By: Branch, et al. H.B. No. 30

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to measures to facilitate the transfer, academic progress, and timely graduation of students in public higher education; authorizing a fee.

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

SECTION 1. The heading to Section 51.968, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 51.968. ALTERNATE METHODS FOR EARNING UNDERGRADUATE COURSE CREDIT [FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS COMPLETING POSTSECONDARY-LEVEL PROGRAM].

SECTION 2. Section 51.968(a)(4), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(4) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned [means an institution of higher education, as defined] by Section 61.003[, that offers freshman-level courses].

SECTION 3. Section 51.968, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (d-1), and (f-1) and amending Subsections (b), (c), and (e) to read as follows:

(a-1) This section applies only to an institution of higher education that offers freshman-level and sophomore-level courses.

(a-2) To maximize opportunities for students to earn undergraduate course credit at the institution, each institution of higher education may develop and administer one or more institution-specific examinations or assessments by which entering or current undergraduate students may earn freshman-level or sophomore-level course credit in the same manner as an entering freshman student may earn course credit through a CLEP examination or Advanced Placement examination. The institution may charge students a reasonable fee for taking an examination or assessment described by this subsection. The institution may develop and administer examinations or assessments for course credit for as many freshman-level and sophomore-level courses as practicable and may develop those examinations or assessments using source material from other institutions of higher education.

(a-3) Each institution of higher education that ceases to offer credit through the College-Level Examination Program or the Advanced Placement Program for a specific course shall offer credit for the course through an institution-specific examination or assessment administered under Subsection (a-2).

(b) Each institution of higher education [that offers freshman-level courses] shall adopt and implement a policy to grant [undergraduate] course credit for freshman-level and sophomore-level courses to undergraduate [entering freshman] students who have:

(1) successfully completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program;

(2)[, who have] achieved required scores on one or more examinations in the Advanced Placement Program or the College-Level Examination Program;

(3)[, or who have] successfully completed one or more courses offered through concurrent enrollment in high school and at an institution of higher education; or

(4) achieved required scores on one or more institution-specific examinations or assessments administered by the institution under Subsection (a-2).

(c) In the policy, the institution shall:

(1) establish the institution's conditions for granting course credit, including the minimum required scores on CLEP examinations, Advanced Placement examinations, [and] examinations for courses constituting the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, and institution-specific examinations or assessments administered by the institution under Subsection (a-2); and

(2) based on the correlations identified under Subsections [Subsection] (f) and (f-1), identify the specific freshman-level or sophomore-level course credit or other academic requirements of the institution, including the number of semester credit hours or other course credit, that the institution will grant to a student who successfully completes a course or program or achieves a required score on an examination or assessment as described by Subsection (b) [the diploma program, who successfully completes a course through concurrent enrollment, or who achieves required scores on CLEP examinations or Advanced Placement examinations].

(d-1) Each institution of higher education shall:

(1) report to the coordinating board:

(A) a list of courses for which the institution offers undergraduate students the opportunity to earn course credit through an institution-specific examination or assessment;

(B) the institution's policy adopted under this section; and

(C) any fee charged for an examination or assessment administered under Subsection (a-2); and

(2) include a copy of the list, policy, and applicable fee schedule with the institution's undergraduate student application materials, including application materials available on the institution's Internet website.

(e) On request of an applicant for admission as an entering undergraduate student [freshman], an institution of higher education, based on information provided by the applicant, shall determine and notify the applicant regarding:

(1) the amount and type of any course credit that would or could be granted to the applicant under the policy; and

(2) any other academic requirement that the applicant would satisfy under the policy.

(f-1) An institution of higher education shall:

(1) identify correlations between the subject matter and content of courses offered by the institution and the subject matter and content of institution-specific examinations or assessments administered by the institution under Subsection (a-2); and

(2) make that information available to the public on the institution's Internet website in a manner that conforms to the requirements of Section 51.974.

SECTION 4. 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.

SECTION 5. 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.

SECTION 6. 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.

SECTION 7. Section 61.052, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) 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 single 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 single common course numbering system.

(b-1) Each governing board must certify at the time of submission under Subsection (a) that the institution does not:

(1) prohibit the acceptance of transfer credit based solely on the accreditation of the sending institution; or

(2) include language in any materials published by the institution, whether in printed or electronic form, suggesting that such a prohibition exists.

SECTION 8. Section 61.822, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) 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.

(b) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a core curriculum of not [no] less than 42 semester credit hours, including specific courses comprising the curriculum. The core curriculum shall be consistent with the single common course numbering system approved by the board under Section 61.832(a) 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.

(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.

SECTION 9. Section 61.830, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 61.830. PUBLICATION OF GUIDELINES ADDRESSING TRANSFER PRACTICES. In its course catalogs and on its website, each institution of higher education shall publish guidelines addressing the practices of the institution regarding the transfer of course credit. In the guidelines, the institution must identify a course by using the single common course numbering system approved by the board under Section 61.832(a).

SECTION 10. Section 61.832, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 61.832. COMMON COURSE NUMBERING SYSTEM. (a) The board shall approve a single common course numbering system for lower-division courses to facilitate the transfer of those courses among institutions of higher education by promoting consistency in course designation and identification.

(b) The board shall solicit input from institutions of higher education regarding the development of the single common course numbering system.

(c) Each institution of higher education other than The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University shall:

(1) use the approved common course numbering system for each course for which a common number designation and course description are included in that system; and

(2) include the applicable course numbers from that system in its course catalogs and other course listings.

(d) The board may approve only a common course numbering system already in common use in this state by one or more institutions of higher education.

(e) [(c)] The board shall cooperate with institutions of higher education in any additional development or alteration of the common course numbering system approved under Subsection (a), including the taxonomy to be used, and in the development of rules for the administration and applicability of the system.

(f) 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 single common course numbering system at the institution from which the student transfers.

(g) Not later than June 1, 2014, the board shall:

(1) approve a single common course numbering system as required by Subsection (a); and

(2) establish a timetable that requires the institutions of higher education to which Subsection (c) applies to phase in the inclusion of the applicable course numbers from the single common course numbering system in their individual course listings and course numbering systems as required by this section so that each institution fully complies with this section for all courses offered for the 2018-2019 academic year and subsequent years.

(g-1) Subsection (g) and this subsection expire January 1, 2020. [(d) An institution of higher education shall include in its course listings the applicable course numbers from the common course numbering system approved by the board under this section. For good cause, the board may grant to an institution of higher education an exemption from the requirements of this subsection.]

SECTION 11. The change in law made by this Act to Section 51.968, Education Code, applies beginning with the 2014-2015 academic year. An academic year occurring before that academic year is covered by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 12. 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.

SECTION 13. 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.

SECTION 14. 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.

SECTION 15. 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.

SECTION 16. Section 61.832(f), Education Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with the 2013 fall semester.

SECTION 17. 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.