LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 82ND LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
May 23, 2011

TO:
Honorable Judith Zaffirini, Chair, Senate Committee on Higher Education
 
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB3025 by Branch (relating to the filing of a degree plan by undergraduate students at public institutions of higher education.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

Under provisions of the bill, students would be required to file a degree plan with an institution of higher education not later than the end of the second regular semester or term, in which the student earned a cumulative total of 45 or more semester credit hours, including transfer courses, international baccalaureate courses, and dual credit courses. The degree plan is a statement of the course or study requirements that an undergraduate student at a general academic teaching institution must complete in order to graduate from the institution.

 

The bill would require institutions to provide information regarding the degree plan filing requirement and options for consulting with an academic advisor for that purpose, which may include electronic communication.

 

For a student, to whom this section applies, that does not timely file a degree plan, the bill would require the institution to notify the student that the degree plan is required by law and require the student to consult with an academic advisor during the semester or term when the notice was recieved. The student may not obtain an official transcript until the student has filed a degree plan with the institution.

 

This section would apply to undergraduate students who initially enroll in general academic teaching institutions for the 2012 fall semester.

 

This analysis assumes that the provisions of this bill could be implemented using current resources.


Local Government Impact

No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.


Source Agencies:
781 Higher Education Coordinating Board, 710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 758 Texas State University System, 769 University of North Texas System Administration, 783 University of Houston System Administration, 768 Texas Tech University System Administration
LBB Staff:
JOB, KK, JI, SDE, GO, RT