Bill Text: TX HB301 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the granting of undergraduate course credit by examination or assessment at public institutions of higher education; authorizing a fee.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-02-11 - Referred to Higher Education [HB301 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB301-Introduced.html

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84R756 KEL-D
By: Wu H.B. No. 301

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the granting of undergraduate course credit by
examination or assessment at public institutions of higher
education; authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 51.968, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 51.968. ALTERNATE METHODS FOR EARNING UNDERGRADUATE
COURSE CREDIT [FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS COMPLETING
POSTSECONDARY-LEVEL PROGRAM].
SECTION 2. Section 51.968(a)(4), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(4) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned [means an institution of higher education, as defined] by
Section 61.003[, that offers freshman-level courses].
SECTION 3. Section 51.968, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (d), and (f-1) and amending
Subsections (b), (c), and (e) to read as follows:
(a-1) This section applies only to an institution of higher
education that offers freshman-level and sophomore-level courses.
(a-2) To maximize opportunities for students to earn
undergraduate course credit at the institution, each institution of
higher education shall develop and, at least once during each
academic year, administer one or more institution-specific
examinations or assessments by which entering or current
undergraduate students may earn freshman-level or sophomore-level
course credit in the same manner as an entering freshman student may
earn course credit through a CLEP examination or Advanced Placement
examination. The institution may charge a student a reasonable fee
for taking an examination or assessment described by this
subsection. The institution shall develop and administer
examinations or assessments for course credit for as many
freshman-level and sophomore-level courses as practicable and may
develop those examinations or assessments using source material
from other institutions of higher education.
(a-3) Each institution of higher education that ceases to
offer credit through the College-Level Examination Program or the
Advanced Placement Program for a specific course shall offer credit
for the course through an institution-specific examination or
assessment administered under Subsection (a-2).
(b) Each institution of higher education [that offers
freshman-level courses] shall adopt and implement a policy to grant
[undergraduate] course credit for freshman-level and
sophomore-level courses to undergraduate [entering freshman]
students who have:
(1) successfully completed the International
Baccalaureate Diploma Program;
(2)[, who have] achieved required scores on one or more
examinations in the Advanced Placement Program or the College-Level
Examination Program;
(3)[, or who have] successfully completed one or more
courses offered through concurrent enrollment in high school and at
an institution of higher education; or
(4) achieved required scores on one or more
institution-specific examinations or assessments administered by
the institution under Subsection (a-2).
(c) In the policy, the institution shall:
(1) establish the institution's conditions for
granting course credit, including the minimum required scores on
CLEP examinations, Advanced Placement examinations, [and]
examinations for courses constituting the International
Baccalaureate Diploma Program, and institution-specific
examinations or assessments administered by the institution under
Subsection (a-2); and
(2) based on the correlations identified under
Subsections [Subsection] (f) and (f-1), identify the specific
freshman-level or sophomore-level course credit or other academic
requirements of the institution, including the number of semester
credit hours or other course credit, that the institution will
grant to a student who successfully completes a course or program or
achieves a required score on an examination or assessment as
described by Subsection (b) [the diploma program, who successfully
completes a course through concurrent enrollment, or who achieves
required scores on CLEP examinations or Advanced Placement
examinations].
(d) Each institution of higher education shall:
(1) report to the coordinating board:
(A) a list of courses for which the institution
offers undergraduate students the opportunity to earn course credit
through an institution-specific examination or assessment;
(B) the institution's policy adopted under this
section; and
(C) a schedule of any fees charged for an
examination or assessment administered under Subsection (a-2); and
(2) include a copy of the list, policy, and applicable
fee schedule with the institution's undergraduate student
application materials, including application materials available
on the institution's Internet website.
(e) On request of an applicant for admission as an entering
undergraduate student [freshman], an institution of higher
education, based on information provided by the applicant, shall
determine and notify the applicant regarding:
(1) the amount and type of any course credit that would
or could be granted to the applicant under the policy; and
(2) any other academic requirement that the applicant
would satisfy under the policy.
(f-1) An institution of higher education shall:
(1) identify correlations between the subject matter
and content of courses offered by the institution and the subject
matter and content of institution-specific examinations or
assessments administered by the institution under Subsection
(a-2); and
(2) make that information available to the public on
the institution's Internet website.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies
beginning with the 2016-2017 academic year. An academic year
occurring before that academic year is covered by the law in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.