement benefits, for that state fiscal year and the corresponding percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state fiscal year that the total amount of money appropriated by the legislature represents; the total amount of federal funds from all federal sources, including grants and research funds, received by the institution in that state fiscal year and the corresponding percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state fiscal year that the total amount of federal funds represents; the total academic costs charged to students by the institution in that state fiscal year and the corresponding percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state fiscal year that the total academic costs represent; and the total amount of money from any source available to the institution in that state fiscal year.

The bill removes, under the heading "COSTS," a provision requiring the inclusion of clearly identifiable links to information regarding the amount and percentage by which the institution has increased tuition for a degree program or course level during the fiscal year covered by the resume. The bill requires the resume to include under the heading "COSTS" the average annual amount and percentage by which the total academic costs charged to a resident undergraduate student enrolled in 30 semester credit hours have increased in each of the five most recent state fiscal years for which the information is available at the institution and at the institution's in-state peer institutions.

C.S.H.B. 736, in a provision setting out the information required to be included on the online resume maintained by the coordinating board for each lower-division institution of higher education and designed for use by legislators and other interested policy makers, adds to the information relating to the institution for the most recent state fiscal year for which the information is available that is compared to the same information for the state fiscal year preceding that most recent state fiscal year and the state fiscal year preceding that most recent state fiscal year by five years as follows:

· under the heading "ENROLLMENT," the percentage of students enrolled in the institution who are enrolled in one or more developmental education courses and the percentage of students enrolled in the institution who are enrolled in one more dual credit courses

· under the heading "COSTS," at the institution and at the institution's in-state peer institutions, the percentage of students receiving student loans, the average annual amount of student loans received by a student, the percentage of students receiving federal or state grants, and the average annual amount of federal and state grants received by a student

The bill requires the resume to include under the heading "COSTS" the average annual amount and percentage by which the total academic costs charged to a student enrolled in 30 semester credit hours toward a two-year degree or certificate have increased in each of the five most recent state fiscal years for which the information is available at the institution and at the institution's in-state peer institutions. The bill adds the corresponding percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state fiscal year that the total amount of money appropriated by the legislature represents under the heading "FUNDING."

C.S.H.B. 736 requires the coordinating board and public institutions of higher education to comply with the changes made by these provisions as soon as practicable following the bill's effective date, but not later than February 1, 2012.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2011.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 736 contains provisions not included in the original requiring each institution of higher education, other than a medical and dental unit, to make available to the public on the institution's Internet website certain faculty information about the institution, requiring each institution to update this information by a certain date, making an administrator designated by an institution for a similar purpose responsible for ensuring implementation, authorizing the administrator to delegate duties, and authorizing the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to adopt any necessary administrative rules. The substitute contains a provision not included in the original making the substitute's provisions relating to Internet access to this information applicable beginning with the 2012 fall semester. The substitute contains provisions not included in the original adding certain information to the online resume maintained by the coordinating board for each lower-division institution of higher education and designed for use by legislators and other interested policy makers. The substitute differs from the original in nonsubstantive ways by using language reflective of certain bill drafting conventions.