By: Pacheco H.B. No. 546

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the application of certain programs that support certain occupation-related postsecondary educational programs and students of those programs.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 61.605(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The board may provide repayment assistance under this subchapter for the repayment of any student loan, including a loan for undergraduate education, received by an eligible person through any lender for education at:

(1) an institution of higher education;

(2) [,] a private or independent institution of higher education;

(3) [, or] a public or private out-of-state institution of higher education accredited by a recognized accrediting agency; or

(4) a nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally accredited college or university operating in accordance with a memorandum of understanding with this state under an executive order issued by the governor[, including loans for undergraduate education, received by an eligible person through any lender].

SECTION 2. Section 61.608(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The board shall distribute to each institution of higher education or private or independent institution of higher education, each college or university described by Section 61.605(a)(4), and [to] any appropriate state agency and professional association copies of the rules adopted under this section and other pertinent information relating to this subchapter.

SECTION 3. Section 61.9621, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 61.9621. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "professional nursing program" means an educational program that:

(1) is offered by:

(A) a public or private institution of higher education; or

(B) a nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally accredited college or university operating in accordance with a memorandum of understanding with this state under an executive order issued by the governor; and

(2) either:

(A) prepares [for preparing] students to attain [for] initial licensure as registered nurses; or

(B) leads students, including registered nurses holding an associate or comparable degree, to earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing.

SECTION 4. Section 61.9622, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 61.9622. PROGRAM. A professional nursing shortage reduction program is established to increase the number and types of registered nurses in order to meet the needs for registered nurses in this state. The board shall administer the professional nursing shortage reduction program to make grants for those purposes to professional nursing programs and other entities involved with those programs [a professional nursing program in the preparation of students for initial licensure as registered nurses in order to increase the number and types of registered nurses to meet the needs for registered nurses in the state].

SECTION 5. Section 61.9623(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A grant from the professional nursing shortage reduction program to a professional nursing program or other entity described by Section 61.9622 [involved with a professional nursing program in the preparation of students for initial licensure as registered nurses] must be:

(1) expended exclusively on costs related to:

(A) enrolling additional students;

(B) nursing faculty enhancement in accordance with Section 61.96231;

(C) encouraging innovation in the recruitment and retention of students, including the recruitment and retention of Spanish-speaking and bilingual students; or

(D) identifying, developing, or implementing innovative methods to make the most effective use of limited professional nursing program faculty, instructional or clinical space, and other resources, including:

(i) sharing curriculum and administrative or instructional personnel, facilities, and responsibilities between two or more professional nursing programs located in the same region of this state; and

(ii) using preceptors or part-time faculty to provide clinical instruction in order to address the need for qualified faculty to accommodate increased student enrollment in the professional nursing program;

(2) contingent on the professional nursing program's having been approved as a professional nursing program by the board or the Texas Board of Nursing, as appropriate;

(3) contingent on the professional nursing program's not being on probation with the Texas Board of Nursing or other accrediting body; and

(4) if granted to increase enrollments, contingent on the professional nursing program's ability to enroll additional students, including having the necessary classroom space and clinical slots.

SECTION 6. Sections 61.96232(a) and (b), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The board by rule shall establish a process under which a public or private institution of higher education or an institution described by Section 61.9621(2) that offers a professional nursing program may apply for a grant under this subchapter and the commissioner of higher education, contingent on appropriations of money for the grants, selects one or more applicants to receive a grant based on criteria established by board rule. The criteria must include the institution's agreement that the institution's professional nursing program will enroll additional students or graduate additional students in a program that:

(1) prepares students [prepared] for initial licensure as registered nurses; or

(2) leads students, including registered nurses holding an associate or comparable degree, to earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing.

(b) The process established under Subsection (a) may authorize the commissioner of higher education to accept a joint application from multiple institutions that agree to cooperate on a regional or joint basis for their professional nursing programs to enroll additional students or graduate additional students described by Subsection (a) [prepared for initial licensure as registered nurses].

SECTION 7. Section 61.9626(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Each institution of higher education that has a professional nursing program shall submit an annual report to the board detailing its strategy for increasing the number of students who [that] graduate from the program prepared to attain initial [for] licensure as registered nurses or who earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing. The report must include:

(1) the capacity of the program, either alone or in cooperation with one or more other programs, to graduate more students who are prepared to attain initial [for] licensure or who earn a bachelor of science degree as described by this subsection [as registered nurses]; and

(2) the resources allocated to increase the number of students who [that] graduate from the program prepared to attain initial [for] licensure or who earn a bachelor of science degree as described by this subsection [as registered nurses].

SECTION 8. Section 61.9751(2), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(2) "Nursing education program" means:

(A) an undergraduate professional nursing program or a graduate professional nursing program as those terms are defined by Section 54.355; and

(B) a comparable nursing program offered by a nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally accredited college or university operating in accordance with a memorandum of understanding with this state under an executive order issued by the governor.

SECTION 9. Section 61.9821, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 61.9821. REPAYMENT AUTHORIZED. The board shall establish and administer a program to provide, in accordance with this subchapter and board rules, assistance in the repayment of student loans for nurses who:

(1) are serving on the faculties of nursing degree programs at institutions to which this subchapter applies [of higher education or private or independent institutions of higher education] in positions that require an advanced degree in professional nursing; and

(2) apply and qualify for the assistance.

SECTION 10. Subchapter JJ, Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 61.98211 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.98211. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter applies to:

(1) an institution of higher education;

(2) a private or independent institution of higher education; and

(3) a nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally accredited college or university operating in accordance with a memorandum of understanding with this state under an executive order issued by the governor.

SECTION 11. Section 61.9822, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 61.9822. ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible to receive loan repayment assistance under this subchapter, a nurse must:

(1) apply to the board;

(2) at the time of application for repayment assistance have been employed part-time or full-time for at least one year as, and be currently employed part-time or full-time as, a faculty member of a nursing degree program at an institution to which this subchapter applies [of higher education or a private or independent institution of higher education]; and

(3) comply with any additional requirements adopted by board rule.

SECTION 12. Sections 61.9823(a) and (b), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) On qualifying for loan repayment assistance under this subchapter, a nurse may receive repayment assistance for each year of part-time or full-time employment as a faculty member of a nursing degree program at an institution to which this subchapter applies [of higher education or private or independent institution of higher education], not to exceed five years.

(b) The board by rule shall determine the maximum amount of loan repayment assistance received by a nurse under this subchapter [may not exceed $7,000] in any one year. The board shall base the amount of loan repayment assistance received by a nurse for part-time employment on the proportion of the number of hours worked by the nurse to the number of hours worked by a full-time nurse.

SECTION 13. Section 61.9824(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The board may provide repayment assistance for the repayment of any student loan received by an eligible person through any lender that is for education, including undergraduate education, at:

(1) a public or private institution of higher education; or

(2) a nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally accredited college or university operating in accordance with a memorandum of understanding with this state under an executive order issued by the governor [any public or private institution of higher education, including a loan for undergraduate education, received by an eligible person through any lender].

SECTION 14. Section 61.9828(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The board shall distribute a copy of the rules adopted under this section and pertinent information regarding this subchapter to:

(1) each institution to which this subchapter applies [of higher education and private or independent institution of higher education];

(2) any appropriate state agency; and

(3) any appropriate professional association.

SECTION 15. As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt any rules necessary to administer the changes in law made by this Act.

SECTION 16. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may not award grants under the professional nursing shortage reduction program as provided by the changes in law made by this Act to Sections 61.9621 and 61.96232, Education Code, before June 1, 2023.

SECTION 17. Subchapter JJ, Chapter 61, Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies beginning with loan repayment assistance awarded under that subchapter for the 2022-2023 academic year. Loan repayment assistance awarded under Subchapter JJ, Chapter 61, Education Code, for an academic year before the 2022-2023 academic year is governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 18. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2021.