86R2683 KSD-D
 
  By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 2338
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to student success-based funding for certain public
  institutions of higher education.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 61.0593, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (d), (e), and (h) and adding Subsections
  (d-1), (d-2), (d-3), (d-4), and (d-5) to read as follows:
         (d)  This subsection applies only to a general academic
  teaching institution other than a public state college. In
  devising its funding formulas and making its recommendations to the
  legislature relating to institutional appropriations of funds
  under Section 61.059 for institutions to which this subsection
  applies, the board, [in the manner and to the extent the board
  considers appropriate and] in consultation with those
  institutions, shall prescribe a formula for distributing funds to
  the institutions in proportion to the number of scaled points
  earned by each of the institutions according to the following
  performance metrics [incorporate the consideration of
  undergraduate student success measures achieved during the
  preceding state fiscal biennium by each of the institutions. At the
  time the board makes those recommendations, the board shall also
  make recommendations for incorporating the success measures, to the
  extent the board considers appropriate in consultation with those
  institutions, into the distribution of any incentive funds
  available for those institutions, including performance incentive
  funds under Subchapter D, Chapter 62. The board's recommendations
  must provide alternative approaches for applying the success
  measures and must compare the effects on funding of applying the
  success measures within the formula for base funding to applying
  the success measures as a separate formula. The success measures
  considered by the board under this subsection may include]:
               (1)  the total number of undergraduate [bachelor's]
  degrees awarded by the institution;
               (2)  the total number of undergraduate [bachelor's]
  degrees [in critical fields] awarded by the institution, adjusted
  by the institution's:
                     (A)  six-year graduation rate; or
                     (B)  three-year graduation rate, if the
  institution offers only upper-division courses;
               (3)  the total number of undergraduate [bachelor's]
  degrees awarded by the institution divided by the number of
  full-time undergraduate student equivalents enrolled in the fall
  semester, as reported in the board's higher education
  accountability system, the quotient of which is multiplied by 100
  [to at-risk students]; [and]
               (4)  the six-year graduation rate, or three-year
  graduation rate if the institution offers only upper-division
  courses, of at-risk students;
               (5)  retention rates of undergraduate students at the
  institution having successfully completed at least 25 percent of
  the student's degree requirements or having earned at least 30
  credit hours toward a 120-credit-hour degree, including hours
  earned toward the degree at another institution before transferring
  to the institution;
               (6)  retention rates of undergraduate students at the
  institution having successfully completed at least 50 percent of
  the student's degree requirements or having earned at least 60
  credit hours toward a 120-credit-hour degree, including hours
  earned toward the degree at another institution before transferring
  to the institution; and
               (7)  retention rates of undergraduate students at the
  institution having successfully completed at least 75 percent of
  the student's degree requirements or having earned at least 90
  credit hours toward a 120-credit-hour degree, including hours
  earned toward the degree at another institution before transferring
  to the institution [as determined by the board, the six-year
  graduation rate of undergraduate students of the institution who
  initially enrolled in the institution in the fall semester
  immediately following their graduation from a public high school in
  this state as compared to the six-year graduation rate predicted
  for those students based on the composition of the institution's
  student body].
         (d-1)  In devising the formula under Subsection (d), the
  board shall:
               (1)  determine the appropriate scale for each metric;
  and
               (2)  compute each metric using the average of the
  applicable variables for the three most recent academic years for
  which the information is available, as determined on the January 1
  preceding the state fiscal biennium for which the metric is
  computed.
         (d-2)  In the formula prescribed under Subsection (d),
  points may be assigned only for an institution's outcome on a metric
  and not based on the institution's increase in performance on the
  metric.
         (d-3)  In computing an institution's graduation rate under
  Subsection (d), the board shall include each first-time, full-time,
  undergraduate degree-seeking student who enrolled in at least 12
  semester credit hours in the student's first fall semester at the
  institution and who graduated from the institution or from any
  other institution of higher education or private or independent
  institution of higher education.
         (d-4)  The board's recommendations under Subsection (d) must
  provide alternative approaches for applying the performance
  metrics described by that subsection and must compare the effects
  on funding of applying the performance metrics within the formula
  for base funding to applying the performance metrics as a separate
  formula.
         (d-5)  At the time the board makes its recommendations under
  Subsection (d) for institutions to which that subsection applies,
  the board shall also make recommendations for incorporating the
  performance metrics described by that subsection, to the extent the
  board considers appropriate in consultation with those
  institutions, into the distribution of any incentive funds
  available for those institutions, including performance incentive
  funds under Subchapter D, Chapter 62.
         (e)  Notwithstanding Subsection (d):
               (1)  not more than 20 [10] percent of the total amount
  of general revenue appropriations of base funds for undergraduate
  education recommended by the board for all institutions to which
  Subsection (d) applies for a state fiscal biennium may be based on
  student success measures; and
               (2)  the board's recommendation for base funding for
  undergraduate education based on performance metrics [student
  success measures] does not reduce or otherwise affect funding
  recommendations for graduate education.
         (h)  The board shall include in its findings and
  recommendations to the legislature under Section 61.059:
               (1)  an evaluation of the effectiveness of the
  performance metrics and student success measures described by this
  section in achieving the purpose of this section during the
  preceding state fiscal biennium; and
               (2)  any related recommendations the board considers
  appropriate.
         SECTION 2.  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
  shall adopt rules for the administration of Section 61.0593,
  Education Code, as amended by this Act, not later than May 1, 2020.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.