85R2911 JRJ-F
	By: Howard	H.B. No. 1580

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to authorization by the Texas Higher Education
	Coordinating Board for certain public junior colleges to offer
	baccalaureate degree programs.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 130.0012, Education Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (a), (b), (e), (g), and (h) and adding
	Subsection (g-1) to read as follows:
	(a)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may
	[shall] authorize public junior colleges to offer baccalaureate
	degree programs in the fields of applied science, [and] applied
	technology, and nursing under this section.  Offering a
	baccalaureate degree program under this section does not otherwise
	alter the role and mission of a public junior college.
	(b)  The coordinating board:
	(1)  shall authorize baccalaureate degree programs in
	the fields of applied science and applied technology at each public
	junior college that previously participated in a pilot project to
	offer baccalaureate degree programs; and
	(2)  may authorize baccalaureate degree programs at one
	or more public junior colleges that offer a degree program in the
	field of nursing and have demonstrated a workforce need.
	(e)  In determining what baccalaureate degree programs are
	to be offered, the coordinating board shall:
	(1)  apply the same criteria and standards the
	coordinating board uses to approve baccalaureate degree programs at
	general academic teaching institutions; and
	(2)  consider the following factors:
	(A) [(1)]  the workforce need for the degree
	programs in the region served by the junior college;
	(B) [(2)]  how those degree programs would
	complement the other programs and course offerings of the junior
	college and whether the associate degree program offered by the
	junior college in the same field has been successful;
	(C) [(3)]  whether those degree programs would
	unnecessarily duplicate the degree programs offered by other
	institutions of higher education; [and]
	(D) [(4)]  the ability of the junior college to
	support the program with student enrollment and the adequacy of the
	junior college's facilities, faculty, administration, libraries,
	and other resources; and
	(E)  whether the junior college meets the taxable
	property valuation amount established in Section 130.032.
	(g)  Except as provided by Subsection (g-1), in [In] its
	recommendations to the legislature relating to state funding for
	public junior colleges, the coordinating board shall recommend that
	a public junior college that previously participated in a pilot
	project to offer baccalaureate degree programs receive
	substantially the same state support for junior-level and
	senior-level courses in the field of applied science or applied
	technology offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section] as that
	provided to a general academic teaching institution for
	substantially similar courses.  In determining the contact hours
	attributable to students enrolled in a junior-level or senior-level
	course offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section] used to
	determine a public junior college's proportionate share of state
	appropriations under Section 130.003, the coordinating board shall
	weigh those contact hours as necessary to provide the junior
	college the appropriate level of state support to the extent state
	funds for those courses are included in the appropriations.  This
	subsection does not prohibit the legislature from directly
	appropriating state funds to support junior-level and senior-level
	courses offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section].
	(g-1)  A degree program created under Subsection (b)(2) may
	be funded solely by a public junior college's proportionate share
	of state appropriations under Section 130.003, local funds, and
	private sources. This subsection does not require the legislature
	to appropriate state funds to support a degree program created
	under Subsection (b)(2).
	(h)  Each biennium, each [Each] public junior college
	offering a baccalaureate degree program under this section shall
	conduct a review of each baccalaureate degree program offered and
	prepare a [biennial] report on the operation, quality, and
	effectiveness of those [the junior college's baccalaureate] degree
	programs. A [and shall deliver a] copy of the report shall be
	delivered to the coordinating board in the form and at the time
	determined by the coordinating board.
	SECTION 2.  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, 2017.