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INTRODUCED
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HOUSE COMMITTEE
SUBSTITUTE
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SECTION
1. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding Section
61.05135 to read as follows:
Sec.
61.05135. STATEWIDE TRANSFER COMPACTS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Career
school or college" has the meaning assigned by Section 132.001.
(2) "Qualified
degree-granting career school or college" means a career school or
college determined by the board under Subsection (c) to be qualified to
participate in a statewide transfer compact developed under this section.
(b) 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, public technical institutes, general
academic teaching institutions, and qualified degree-granting career
schools or colleges and transferred to general academic teaching
institutions.
(c) A
career school or college may apply to the board to participate in a
statewide transfer compact developed under this section. On application by
a career school or college, the board shall review the school's or
college's curriculum for the purpose of determining whether the school or
college is qualified to participate in the compact. The board may determine
that the career school or college is qualified to participate in the
compact only if the board finds that the school or college:
(1) is
authorized to grant degrees in this state;
(2) has
adopted and implemented a core curriculum described by Section 61.822,
applying the same assumptions and defining characteristics applicable to
institutions of higher education; and
(3) has
appropriately identified for each of its core curriculum courses the
equivalent course number under the common course numbering system approved
by the board under Section 61.832.
(d) An
institution of higher education or qualified degree-granting career school
or college shall comply with any applicable compact under Subsection (b)
entered into by the institution, school, or college and the board.
(e) A
general academic teaching institution designated as a research institution
under the board's higher education accountability system that elects not to
participate in an applicable transfer compact developed under this section
shall:
(1) publish
on the institution's website for use by prospective undergraduate students
a detailed description, developed by the institution's faculty, of the
learning objectives, content, and prior knowledge requirements for at least
12 courses for which credit is frequently transferred to the institution
from lower-division institutions of higher education; and
(2) establish
honors articulation agreements with at least two public junior colleges
designed to strengthen the lower-division course offerings of those public
junior colleges and to improve the persistence and success rates of
students who transfer to the institution from public junior colleges.
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No
equivalent provision, but see SECTION 1 below relating to transfer of
credit.
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No equivalent provision, but see SECTION 1 above
relating to transfer compacts.
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SECTION 1. Subchapter Z,
Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 51.96852 to read
as follows:
Sec. 51.96852. TRANSFER OF
CREDIT FROM LOWER-DIVISION INSTITUTIONS; ARTICULATION AGREEMENTS. (a) In
this section:
(1) "Articulation
agreement" means a formal written agreement between a public junior
college and a general academic teaching institution identifying courses
offered by the public junior college that must be accepted for credit
toward specific course requirements at the general academic teaching
institution.
(2) "Lower-division
institution of higher education" means a public junior college, public
state college, or public technical institute.
(3) "Public junior
college" and "general academic teaching institution" have
the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.
(b) Each general academic
teaching institution shall:
(1) publish on the
institution's Internet website for use by prospective undergraduate
students a detailed description developed by the institution's faculty of
the learning objectives, content, and prior knowledge requirements for at
least 12 courses offered by the institution for which credit is frequently
transferred to the institution from lower-division institutions of higher
education;
(2) identify the public
junior colleges from which the general academic teaching institution
regularly receives transfer students; and
(3) establish, for at
least five degree plans for which credit is frequently transferred to the
institution from lower-division institutions of higher education,
articulation agreements with each public junior college from which the
general academic teaching institution has received an average of at least
five percent of the institution's transfer students in the three preceding
academic years.
(c) A general academic
teaching institution's participation in an articulation agreement under
this section does not affect the institution's admissions policies.
(d) In consultation with
general academic teaching institutions and public junior colleges, the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt any rules the
coordinating board considers necessary for the administration of this
section.
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SECTION
2. 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 institution's
board-recognized accrediting agency [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.
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SECTION 2. Section 61.0515,
Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection
(d) 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 institution's board-recognized
accrediting agency [Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or
its successor] unless the institution
determines that there is a compelling academic reason for requiring
completion of additional semester credit hours for the degree.
(d) The board shall adopt any rules the board considers necessary for
the administration of this section.
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SECTION
3. 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 institution's board-recognized
accrediting agency 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 2015 fall semester.
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SECTION 3. 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 institution's board-recognized accrediting agency 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 2015 fall semester.
(d) The board shall adopt any rules the board considers necessary for
the administration of this section.
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SECTION
4. Section 61.052, Education Code, is amended.
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SECTION 4. Same as introduced
version.
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SECTION
5. Section 61.822, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a)
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 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 administrators
or 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.
(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 or
at a qualified degree-granting career school or college, as defined by
Section 61.05135, is fully transferable.
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SECTION 5. Section 61.822,
Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) 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 42 semester credit hours, including a statement of
the content, component areas, and objectives of the core curriculum. Administrators of an institution of higher
education may serve as representatives of the institution on any advisory
committee under this section. 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.
(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 transferable.
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SECTION
6. Section 61.832, Education Code, is amended.
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SECTION 6. Same as introduced
version.
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No equivalent provision.
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SECTION 7. Not later than May
31, 2015, each general academic teaching institution shall publish on the
institution's Internet website the information required by Section
51.96852, Education Code, as added by this Act, and establish articulation
agreements in accordance with that section.
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SECTION
7. 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 2015 fall semester. An
undergraduate student who initially enrolls in a general academic teaching
institution before that semester is covered by the law in effect before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
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SECTION 8. Same as introduced
version.
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SECTION
8. The changes in law made by this Act to Section 61.052, Education Code,
apply to the comprehensive lists of courses offered by public institutions
of higher education beginning with lists required to be submitted for the
2014-2015 academic year. Course lists for an academic year before that
academic year are covered by the law in effect before the effective date of
this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
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SECTION 9. Same as introduced
version.
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SECTION
9. Not later than May 31, 2014, the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall develop core curricula for
broad academic disciplines included within the general core curriculum that
conform to the requirements of Section 61.822, Education Code, as amended
by this Act.
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SECTION 10. Not later than
May 31, 2015, the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board shall develop core curricula for broad
academic disciplines included within the general core curriculum that
conform to the requirements of Section 61.822, Education Code, as amended
by this Act.
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SECTION
10. Section 61.832(e), Education Code, as added by this Act, applies
beginning with the 2013 fall semester.
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SECTION 11. Same as
introduced version.
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SECTION
11. 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, 2013.
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SECTION 12. Same as
introduced version.
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