83R1327 KSD-F
 
  By: Birdwell S.B. No. 1710
 
 
 
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 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.
         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.
         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.
         SECTION 4.  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 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.
         (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 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.
         SECTION 6.  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 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.
         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.
         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.
         SECTION 10.  Section 61.832(e), Education Code, as added by
  this Act, applies beginning with the 2013 fall semester.
         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.