82R2386 KSD-F
 
  By: Branch H.B. No. 3025
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to measures to facilitate the transfer of students within
  the public higher education system and the timely graduation of
  students from public institutions of higher education.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 54.016 to read as follows:
         Sec. 54.016.  FIXED TUITION RATE PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN
  TRANSFER STUDENTS AT GENERAL ACADEMIC TEACHING INSTITUTIONS. (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.
               (3)  "Lower-division institution of higher education" 
  means a public junior college, public state college, or public
  technical institute.
         (b)  A general academic teaching institution may develop a
  fixed tuition rate program for qualified students who agree to
  transfer to the institution after successfully earning an associate
  degree at a lower-division institution of higher education. Under
  a program developed under this section, a general academic teaching
  institution must:
               (1)  guarantee to a participating student enrolled in
  an associate degree program at a lower-division institution of
  higher education, on successful completion of the associate degree
  program, transfer admission to the general academic teaching
  institution and acceptance into the student's degree program of
  choice; and
               (2)  notwithstanding any other provision of this
  chapter, charge tuition to a participating student for any semester
  or other academic term at the same rate the general academic
  teaching institution would have charged to the student during the
  fall semester of the student's freshman year at another institution
  of higher education had the student entered the general academic
  teaching institution as a freshman student.
         (c)  A general academic teaching institution that develops a
  fixed tuition rate program under this section shall prescribe
  eligibility requirements for participation in the program and
  notify applicants for transfer admission from lower-division
  institutions of higher education regarding the program.
         (d)  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.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 61.05135 to read as follows:
         Sec. 61.05135.  STATEWIDE TRANSFER COMPACTS. (a)  The
  board, in collaboration with institutions of higher education,
  shall develop transfer compacts that identify learning objectives
  for coursework in major degree fields that are acceptable across
  institutions offering coursework or degrees in those fields in an
  effort to facilitate the universal articulation of specific courses
  completed at public junior colleges, public state colleges, and
  public technical institutes and transferred to general academic
  teaching institutions.
         (b)  An institution of higher education shall comply with any
  applicable compact under Subsection (a) entered into by the
  institution and the board.
         SECTION 3.  Section 61.0515(a), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (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 academic accreditation or professional
  licensure requirements require the [the institution determines
  that there is a compelling academic reason for requiring]
  completion of additional semester credit hours for the degree.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 61.05151 to read as follows:
         Sec. 61.05151.  SEMESTER CREDIT HOURS REQUIRED FOR ASSOCIATE
  DEGREE. (a)  To earn an associate degree, a student may not be
  required by an institution of higher education 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 academic accreditation or professional licensure
  requirements require the completion of additional semester credit
  hours for the degree.
         (b)  The board may review one or more of an institution's
  associate degree programs to ensure compliance with this section.
         (c)  Subsection (a) does not apply to an associate degree
  awarded by an institution to a student enrolled in the institution
  before the 2011 fall semester.  This subsection expires January 1,
  2012.
         SECTION 5.  Sections 61.052(a) and (b), Education Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Each governing board shall submit to the board once each
  year on dates designated by the board a comprehensive list by
  department, division, and school of all courses, together with a
  description of content, scope, and prerequisites of all these
  courses, that will be offered by each institution under the
  supervision of that governing board during the following academic
  year. The list for each institution must also specifically
  identify any course included in the common course numbering system
  under Section 61.832 that has been added to or removed from the
  institution's list for the current academic year, and the board
  shall distribute that information as necessary to accomplish the
  purposes of Section 61.832.
         (b)  After the comprehensive list of courses is submitted by
  a governing board under Subsection (a) [of this section], the
  governing board shall submit on dates designated by the board any
  changes in the comprehensive list of courses to be offered,
  including any changes relating to offering a course included in the
  common course numbering system.
         SECTION 6.  Section 61.822, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (b), and (c) and adding Subsection (f) to
  read as follows:
         (a)  The board, with the assistance of advisory committees
  composed of representatives of institutions of higher education,
  shall develop a [recommended] core curriculum of at least 36 [42]
  semester credit hours, 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 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 no less than 36 [42] semester credit hours, including
  specific courses comprising the curriculum. The core curriculum
  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 36-hour
  [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 board has approved a larger core curriculum
  at the institution.
         (f)  In an effort to facilitate the transfer of major-related
  coursework beyond the general education core curriculum, the board,
  with the assistance of the advisory committees described by
  Subsection (a), shall:
               (1)  develop a course-specific core curriculum for each
  broad academic discipline within the general core curriculum; and
               (2)  identify those degree programs offered at
  institutions of higher education to which the course-specific core
  curriculum, if successfully completed by a student at another
  institution of higher education, is fully transferrable.
         SECTION 7.  Section 61.832, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  A student who transfers from one institution of higher
  education to another shall receive academic credit from the
  receiving institution for each 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.
         SECTION 8.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 51.9685 to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.9685.  REQUIRED FILING OF DEGREE PLAN. (a)  In this
  section:
               (1)  "Degree plan" means a statement of the course of
  study requirements that an undergraduate student at a general
  academic teaching institution must complete in order to graduate
  from the institution, established through collaboration between
  the student and an academic advisor for the student's degree
  program and approved by the academic advisor.
               (2)  "General academic teaching institution" has the
  meaning assigned by Section 61.003.
         (b)  Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (c), each
  undergraduate student enrolled in a general academic teaching
  institution shall file a degree plan with the institution not later
  than the semester or term immediately following the semester or
  term in which the student earned a cumulative total of 30 or more
  semester credit hours for course work successfully completed by the
  student, including transfer courses, advanced placement courses,
  international baccalaureate courses, dual credit courses, and any
  other course for which the institution the student attends has
  awarded the student college course credit.
         (c)  An undergraduate student who begins the student's first
  semester or term at a general academic teaching institution with 30
  or more semester credit hours of course credit for courses
  described by Subsection (b) shall file a degree plan with the
  institution during the student's first regular semester at the
  institution.
         (d)  A student may not register for any course offered by the
  institution for a semester or term succeeding the semester or term
  in which the student is required to file a degree plan under this
  section unless the student has filed a degree plan with the
  institution.
         (e)  After filing a degree plan with an institution as
  required by this section, an undergraduate student may not change
  the student's degree plan or enroll in a course that is not included
  in the student's degree plan unless the student has consulted with
  the student's academic advisor and satisfied any applicable
  prerequisite or other requirement imposed by the institution
  regarding that degree plan change or course enrollment, as
  applicable.
         (f)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may adopt
  rules as necessary for the administration of this section.
         SECTION 9.  The change in law made by this Act to Section
  61.0515(a), Education Code, applies beginning with undergraduate
  students who initially enroll in a general academic teaching
  institution for the 2011 fall semester.
         SECTION 10.  Sections 61.052(a) and (b), Education Code, as
  amended by this Act, apply to the comprehensive lists of courses
  offered by public institutions of higher education beginning with
  lists required to be submitted for the 2012-2013 academic year.
         SECTION 11.  (a)  Not later than May 31, 2012, the Texas
  Higher Education Coordinating Board shall develop a core
  curriculum, including the core curricula for broad academic
  disciplines included within the general core curriculum, that
  conforms to the requirements of Section 61.822, Education Code, as
  amended by this Act.
         (b)  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 2014 fall
  semester, except that an institution shall permit a student who was
  enrolled in the institution before the 2014 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 2016
  fall semester.
         SECTION 12.  Section 61.832(e), Education Code, as added by
  this Act, applies beginning with the 2011 fall semester.
         SECTION 13.  Section 51.9685, Education Code, as added by
  this Act, applies beginning with undergraduate students who
  initially enroll in a general academic teaching institution for the
  2011 fall semester.
         SECTION 14.  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, 2011.