BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center	S.B. 1826
87R2704 KJR-D	By: Springer
	Higher Education
	4/19/2021
	As Filed

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Competency-based education (CBE) measures skills and learning rather than time. Students progress through courses as soon as they can prove they have mastered the material, rather than only advancing when the semester or term ends. If students can learn faster, spend more time on schoolwork, or lean on the knowledge they already have from previous work or school experience, they can accelerate. The major benefits of CBE are:

 

Flexible: competency-based programs are very flexible as their structure depends on the individual learner.

 

Self-paced: the focus of CBE is on the final outcome and not the journey.

 

Engaging: one of the strongest outcomes of CBE is increased student engagement.

 

Affordable: the faster a learner progresses through the material, the cheaper the program becomes for learning.

 

Skills-based: learning centers on real-world skills and competency development.

 

In order to promote and expose Texas's students to CBE, S.B. 1826 establishes the Texas Competency-Based Education Grant Program.

 

As proposed, S.B. 1826 amends current law relating to the establishment of the Texas Competency-Based Education Grant Program for certain students enrolled in competency-based baccalaureate degree programs and to formula funding and dropped and repeated course restrictions for students enrolled in those degree programs at public institutions of higher education.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in SECTION 1 (Section 56.523, Education Code; Section 56.525, Education Code; and Section 56.527, Education Code) and SECTION 5 (Section 61.088, Education Code)� of this bill.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 56, Education Code, by adding Subchapter T, as follows:

 

SUBCHAPTER T. TEXAS COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM

 

Sec. 56.521.� DEFINITIONS.� Defines "competency-based baccalaureate degree program," "coordinating board," "eligible institution," "expected family contribution," "general academic teaching institution," "private or independent institution of higher education," "public junior college," and "program."

 

Sec. 56.522.� PURPOSE.� Provides that the purpose of the Texas Competency-Based Education Grant Program (program) is to provide financial assistance to enable eligible students to enroll in competency-based baccalaureate degree programs at eligible institutions.

 

Sec. 56.523.� ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM; PRIORITY FOR FINANCIAL NEED.� (a) Requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to:

 

(1)  administer the program;

 

(2)  using the negotiated rulemaking procedures under Chapter 2008 (Negotiated Rulemaking), Government Code, adopt rules for determining the allocation of funds under the program among eligible institutions; and

 

(3)  adopt any other rules necessary to implement the program or this subchapter.

 

(b) Requires THECB to consult with the student financial aid officers of eligible institutions in developing the rules adopted under Subsection (a).

 

(c) Prohibits the total amount of grants awarded under the program from exceeding the amount available for the program from appropriations, gifts, grants, or other funds.

 

(d) Requires THECB and the eligible institutions, in determining who should receive a grant under the program, to give highest priority to awarding grants to students who demonstrate the greatest unmet financial need.

 

Sec. 56.524.� INITIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANT.� (a) Requires a person, to be eligible initially for a grant under the program, to:

 

(1)  be a resident of Texas as determined by THECB rules;

 

(2)  meet financial need requirements as defined by THECB rules, including a requirement that the person's expected family contribution for the academic year does not exceed the maximum expected family contribution established for this purpose by THECB;

 

(3)  be enrolled in a competency-based baccalaureate degree program at an eligible institution;

 

(4)  not be receiving a TEXAS grant under Subchapter M (Toward EXcellence, Access, & Success (TEXAS) Grant Program), a tuition equalization grant under Subchapter F (Tuition Equalization Grants), Chapter 61 (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board), or any other state-funded student financial assistance for the same academic period; and

 

(5)  comply with any additional nonacademic requirement adopted by THECB under this subchapter.

 

(b) Provides that a person is not eligible to receive a grant under the program if the person has been granted a baccalaureate degree.

 

(c) Provides that a person's eligibility for a grant under the program ends on the earliest of the following dates:

 

(1)  the fourth anniversary of the initial award of a grant under the program to the person, if at the time of the initial award the person had earned less than 60 semester credit hours or an equivalent number of competency units or credits toward the person's degree;

 

(2)  the second anniversary of the initial award of a grant under the program to the person, if at the time of the initial award the person had earned 60 or more semester credit hours or an equivalent number of competency units or credits toward the person's degree; or

 

(3)  the date the person receives a baccalaureate degree.

 

Sec. 56.525.� CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS.� (a) Authorizes a person, after initially qualifying for a grant under the program, to continue to receive a grant under the program during each semester or term in which the person is enrolled at an eligible institution only if the person:

 

(1)  meets the criteria for initial eligibility under Section 56.524(a);

 

(2)  makes satisfactory academic progress toward a baccalaureate degree; and

 

(3)  complies with any additional nonacademic requirement adopted by THECB.

 

(b) Prohibits a person, if the person fails to meet any of the requirements of Subsection (a) after the completion of any semester or term, from receiving a grant under the program during the next semester or term in which the person enrolls. Authorizes a person, unless the person's eligibility for a grant expires under Section 56.524(c), to become eligible to receive a grant under the program in a subsequent semester or term if the person:

 

(1)  completes at least 12 semester credit hours or an equivalent number of competency units or credits in a semester or term during which the student is not eligible for a grant; and

 

(2)  meets all the requirements of Subsection (a).

 

(c) Provides that, for the purpose of this section, a person makes satisfactory academic progress toward a baccalaureate degree only if the person completes at least 12 semester credit hours or an equivalent number of competency units or credits in each semester or term in which the person is enrolled.

 

(d) Requires THECB to adopt rules to allow a person who is otherwise eligible to receive a grant under the program to receive a grant if the student's completion rate falls below the satisfactory academic progress requirements of this section in the event of a hardship or for other good cause shown, including:

 

(1)  a showing of a severe illness or other debilitating condition that may affect the person's academic performance; or

 

(2)  a showing that the person is responsible for the care of a sick, injured, or needy person and that the person's provision of care may affect the person's academic performance.

 

Sec. 56.526.� GRANT USE.� Authorizes a person receiving a grant under the program to use the money to pay any usual and customary cost of attendance at an eligible institution incurred by the student. Authorizes the institution to disburse all or part of the proceeds of a grant under the program to an eligible person only if the tuition and required fees incurred by the person at the institution have been paid.

 

Sec. 56.527.� GRANT AMOUNT.� (a) Provides that the maximum annual amount of a grant under the program for a full-time undergraduate student equivalent enrolled at an eligible institution is an amount equal to 75 percent of the average state appropriation for the state fiscal biennium preceding the biennium in which the grant is awarded for a full-time undergraduate student equivalent enrolled at a general academic teaching institution, as determined by THECB.

 

(b) Authorizes THECB to adopt rules that allow THECB to increase or decrease, in proportion to the number of semester credit hours or competency units or credits in which a student is enrolled, the amount of a grant award to a student who is enrolled in a number of semester credit hours or competency units or credits in excess of or below 12 semester credit hours or an equivalent number of competency units or credits.

 

Sec. 56.528.� GRANT NOT TO AFFECT ADMISSION.� Prohibits an eligible institution from denying admission to or enrollment in the institution based on a person's eligibility to receive a grant under the program or a person's receipt of a grant under the program.

 

SECTION 2. Amends Section 51.907, Education Code, by adding Subsection (b-1), as follows:

 

(b-1) Provides that Section 51.907 (Limitations on Number of Courses That May Be Dropped Under Certain Circumstances) does not apply to a student enrolled in a competency-based baccalaureate degree program, as defined by Section 56.521.

 

SECTION 3. Amends Section 61.059, Education Code, by adding Subsection (s), as follows:

 

(s) Prohibits THECB, notwithstanding any other law, from excluding from being counted in the hours reported to the Legislative Budget Board for formula funding contact hours or semester credit hours for a student's enrollment in a course for which the student has previously generated formula funding if the student is enrolled in a competency-based baccalaureate degree program, as defined by Section 56.521.

 

SECTION 4. Amends Section 61.0595, Education Code, by adding Subsection (f-1), as follows:

 

(f-1) Requires THECB, in the formulas established under Section 61.059 (Appropriations), to include without consideration of Subsection (a) (relating to prohibiting THECB from including semester credit hours earned by a certain resident undergraduate student) or (e) (relating to providing that Subsection (a) applies only to funding for semester credit hours earned by certain students) of Section 61.0595 (Funding for Certain Excess Undergraduate Credit Hours) funding for semester credit hours earned by a student who is enrolled in a competency-based baccalaureate degree program, as defined by Section 56.521.

 

SECTION 5. Amends Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, by adding Section 61.088, as follows:

 

Sec. 61.088.� DROPPED OR REPEATED COURSES UNDER COMPETENCY-BASED BACCALAUREATE DEGREE PROGRAM.� Requires THECB by rule to develop standards for and limitations on dropping or repeating courses by students enrolled in a competency-based baccalaureate degree program, as defined by Section 56.521.

 

SECTION 6. Provides that Section 51.907(b-1), Education Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with the fall 2021 semester.

 

SECTION 7. (a) Requires THECB to adopt rules to administer Subchapter T, Chapter 56, Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act.

 

(b) Requires THECB to begin allocating funds to eligible institutions under Subchapter T, Chapter 56, Education Code, as added by this Act, for the first academic year for which money is appropriated for that purpose, except that THECB is prohibited from allocating funds under that subchapter for an academic year before the 2022-2023 academic year.

 

SECTION 8. Provides that the changes in law made by this Act to Sections 61.059 and 61.0595, Education Code, apply beginning with funding recommendations made under Section 61.059, Education Code, for the state fiscal biennium beginning September 1, 2023.

 

SECTION 9. Requires THECB to adopt rules under Section 61.088, Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after this Act takes effect.

 

SECTION 10. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2021.