Bill Text: TX SB445 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to an informed student document for prospective students of certain public institutions of higher education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-13 - Referred to Higher Education [SB445 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-SB445-Introduced.html

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83R1008 KSD-F
By: Birdwell S.B. No. 445

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an informed student document for prospective students
of certain public institutions of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 51A, Education Code, is
amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 51A. ONLINE INSTITUTION RESUMES AND INFORMED STUDENT
DOCUMENTS FOR INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
SECTION 2. Sections 51A.002, 51A.003, and 51A.004,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 51A.002. POWERS AND DUTIES OF COORDINATING BOARD
RELATING TO INSTITUTION RESUMES AND INFORMED STUDENT DOCUMENTS;
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS [FOR INSTITUTION RESUMES]. (a) The
coordinating board, in consultation with each institution of higher
education to which this chapter applies, shall develop and maintain
online resumes and informed student documents, if applicable, for
each of those institutions.
(b) The coordinating board shall:
(1) request from each institution of higher education
to which this chapter applies any information the coordinating
board considers necessary for the coordinating board to include
information or calculate data required to be included in the
institution's resume or informed student document;
(2) establish for each institution of higher education
to which this chapter applies a list of representative in-state and
out-of-state peer institutions and maintain that list on the
coordinating board's Internet website;
(3) ensure that each of an institution of higher
education's online resumes and informed student documents, if
applicable:
(A) is available to the public on the
coordinating board's Internet website, in a one-page format if
possible, and is accessible through a link that appears on the first
frame of the coordinating board's Internet website home page in a
font that is larger than the font of the majority of the text on the
home page;
(B) uses enhanced, user-friendly search
capabilities to ensure that the information required to be included
in the resume or informed student document is easily accessible to
the persons for whom the resume or informed student document is
designed; and
(C) includes a clearly identifiable link to
information on the coordinating board's Internet website regarding
the coordinating board's higher education accountability system;
and
(4) ensure that the information provided in each
resume or informed student document is accurate and up to date and
includes the most recent data available for out-of-state peer
institutions.
(c) The coordinating board may modify, as the coordinating
board considers necessary, national data regarding an
institution's out-of-state peer institutions to ensure uniformity
in the comparison of that data to data regarding the institution for
which the resume or informed student document is created and the
institution's in-state peer institutions in a resume or informed
student document under this chapter.
(d) Except as provided by Section 51A.206(b), the [The]
coordinating board is not required to include in the resume or
informed student document any category of information that is
unavailable to the coordinating board.
(e) The data relating to student loans, grants, or
scholarships included by the coordinating board on an institution's
resume or informed student document under this chapter [subchapter]
must be the same as that published in regard to the institution by
the United States Department of Education on its "College
Navigator" website, or a successor or related website maintained by
the United States Department of Education.
Sec. 51A.003. DUTIES OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
RELATING TO INSTITUTION RESUMES AND INFORMED STUDENT DOCUMENTS.
Each institution of higher education to which this chapter applies
shall:
(1) submit to the coordinating board any information
requested by the coordinating board as necessary for the
coordinating board to include information or calculate data
required to be included in the institution's resumes or informed
student documents, or both, as applicable; and
(2) ensure that the first frame of the institution's
Internet website home page includes, in a font that is larger than
the font of the majority of the text on the home page, an accessible
link to the institution's online resumes or informed student
documents, or both, as applicable, maintained on the coordinating
board's Internet website.
Sec. 51A.004. LINK TO FEDERAL STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
INFORMATION. An institution may satisfy a requirement of this
chapter relating to student loan, grant, or scholarship information
by linking the institution's online resume or informed student
documents, or both, as applicable [of the institution] to that
information as it appears on the website known as "College
Navigator," or a successor or related website, maintained by the
National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of
Education.
SECTION 3. Chapter 51A, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter E to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER E. INFORMED STUDENT DOCUMENT FOR INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
EDUCATION OTHER THAN MEDICAL AND DENTAL UNITS
Sec. 51A.201. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
applies to each institution of higher education other than a
medical and dental unit.
Sec. 51A.202. INFORMED STUDENT DOCUMENT FOR PROSPECTIVE
STUDENTS AND THEIR PARENTS. (a) The coordinating board shall
maintain for each institution to which this subchapter applies an
informed student document that is designed for use by prospective
students of the institution and their parents. The document shall
be made available by the institution to the public, legislators,
and other interested policy makers in accordance with Subchapter A.
(b) The informed student document required by this section
must identify:
(1) the institutional grouping to which the
institution is assigned under the coordinating board's higher
education accountability system; and
(2) the institution's in-state and out-of-state peer
institutions.
(c) Information required to be included in the informed
student document regarding the institution's in-state or
out-of-state peer institutions must be listed in the form of the
average of that information for those institutions unless otherwise
prescribed by coordinating board rule.
(d) The informed student document must include the
information required by this subchapter relating to the institution
for the most recent state fiscal year for which the information is
available and compare that information to the same information for
the state fiscal year preceding the most recent state fiscal year
for which the information is available and the state fiscal year
preceding the most recent state fiscal year for which the
information is available by five years.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
the coordinating board is not required to include in an
institution's informed student document any category of
information not applicable to the institution's institutional
grouping under the coordinating board's higher education
accountability system.
Sec. 51A.203. COST INFORMATION. An informed student
document must include under the heading "COSTS":
(1) the average annual total academic costs for a
resident undergraduate student enrolled in 30 semester credit
hours:
(A) at the institution; and
(B) at the institution's in-state and
out-of-state peer institutions;
(2) the average net annual total academic costs for a
resident undergraduate student enrolled in 30 semester credit
hours, excluding grants and scholarships:
(A) at the institution; and
(B) at the institution's in-state and
out-of-state peer institutions; and
(3) the average amount of student debt of a bachelor's
degree-seeking student at graduation:
(A) at the institution; and
(B) at the institution's in-state and
out-of-state peer institutions.
Sec. 51A.204. STUDENT SUCCESS INFORMATION. An informed
student document must include under the heading "STUDENT SUCCESS":
(1) the average Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA)
score of graduating undergraduate students:
(A) at the institution; and
(B) at the institution's in-state and
out-of-state peer institutions;
(2) the four-year, five-year, and six-year graduation
rates of full-time bachelor's degree-seeking students:
(A) at the institution; and
(B) at the institution's in-state and
out-of-state peer institutions; and
(3) the average number of fall and spring semesters of
enrollment attempted by a student to obtain a bachelor's degree:
(A) at the institution; and
(B) at the institution's in-state peer
institutions.
Sec. 51A.205. ADMISSIONS INFORMATION. An informed student
document must include under the heading "ADMISSIONS":
(1) the middle 50 percent test score range of
first-time undergraduate students at the institution whose SAT
scores were in the 25th to 75th percentile of students' scores at
that institution;
(2) the middle 50 percent test score range of
first-time undergraduate students at the institution whose ACT
scores were in the 25th to 75th percentile of students' scores at
that institution;
(3) the percentage of the students who applied for
first-time undergraduate admission to the institution who were
offered admission to the institution; and
(4) the percentage of undergraduate students admitted
to the institution who graduated in the top 10 percent of the
student's high school graduating class.
Sec. 51A.206. INFORMATION REGARDING SUCCESS BY MAJOR. (a)
An informed student document must include under the heading
"STUDENT SUCCESS BY UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR" and listed alphabetically
by undergraduate major:
(1) the average Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA)
score of graduating undergraduate students:
(A) at the institution;
(B) ranked against other university majors; and
(C) at the institution's in-state and
out-of-state peer institutions;
(2) the retention rate of first-time, full-time,
degree-seeking entering undergraduate students:
(A) enrolled in the institution after one
academic year and after two academic years; and
(B) enrolled in the institution's in-state peer
institutions after two academic years;
(3) the average starting salary for graduates of
undergraduate degree programs:
(A) of the institution; and
(B) of the institution's in-state and
out-of-state peer institutions;
(4) the unemployment rate for the following graduates
of the institution:
(A) those who graduated from undergraduate
degree programs during one of the three years immediately preceding
the year covered by the document;
(B) those who graduated from undergraduate
degree programs before the time period described by Paragraph (A);
and
(C) those awarded a graduate degree by the
institution; and
(5) the average, median, 25th percentile, and 75th
percentile earnings for the following graduates of the institution:
(A) those who graduated from undergraduate
degree programs during the three-year period preceding the year
covered by the document;
(B) those who graduated from undergraduate
degree programs before the time period described by Paragraph (A);
and
(C) those awarded a graduate degree by the
institution.
(b) If data required under this section for an institution
is not available to the coordinating board, the coordinating board
shall use comparable state or national data, whichever is
available, more reliable, and most current.
Sec. 51A.207. STUDENT READING OF DOCUMENT. Each institution
to which this subchapter applies shall require each applicant for
admission to the institution or the applicant's legal guardian to
verify by signature that the applicant has read the institution's
informed student document in its entirety as a prerequisite to the
applicant's enrollment in the institution.
SECTION 4. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall create the informed student documents required by Subchapter
E, Chapter 51A, Education Code, as added by this Act, and provide
the documents on the board's Internet website not later than
February 1, 2014.
SECTION 5. 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.