LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 88TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

April 19, 2023

TO:	Honorable Brandon Creighton, Chair, Senate Committee on Education
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	SB2335 by Middleton (relating to the accreditation of public institutions of higher education.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission is required to implement a provision of the bill only if the legislature appropriates money specifically to the Higher Education Coordinating Board for that purpose. If the legislature does not appropriate money specifically for that purpose, the Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission may, but is not required to, implement a provision of the bill using other funding that is available for that purpose.

The bill creates the Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission (Commission). The Commission is administratively attached to the Higher Education Coordinating Board and directly accountable to the governor. Under provisions of the bill, the Commission will identify and approve at least three accrediting agencies best suited to service as accreditors for institutions of higher education. The bill would require each institution of higher education to periodically seek accreditation by an accrediting agency approved by the commission with a performance rating of satisfactory or higher.

An institution of higher education that fails to comply with these requirements would receive notice of noncompliance from the commission. If the institution does not comply with the requirements within 180 days of receiving notice, the Comptroller would withhold all state funding from the institution until the institution is substantially complying with the requirements.

It is assumed any costs associated with the bill will be absorbed within current resources.

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

300 Trusteed Programs Within the Office of the Governor, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 758 Texas State University System, 768 Texas Tech University System Administration, 769 University of North Texas System Administration, 775 Texas Woman's University System, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board, 783 University of Houston System Administration

LBB Staff:

JMc, MOc, JSM, GO