| TO: | Honorable Kel Seliger, Chair, Senate Committee on Higher Education |
| FROM: | Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB2099 by Guillen (Relating to improving access to nursing education programs.), As Engrossed |
The bill would implement some of the recommendations in the report, "Maximize the Capacity of Nursing Education Programs to Reduce the Shortage of Nurses in Texas," in the Legislative Budget Board's Government Effectiveness and Efficiency Report submitted to the Eighty-Third Texas Legislature, 2013.
The bill would amend the Education Code to require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to determine whether the adoption of an electronic common admision application form for use by a person seeking admission to an undergraduate nursing education program would be cost-effective. If it is determined to be cost-effective, the Board would be required to adopt such an electronic form by rule with input from representatives of undergraduate nursing education programs. The adopted electronic form would also include information regarding any available nursing scholarship opportunities offered by institutions of higher education.
Based on the LBB's analysis of responses from each public university system and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, it is assumed that the duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the bill could be accomplished within existing resources.
| Source Agencies: | 710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 768 Texas Tech University System Administration, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 758 Texas State University System, 769 University of North Texas System Administration, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board, 783 University of Houston System Administration
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| LBB Staff: | UP, SDE, KK, JI
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