88R4099 CXP-D
	By: Gervin-Hawkins	H.B. No. 878

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to a single common course numbering system for and the
	transfer of course credit among public institutions of higher
	education in this state.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 61.822, Education Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (f) to read
	as follows:
	(a)  The board shall develop and implement a policy regarding
	[encourage] the transferability of [lower division] course credit
	among institutions of higher education.
	(b)  Each institution of higher education shall adopt a core
	curriculum of not [no] less than 42 semester credit hours,
	including specific courses composing [comprising] the curriculum.
	The core curriculum shall be consistent with the single common
	course numbering system approved by the board under Section
	61.832(a) and with the statement, recommendations, and rules issued
	by the board. An institution may have a core curriculum of other
	than 42 semester credit hours only if approved by the board.
	(f)  If a student successfully completes a course at an
	institution of higher education for which a common number
	designation and course description are included in the single
	common course numbering system described by Section 61.832, that
	course may be transferred to any other institution of higher
	education that offers a course with the same common course number
	and must be substituted for the receiving institution's course.
	SECTION 2.  Section 61.826(a), Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(a)  The board by rule shall adopt procedures to be followed
	by:
	(1)  institutions of higher education in resolving
	disputes concerning the transfer of [lower division] course credit;
	and
	(2)  the commissioner of higher education or the
	commissioner's designee in making a final determination concerning
	transfer of the course credit if the transfer is in dispute.
	SECTION 3.  Section 61.830, Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 61.830.  PUBLICATION OF GUIDELINES ADDRESSING TRANSFER
	PRACTICES. In its course catalogs and on its website, each
	institution of higher education shall publish guidelines
	addressing the practices of the institution regarding the transfer
	of course credit. In the guidelines, the institution must use
	[identify a course by using] the single common course numbering
	system as required by Section 61.832 to identify each of its offered
	courses for which a common number designation and course
	description are included by the board in that system [approved by
	the board].
	SECTION 4.  Section 61.832, Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 61.832.  COMMON COURSE NUMBERING SYSTEM. (a) The board
	shall approve a single common course numbering system for
	[lower-division] courses to facilitate the transfer of [those]
	courses among institutions of higher education by promoting
	consistency in course designation and identification.
	(a-1)  The following types of courses are exempt from the
	single common course numbering system approved under Subsection
	(a):
	(1)  courses in career and technical education, except
	as provided by Section 61.8235;
	(2)  courses in applied performing arts;
	(3)  clinical coursework in health-related subject
	areas;
	(4)  skill-related courses in criminal justice-related
	subject areas;
	(5)  graduate courses; and
	(6)  special topics courses, including course credit
	received for completing an internship, an apprenticeship, a
	practicum, a thesis, a dissertation, or a course offered by a study
	abroad program.
	(b)  The board shall solicit input from institutions of
	higher education regarding the development of the single common
	course numbering system.
	(c)  Each institution of higher education shall:
	(1)  use the approved common course numbering system in
	the institution's guidelines regarding the transfer of course
	credit for each course for which a common number designation and
	course description are included by the board in that system; and
	(2)  include the applicable course numbers from the
	approved common course numbering system in its course catalogs and
	other course listings.
	(d)  The board may approve only a common course numbering
	system already in common use in this state by one or more
	institutions of higher education.
	(e) [(c)]  The board shall cooperate with institutions of
	higher education in any additional development or alteration of the
	common course numbering system approved under Subsection (a),
	including the taxonomy to be used, and in the development of rules
	for the administration and applicability of the system.
	(f)  Each institution of higher education must certify
	annually to the board the accuracy of the institution's
	identification, in its course catalogs and other course listings,
	of each course offered by the institution for which a common number
	designation and course description are included by the board in the
	common course numbering system. As part of the certification
	required by this subsection, the institution shall specify each of
	its offered courses for which a common number designation and
	course description are included in that system and each of its
	offered courses for which a common number designation and course
	description are not included in that system. The institution also
	shall include with its certification a current, publicly accessible
	Internet website address at which the institution publishes its
	guidelines regarding the transfer of course credit.
	(g)  The board may, based on the board's review of the
	information certified under Subsection (f), recommend corrective
	action to an institution's governing board if the institution fails
	to comply with the requirements of this section. In its next
	legislative appropriations request made to the legislature, the
	board shall identify each institution that fails to comply with the
	board's recommended corrective action.
	(h)  Not later than June 1, 2024, the board shall:
	(1)  approve a single common course numbering system as
	required by Subsection (a); and
	(2)  establish a timetable that requires institutions
	of higher education to phase in the inclusion of the applicable
	course numbers from the approved common course numbering system in
	their individual guidelines regarding the transfer of course credit
	and in their individual course numbering systems as required by
	this section so that each institution fully complies with this
	section for each course that is offered during the 2028-2029
	academic year or a subsequent academic year and for which a common
	number designation and course description are included by the board
	in that system.
	(h-1)  Subsection (h) and this subsection expire January 1,
	2030.
	[(d)  An institution of higher education shall include in its
	course listings the applicable course numbers from the common
	course numbering system approved by the board under this section.
	For good cause, the board may grant to an institution of higher
	education an exemption from the requirements of this subsection.]
	SECTION 5.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
	section, the change in law made by this Act applies beginning with
	the 2024-2025 academic year.
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act in adding Sections
	61.832(f) and (g), Education Code, applies beginning with the
	2028-2029 academic year.
	SECTION 6.  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, 2023.