| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
| |
|
|
relating to the requirements for the early college education |
|
|
program and the transfer of course credit among public institutions |
|
|
of higher education. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 29.908(b), Education Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(b) The program must: |
|
|
(1) provide for a course of study that enables a |
|
|
participating student to combine high school courses and |
|
|
college-level courses during grade levels 9 through 12; |
|
|
(2) allow a participating student to complete high |
|
|
school and enroll in a program at an institution of higher education |
|
|
that will enable the student to, on or before the fifth anniversary |
|
|
of the date of the student's first day of high school, receive a |
|
|
high school diploma and either: |
|
|
(A) an applied associate degree, as defined by |
|
|
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rule; or |
|
|
(B) an academic associate degree, as defined by |
|
|
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rule, with a completed |
|
|
field of study curriculum developed under Section 61.823 that is |
|
|
transferable [at least 60 semester credit hours] toward a |
|
|
baccalaureate degree at one or more general academic teaching |
|
|
institutions, as defined by Section 61.003; |
|
|
(3) include articulation agreements with colleges, |
|
|
universities, and technical schools in this state to provide a |
|
|
participating student access to postsecondary educational and |
|
|
training opportunities at a college, university, or technical |
|
|
school; and |
|
|
(4) provide a participating student flexibility in |
|
|
class scheduling and academic mentoring. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 51.4033, Education Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 51.4033. REPORT OF NONTRANSFERABLE CREDIT. (a) Not |
|
|
later than May [March] 1 of each year and in the form prescribed by |
|
|
the coordinating board, each general academic teaching institution |
|
|
shall provide to the coordinating board and the legislature a |
|
|
report describing any courses in the Lower-Division Academic Course |
|
|
Guide Manual or its successor adopted by the coordinating board for |
|
|
which a student who transfers to the institution from another |
|
|
institution of higher education is not granted: |
|
|
(1) academic credit at the receiving institution; or |
|
|
(2) if the student has declared a major and has not |
|
|
changed majors, academic credit toward the student's major at the |
|
|
receiving institution. |
|
|
(b) A report required by this section must indicate: |
|
|
(1) the course name and type; |
|
|
(2) which institution of higher education provided |
|
|
academic credit for the course; and |
|
|
(3) the reason why the receiving institution did not |
|
|
grant academic credit for the course as described by Subsection |
|
|
(a), including whether the institution complied with the dispute |
|
|
resolution process under Section 61.826. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 51.4034(a), Education Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) Not later than May [March] 1 of each year and in the form |
|
|
prescribed by the coordinating board, each public junior college |
|
|
shall provide to the coordinating board and the legislature a |
|
|
report on courses taken by students who, during the preceding |
|
|
academic year, transferred to a general academic teaching |
|
|
institution or earned an associate degree at the college. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Section 61.823, Education Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (b) to read as |
|
|
follows: |
|
|
(a-1) The board by rule may authorize a general academic |
|
|
teaching institution to adopt, for each field of study curriculum |
|
|
developed by the board for which the institution offers a degree |
|
|
program, a set of courses specific to that field of study, not to |
|
|
exceed a total of six semester credit hours or the equivalent, that |
|
|
must be completed as part of the field of study curriculum for that |
|
|
institution. Each general academic teaching institution that |
|
|
adopts a set of courses for a field of study curriculum under this |
|
|
subsection shall post on the institution's Internet website in a |
|
|
manner easily accessible to students the set of courses with the |
|
|
associated course numbers under the common course numbering system. |
|
|
(b) If a student successfully completes a field of study |
|
|
curriculum developed by the board, that block of courses may be |
|
|
transferred to a general academic teaching institution and, subject |
|
|
to completion of the set of courses adopted by the institution for |
|
|
that field of study under Subsection (a-1), must be substituted for |
|
|
that institution's lower division requirements for the degree |
|
|
program for the field of study into which the student transfers, and |
|
|
the student shall receive full academic credit toward the degree |
|
|
program for the block of courses transferred. |
|
|
SECTION 5. Sections 61.826(c), (d), and (e), Education |
|
|
Code, are amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(c) If an institution of higher education proposes to deny |
|
|
the application toward a student's degree requirements of [does not |
|
|
accept] course credit earned by the [a] student at another |
|
|
institution of higher education in the other institution's core |
|
|
curriculum or in a field of study curriculum developed by the board |
|
|
under Section 61.823, that institution must: |
|
|
(1) [shall] give written notice to the student and the |
|
|
other institution of that institution's intent to deny [that] the |
|
|
application [transfer] of the course credit to the student's degree |
|
|
requirements and the reasons for the proposed denial; |
|
|
(2) [is denied. The two institutions and the student |
|
|
shall] attempt to resolve the application [transfer] of the course |
|
|
credit to the student's degree requirements with the other |
|
|
institution and the student in accordance with board rules; |
|
|
(3) resolve the dispute not later than the 45th day |
|
|
after the date on which the student enrolls in that institution; and |
|
|
(4) if [. If] the [transfer] dispute is not resolved |
|
|
to the satisfaction of the student or the institution at which the |
|
|
credit was earned, [within 45 days after the date the student |
|
|
received written notice of the denial, the institution that denies |
|
|
the transfer of the course credit shall] notify the commissioner of |
|
|
higher education of its denial to apply the course credit to the |
|
|
student's degree requirements and the reasons for the denial. |
|
|
(d) Not later than the 20th business day after the date the |
|
|
commissioner of higher education receives notice of a dispute |
|
|
concerning the application of course credit to a student's degree |
|
|
requirements under Subsection (c)(4), the [The] commissioner [of |
|
|
higher education] or the commissioner's designee shall make the |
|
|
final determination about the [a] dispute [concerning the transfer |
|
|
of course credit] and give written notice of the determination to |
|
|
the involved student and institutions. If the commissioner or the |
|
|
commissioner's designee determines that the institution may not |
|
|
deny the application of course credit described by Subsection (c) |
|
|
to the student's degree requirements, the institution shall apply |
|
|
that course credit toward the student's degree requirements. A |
|
|
determination by the commissioner or the commissioner's designee |
|
|
under this subsection is final and may not be appealed. |
|
|
(e) The board shall: |
|
|
(1) collect data on the types of transfer disputes |
|
|
that are reported and the disposition of each case that is |
|
|
considered by the commissioner of higher education or the |
|
|
commissioner's designee; and |
|
|
(2) post on the board's Internet website a list of each |
|
|
case that is considered by the commissioner of higher education or |
|
|
the commissioner's designee under this section, including the |
|
|
disposition of the case. |
|
|
SECTION 6. Subchapter S, Chapter 61, Education Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 61.834 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 61.834. TEXAS DIRECT ASSOCIATE DEGREE. An institution |
|
|
of higher education shall award a student a "Texas Direct" |
|
|
associate degree and include an appropriate notation on the |
|
|
student's transcript if the student completes a field of study |
|
|
curriculum developed by the board under Section 61.823 and: |
|
|
(1) the institution's core curriculum; or |
|
|
(2) 42 semester credit hours of lower-division courses |
|
|
transferable to one or more general academic teaching institutions. |
|
|
SECTION 7. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 |
|
|
academic year. |
|
|
SECTION 8. 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, 2023. |
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * |