|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the curriculum requirements in government or political |
|
science at institutions of higher education. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 51.301, Education Code, is amended by |
|
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (f) to read |
|
as follows: |
|
(a) Every college and university receiving state support or |
|
state aid from public funds shall offer six semester hours or its |
|
equivalent of [give a] course [of] instruction in government or |
|
political science, including three semester hours or its equivalent |
|
of instruction that considers [which includes consideration of] the |
|
Constitution of the United States and three semester hours or its |
|
equivalent of instruction that considers the constitutions of the |
|
states, with special emphasis on that of Texas. [This course shall
|
|
have a credit value of not less than six semester hours or its
|
|
equivalent.] Except as provided by Subsection (c), a college or |
|
university receiving state support or state aid from public funds |
|
may not grant a baccalaureate degree or an associate of arts degree |
|
or associate of science degree [a lesser degree or academic
|
|
certificate] to any person unless the person has credit for the |
|
instruction required by this subsection [such a course]. The |
|
college or university may determine that a student has satisfied |
|
this requirement in whole or in part on the basis of credit granted |
|
to the student by the college or university for a substantially |
|
equivalent course completed at another accredited college or |
|
university or on the basis of the student's successful completion |
|
of an advanced standing examination administered on the conditions |
|
and under the circumstances common for the college or university's |
|
advanced standing examinations. The college or university may |
|
grant as much as three semester hours of credit or its equivalent |
|
toward satisfaction of this requirement for substantially |
|
equivalent work completed by the student in the program of an |
|
approved senior R.O.T.C. unit. A student is entitled to apply |
|
course credit not to exceed three semester hours or its equivalent |
|
in Mexican American politics toward satisfaction of the course |
|
requirement provided by this subsection. |
|
(b) The requirement of Subsection (a) that the required |
|
course instruction must include three semester hours or its |
|
equivalent with a special emphasis on the Texas Constitution does |
|
not apply to a degree granted on completion of an academic program |
|
offered by a medical and dental unit, as that term is defined by |
|
Section 61.003, to a student who is a member of the armed forces of |
|
the United States, including the reserves or national guard, if: |
|
(1) the program is operated by the medical and dental |
|
unit under contract with the United States Army; |
|
(2) the program requires less than two years of |
|
residency in this state; and |
|
(3) the principal participants in the program are |
|
military personnel stationed outside this state. |
|
(f) The course requirement provided by Subsection (a) does |
|
not apply to: |
|
(1) an associate of applied science degree; or |
|
(2) an academic certificate. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 51.301, Education Code, as amended by |
|
this Act, applies to the curriculum requirements established for a |
|
degree or certificate program without regard to whether the student |
|
initially enrolled in the degree or certificate program before, on, |
|
or after the effective date of this Act. |
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |