H.B. No. 2000

	AN ACT
	relating to the qualification of certain nonprofit schools and
	educational institutions for exemption from state laws regulating
	career schools and colleges and to complaints made against those
	entities.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 132.002, Education Code, is amended by
	adding Subsections (d-1), (h), (i), (j), and (k) to read as follows:
	(d-1)  A school or educational institution exempted from
	this chapter is authorized to offer training in this state allowed
	by the exemption.
	(h)  A school or educational institution that participates
	or intends to participate in student financial aid programs under
	Title IV, Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 1070 et
	seq.), may not be exempted from this chapter by the commission on
	the basis of Subsection (a)(2) unless the school or institution
	demonstrates to the commission that:
	(1)  either:
	(A)  the school or institution is accredited by a
	regional or national accrediting organization recognized by the
	United States secretary of education; or
	(B)  the school or institution, or the primary
	campus of the school or institution, has been operating
	continuously in this state for at least 20 years in compliance with
	state career school regulatory requirements, regardless of the
	amount of time the current owner has owned the school or
	institution; or
	(2)  the school or institution:
	(A)  is owned, controlled, operated, and
	maintained by a religious organization lawfully operating as a
	nonprofit religious corporation; and
	(B)  awards only degrees or certificates relating
	to religion, including a certificate of Talmudic studies, an
	associate of biblical studies degree, a master of divinity degree,
	or a doctor of divinity degree.
	(i)  For purposes of Subsection (h)(1)(B), "primary campus"
	means, for two or more schools or educational institutions that are
	owned and operated by the same owner, the school or educational
	institution designated by the owner as the main or principal
	campus.
	(j)  A school or educational institution may demonstrate
	compliance with Subsection (h):
	(1)  through the application process under Subsection
	(d); or
	(2)  if the school or institution has previously been
	granted an exemption from this chapter and the most recent
	exemption was granted before June 30, 2013, by an affidavit
	submitted to the commission by the owner of the school or
	institution.
	(k)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
	take appropriate action, including by making appropriate referrals
	to an accrediting agency or to the attorney general, to address any
	complaint received by the coordinating board from a student or
	prospective student of a school or institution to which Subsection
	(h) applies that is:
	(1)  exempted from this chapter on the basis of
	Subsection (a)(2); and
	(2)  subject to regulation 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, 2013.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2000 was passed by the House on May 2,
	2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 145, Nays 2, 2 present, not
	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	No. 2000 on May 24, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 141, Nays 3,
	2 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2000 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 22, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
	0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor