By: Middleton, Creighton S.B. No. 2335
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the accreditation of public institutions of higher
  education.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding
  Subchapter G-1 to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER G-1. ACCREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
         Sec. 51.371.  DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
               (1)  "Accrediting agency" means any organization,
  association, or other entity that accredits postsecondary
  educational institutions.
               (2)  "Commission" means the Texas Higher Education
  Accreditation Commission established by this subchapter.
               (3)  "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
  Education Coordinating Board.
               (4)  "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 61.003.
         Sec. 51.372.  TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION ACCREDITATION
  COMMISSION. (a)  The commission is administratively attached to
  the coordinating board and directly accountable to the governor.
         (b)  The commission is composed of nine members of the public
  appointed as follows:
               (1)  three members appointed by the governor;
               (2)  three members appointed by the lieutenant
  governor; and
               (3)  three members appointed by the speaker of the
  house of representatives.
         (c)  Members serve four-year terms and may not be removed
  except by the person who appointed the member for wilful neglect of
  duty or malfeasance.
         (d)  The governor shall appoint one member of the commission
  as the presiding officer.
         (e)  The presiding officer shall:
               (1)  convene meetings of the commission; and
               (2)  coordinate and direct the activities of the
  commission.
         (f)  At least two of the three commission members appointed
  under Subsections (b)(1), (b)(2), and (b)(3) must be an employer or
  representative of an association of employers in a target
  occupations field, as determined by the Texas Workforce Commission.
         (g)  A person may not serve on the commission if the person
  was employed by an accreditor recognized by the United States
  Department of Education at any time during the five years preceding
  the date on which the person would be appointed to the commission.
         (h)  A member of the commission is not entitled to
  compensation but is entitled to reimbursement for the travel
  expenses incurred by the member while transacting commission
  business, as provided by the General Appropriations Act.
         (i)  The commission is subject to Chapters 551, 552, and
  2001, Government Code.
         Sec. 51.373.  APPROVAL AND REVIEW OF ACCREDITING AGENCIES.
  (a) The commission shall identify and approve at least three
  accrediting agencies best suited to serve as accreditors for
  institutions of higher education.
         (b)  Subject to Subsections (c) and (d), the commission shall
  conduct a biennial evaluation of approved accrediting agencies.
  The evaluation must rate each agency as unsatisfactory,
  satisfactory, or exemplary based on evaluation standards
  established by the commission. The commission shall publish the
  evaluation standards on a publicly accessible Internet website.
         (c)  If an institution of higher education seeks
  accreditation from a recognized accrediting agency, as defined by
  Section 61.003, that the commission has not reviewed, the
  commission shall evaluate the accrediting agency under Subsection
  (b) not later than the fifth anniversary of the date the institution
  receives accreditation from the accrediting agency.
         (d)  If at the time the commission would be required to
  conduct an evaluation of an accrediting agency under Subsection (b)
  the commission does not have sufficient information to conduct the
  evaluation, the commission shall conduct the evaluation of the
  accrediting agency as soon as practicable after obtaining the
  necessary information.
         (e)  The commission's evaluation of each approved
  accrediting agency must include an assessment of:
               (1)  evidence demonstrating the agency's focus on
  educational and labor market outcomes for students attending an
  institution accredited by the agency, including:
                     (A)  the percentage of students who return to the
  accredited institution after completing their first year of study;
                     (B)  degree or credential completion and
  graduation rates;
                     (C)  the percentage of institution graduates
  employed in a field related to the credential or degree received
  within one year of graduation, to the extent that data is available;
                     (D)  the median student loan debt among borrowers
  attending the institution;
                     (E)  the percentage of students at each accredited
  institution who fully repay their student loans within the standard
  10-year repayment period; and
                     (F)  the median earnings of institution graduates
  expressed as a yearly amount and as a percentage of median student
  debt among borrowers, as reported by the U.S. Department of
  Education's College Scorecard or successor tool; and
               (2)  evidence of whether the agency takes or considers
  taking action with respect to an institution's accreditation in a
  manner that would hinder or interfere with the authority of the
  institution's governing board and the institution's accountability
  to the legislature.
         (f)  The commission may revoke the approval of an approved
  accrediting agency if the commission determines based on an
  evaluation under this section that the agency should no longer be
  approved.
         (g)  Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year,
  the commission shall submit to the governor, lieutenant governor,
  speaker of the house of representatives, Legislative Budget Board,
  and chairs of the standing committees of each house of the
  legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher education and
  publish on a publicly accessible Internet website a report of the
  evaluation made under this section. The report must include a
  ranking of the performance of approved accrediting agencies and
  information on any accrediting agency the commission determines
  should no longer be approved due to poor performance.
         Sec. 51.374.  ACCREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
  EDUCATION. (a) Each institution of higher education shall, at the
  institution's expense, seek accreditation by an accrediting agency
  approved by the commission with a performance rating of
  satisfactory or higher.
         (b)  An institution of higher education accredited by an
  accrediting agency that receives an unsatisfactory performance
  rating from the commission shall, at the institution's expense,
  obtain accreditation from a different approved accrediting agency
  with at least a satisfactory performance rating not later than the
  earlier of:
               (1)  the fifth anniversary of the date the agency
  receives the unsatisfactory performance rating; or
               (2)  a date determined by coordinating board rule.
         (c)  An institution of higher education accredited by an
  accrediting agency with a satisfactory performance rating shall, at
  the institution's expense, obtain accreditation from a different
  approved accrediting agency at the institution's next
  accreditation renewal date after 15 years have elapsed from the
  date of the institution's current accreditation.
         (d)  An institution of higher education accredited by an
  accrediting agency with an exemplary performance rating may
  continue to be accredited by that accrediting agency for as long as
  the agency maintains an exemplary performance rating. If as a
  result of an evaluation under Section 51.373 the commission assigns
  the agency a rating other than exemplary, the institution shall, at
  the institution's expense, obtain accreditation from a different
  approved accrediting agency not later than:
               (1)  if the agency receives a satisfactory performance
  rating, the 15th anniversary of the date the agency receives a
  satisfactory performance rating; or
               (2)  if the agency receives an unsatisfactory
  performance rating, the date described by Subsection (b).
         Sec. 51.375.  NOTICE OF NONCOMPLIANCE. (a) If the
  commission determines that an institution of higher education has
  failed to substantially comply with the requirements of Section
  51.374, the commission shall provide the institution with written
  notice of the institution's substantial noncompliance with that
  section.
         (b)  An institution of higher education that receives notice
  under Subsection (a) shall take corrective actions to comply with
  the requirements of Section 51.374 not later than the 180th day
  after the date of receipt of the notice. If the institution fails
  to substantially comply with the requirements of Section 51.374 by
  that date, the commission shall notify the comptroller of the
  institution's noncompliance.
         (c)  On receipt of notice under Subsection (b), the
  comptroller shall withhold all state funding from the noncompliant
  institution of higher education until the commission notifies the
  comptroller that the institution is substantially complying with
  the requirements of Section 51.374.
         Sec. 51.376.  RULES. The coordinating board shall adopt
  rules as necessary to implement this subchapter.
         SECTION 2.  (a)  As soon as practicable after the effective
  date of this Act, the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of
  the house of representatives shall appoint the members to the Texas
  Higher Education Accreditation Commission as provided by Section
  51.372, Education Code, as added by this Act.
         (b)  The Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission
  established under Subchapter G-1, Chapter 51, Education Code, as
  added by this Act, shall identify and approve accrediting agencies
  as required by Section 51.373(a), Education Code, as added by this
  Act, not later than September 1, 2024.
         SECTION 3.  (a) In this section, "commission" means the
  Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission.
         (b)  Notwithstanding any other section of this Act, in a
  state fiscal year, the commission is not required to implement a
  provision found in another section of this Act that is drafted as a
  mandatory provision imposing a duty on the commission to take an
  action unless money is specifically appropriated to the Texas
  Higher Education Coordinating Board for that fiscal year to carry
  out that duty. The commission may implement the provision in that
  fiscal year to the extent other funding is available to the
  commission to do so.
         (c)  If, as authorized by Subsection (b) of this section, the
  commission does not implement the mandatory provision in a state
  fiscal year, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in its
  legislative budget request for the next state fiscal biennium,
  shall certify that fact to the Legislative Budget Board and include
  a written estimate of the costs of implementing the provision in
  each year of that next state fiscal biennium.
         (d)  This section and the suspension of the commission's duty
  to implement a mandatory provision of this Act, as provided by
  Subsection (b) of this section, expire and the duty to implement the
  mandatory provision resumes on September 1, 2027.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.