AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
Unfortunately, the rising costs of university tuition have not been met with a proportional increase in employment for college graduates, and today's college students are spending more than ever on tuition with no promise of employment after graduation. Increased university transparency regarding job statistics would allow students to more accurately weigh the benefits of a degree against the rising costs of tuition.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Workforce Commission currently operate a joint data collection and tracking project on college graduates, known as the Texas Consumer Resource for Education and Workforce Statistics, or Texas CREWS. Texas CREWS provides comparative information about Texas public two-year and four-year postsecondary institutions.
H.B. 1287 seeks to provide the public, particularly prospective and current college students, with easy access to recent information on job placement rates by requiring public institutions of higher education to provide a prominent link on their websites to existing data reports from Texas CREWS for each respective higher education institution.
H.B. 1287 creates Section 51.4976 in Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, to require public institutions of higher education to provide a prominent link on their websites to existing data reports from Texas CREWS for each respective higher education institution; allows a comparison of wages related to various degree programs/training and career choices with the wages earned by former graduates in those fields; and increases university transparency in post-graduation job statistics.
H.B. 1287 amends current law relating to a requirement that each state university's Internet website include a link to certain employment data.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, by adding Section 51.9746, as follows:
Sec. 51.9746. INTERNET ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT DATA. (a) Redefines "general academic teaching institution" and "public state college" in this section.
(b) Requires each general academic teaching institution other than a public state college to maintain in a prominent location on the institution's Internet website a link to the Texas Consumer Resource for Education and Workforce Statistics ("Texas CREWS") report on gainful employment applicable to the institution for the most recent year for which that report is available.
SECTION 2. Requires each general academic teaching institution other than a public state college to comply with Section 51.9746, Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable following the effective date of this Act, but not later than February 1, 2016.
SECTION 3. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2015.