Bill Text: TX HB3025 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Engrossed
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to measures to facilitate the timely completion of degrees by students of public institutions of higher education.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2011-06-17 - Effective immediately [HB3025 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB3025-Engrossed.html
Bill Title: Relating to measures to facilitate the timely completion of degrees by students of public institutions of higher education.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2011-06-17 - Effective immediately [HB3025 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB3025-Engrossed.html
By: Branch, Guillen, Lozano | H.B. No. 3025 |
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relating to measures to facilitate the transfer of students within | ||
the public higher education system and the timely graduation of | ||
students from public institutions of higher education. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 61.05135 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 61.05135. STATEWIDE TRANSFER COMPACTS. (a) In this | ||
section: | ||
(1) "Career school or college" has the meaning | ||
assigned by Section 132.001. | ||
(2) "Qualified degree-granting career school or | ||
college" means a career school or college determined by the board | ||
under Subsection (c) to be qualified to participate in a statewide | ||
transfer compact developed under this section. | ||
(b) The board, in collaboration with institutions of higher | ||
education, shall develop transfer compacts that identify learning | ||
objectives for coursework in major degree fields that are | ||
acceptable across institutions offering coursework or degrees in | ||
those fields in an effort to facilitate the universal articulation | ||
of specific courses completed at public junior colleges, public | ||
state colleges, public technical institutes, general academic | ||
teaching institutions, and qualified degree-granting career | ||
schools or colleges and transferred to general academic teaching | ||
institutions. | ||
(c) A career school or college may apply to the board to | ||
participate in a statewide transfer compact developed under this | ||
section. On application by a career school or college, the board | ||
shall review the school's or college's curriculum for the purpose of | ||
determining whether the school or college is qualified to | ||
participate in the compact. The board may determine that the career | ||
school or college is qualified to participate in the compact only if | ||
the board finds that the school or college: | ||
(1) is authorized to grant degrees in this state; | ||
(2) has adopted and implemented a core curriculum | ||
described by Section 61.822, applying the same assumptions and | ||
defining characteristics applicable to institutions of higher | ||
education; and | ||
(3) has appropriately identified for each of its core | ||
curriculum courses the equivalent course number under the common | ||
course numbering system approved by the board under Section 61.832. | ||
(d) An institution of higher education or qualified | ||
degree-granting career school or college shall comply with any | ||
applicable compact under Subsection (b) entered into by the | ||
institution, school, or college and the board. | ||
(e) A general academic teaching institution designated as a | ||
research institution under the board's higher education | ||
accountability system that elects not to participate in an | ||
applicable transfer compact developed under this section shall: | ||
(1) publish on the institution's website for use by | ||
prospective undergraduate students a detailed description, | ||
developed by the institution's faculty, of the learning objectives, | ||
content, and prior knowledge requirements for at least 12 courses | ||
for which credit is frequently transferred to the institution from | ||
lower-division institutions of higher education; and | ||
(2) establish honors articulation agreements with at | ||
least two public junior colleges designed to strengthen the | ||
lower-division course offerings of those public junior colleges and | ||
to improve the persistence and success rates of students who | ||
transfer to the institution from public junior colleges. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 61.0515(a), Education Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(a) To earn a baccalaureate degree, a student may not be | ||
required by a general academic teaching institution to complete | ||
more than the minimum number of semester credit hours required for | ||
the degree by the institution's board-recognized accrediting | ||
agency [ |
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requirements require the [ |
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additional semester credit hours for the degree. | ||
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 61.05151 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 61.05151. SEMESTER CREDIT HOURS REQUIRED FOR ASSOCIATE | ||
DEGREE. (a) To earn an associate degree, a student may not be | ||
required by an institution of higher education to complete more | ||
than the minimum number of semester credit hours required for the | ||
degree by the institution's board-recognized accrediting agency | ||
unless academic accreditation or professional licensure | ||
requirements require the completion of additional semester credit | ||
hours for the degree. | ||
(b) The board may review one or more of an institution's | ||
associate degree programs to ensure compliance with this section. | ||
(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to an associate degree | ||
awarded by an institution to a student enrolled in the institution | ||
before the 2013 fall semester. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 61.052, Education Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(a) Each governing board shall submit to the board once each | ||
year on dates designated by the board a comprehensive list by | ||
department, division, and school of all courses, together with a | ||
description of content, scope, and prerequisites of all these | ||
courses, that will be offered by each institution under the | ||
supervision of that governing board during the following academic | ||
year. The list for each institution must also specifically | ||
identify any course included in the common course numbering system | ||
under Section 61.832 that has been added to or removed from the | ||
institution's list for the current academic year, and the board | ||
shall distribute that information as necessary to accomplish the | ||
purposes of Section 61.832. | ||
(b) After the comprehensive list of courses is submitted by | ||
a governing board under Subsection (a) [ |
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governing board shall submit on dates designated by the board any | ||
changes in the comprehensive list of courses to be offered, | ||
including any changes relating to offering a course included in the | ||
common course numbering system. | ||
(b-1) Each governing board must certify at the time of | ||
submission under Subsection (a) that the institution does not: | ||
(1) prohibit the acceptance of transfer credit based | ||
solely on the accreditation of the sending institution; or | ||
(2) include language in any materials published by the | ||
institution, whether in printed or electronic form, suggesting that | ||
such a prohibition exists. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 61.822, Education Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (f) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(a) The board, with the assistance of advisory committees | ||
composed of representatives of institutions of higher education, | ||
shall develop a recommended core curriculum of at least 42 semester | ||
credit hours, including a statement of the content, component | ||
areas, and objectives of the core curriculum. At least a majority | ||
of the members of any advisory committee named under this section | ||
shall be administrators or faculty members of an institution of | ||
higher education. An institution shall consult with the faculty of | ||
the institution before nominating or recommending a person to the | ||
board as the institution's representative on an advisory committee. | ||
(f) In an effort to facilitate the transfer of major-related | ||
coursework beyond the general education core curriculum, the board, | ||
with the assistance of the advisory committees described by | ||
Subsection (a), shall: | ||
(1) develop a course-specific core curriculum for each | ||
broad academic discipline within the general core curriculum; and | ||
(2) identify those degree programs offered at | ||
institutions of higher education to which the course-specific core | ||
curriculum, if successfully completed by a student at another | ||
institution of higher education or at a qualified degree-granting | ||
career school or college, as defined by Section 61.05135, is fully | ||
transferrable. | ||
SECTION 6. Section 61.832, Education Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows: | ||
(e) A student who transfers from one institution of higher | ||
education to another shall receive academic credit from the | ||
receiving institution for each course that the student has | ||
successfully completed that serves as an equivalent course under | ||
the common course numbering system at the institution from which | ||
the student transfers. | ||
SECTION 7. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 51.9685 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 51.9685. REQUIRED FILING OF DEGREE PLAN. (a) In this | ||
section: | ||
(1) "Degree plan" means a statement of the course of | ||
study requirements that an undergraduate student at an institution | ||
of higher education must complete in order to be awarded an | ||
associate or bachelor's degree from the institution, established | ||
through collaboration between the student and an academic advisor | ||
for the student's degree program and approved by the academic | ||
advisor. | ||
(2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning | ||
assigned by Section 61.003. | ||
(b) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (c), each | ||
student enrolled in an associate or bachelor's degree program at an | ||
institution of higher education shall file a degree plan with the | ||
institution not later than the semester or term immediately | ||
following the semester or term in which the student earned a | ||
cumulative total of 45 or more semester credit hours for coursework | ||
successfully completed by the student, including transfer courses, | ||
international baccalaureate courses, dual credit courses, and any | ||
other course for which the institution the student attends has | ||
awarded the student college course credit, including by | ||
examination. | ||
(c) A student to whom this section applies who begins the | ||
student's first semester or term at an institution of higher | ||
education with 45 | ||
or more semester credit hours of course credit for | ||
courses described by Subsection (b) shall file a degree plan with | ||
the institution during the student's first semester at the | ||
institution. | ||
(d) A student to whom this section applies may not register | ||
for any course offered by the institution of higher education for a | ||
semester or term succeeding the semester or term in which the | ||
student is required to file a degree plan under this section unless | ||
the student has filed a degree plan with the institution. | ||
(e) After filing a degree plan with an institution of higher | ||
education as required by this section, a student to whom this | ||
section applies may not change the student's degree plan or enroll | ||
in a course that is not included in the student's degree plan unless | ||
the student has consulted with the student's academic advisor and | ||
satisfied any applicable prerequisite or other requirement imposed | ||
by the institution regarding that degree plan change or course | ||
enrollment, as applicable. | ||
(f) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in | ||
consultation with institutions of higher education, may adopt rules | ||
as necessary for the administration of this section. | ||
SECTION 8. The change in law made by this Act to Section | ||
61.0515(a), Education Code, applies beginning with undergraduate | ||
students who initially enroll in a general academic teaching | ||
institution for the 2013 fall semester. | ||
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Section | ||
61.052, Education Code, apply to the comprehensive lists of courses | ||
offered by public institutions of higher education beginning with | ||
lists required to be submitted for the 2012-2013 academic year. | ||
SECTION 10. Not later than May 31, 2012, the Texas Higher | ||
Education Coordinating Board shall develop core curricula for broad | ||
academic disciplines included within the general core curriculum | ||
that conform to the requirements of Section 61.822, Education Code, | ||
as amended by this Act. | ||
SECTION 11. Section 61.832(e), Education Code, as added by | ||
this Act, applies beginning with the 2011 fall semester. | ||
SECTION 12. Section 51.9685, Education Code, as added by | ||
this Act, applies beginning with undergraduate students who | ||
initially enroll in a general academic teaching institution for the | ||
2011 fall semester. | ||
SECTION 13. 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, 2011. |