BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	S.B. 2422
	By: Creighton
	Education
	4/25/2023
	As Filed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has built a digital platform called My Texas Future (MTF) to increase access to higher education by providing technology enabled college and career planning to current and prospective students, including adult learners, secondary school students, and veterans.� MTF profiles will allow students to connect with institutions and advisors for personalized guidance and auto-populate an application in Apply Texas, which will also be integrated into the MTF platform.����������������

Under current law, data collected by institutions of higher education about their students is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) and the Texas Public Information Act (Section 552.114 (Exception: Confidentiality of Student Records), Government Code) as "educational records."� This bill would ensure this same protection for data collected by THECB to assist individual students in pursuing higher education

S.B. 2422 requires that information provided to THECB by current, prospective, and former students be considered confidential "student records" under the Texas Public Information Act and provides that such records may only be released in accordance with FERPA.

As proposed, S.B. 2422 amends current law relating to the confidentiality of student records held by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

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 Section 61.031, Education Code, as follows:

Sec. 63.031. New heading: PUBLIC INFORMATION AND COMPLAINTS. (a)-(c) Makes no changes to these subsections.

(d) Provides that information regarding a current, former, or prospective applicant or student of an educational institution that is obtained, received, or held by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for the purpose of providing assistance with access to post-secondary education, notwithstanding any other provision of law, is required to be considered confidential and excepted from disclosure as an "educational record" under Chapter 552.114 (Exception: Confidentiality of Student Records), Government Code, and is only authorized to be released in conformity with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, Sec. 513, Pub. L. No. 93-380, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g.

SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2023.