Nine-Member Accreditation Commission Rates Accreditors, Can Skip Duties If Unfunded

The text as introduced · 1,626 words

89R9188 CXP-F

By: Leo Wilson
H.B. No. 1870

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the accreditation of public institutions of higher

education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding

Subchapter G-1 to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER G-1. ACCREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Sec. 51.371. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Accrediting agency" means any organization,

association, or other entity that accredits postsecondary

educational institutions.

(2) "Commission" means the Texas Higher Education

Accreditation Commission established by this subchapter.

(3) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher

Education Coordinating Board.

(4) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning

assigned by Section 61.003.

Sec. 51.372. TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION ACCREDITATION

COMMISSION. (a) The commission is administratively attached to

the coordinating board and directly accountable to the governor.

(b) The commission is composed of nine members of the public

appointed as follows:

(1) three members appointed by the governor;

(2) three members appointed by the lieutenant

governor; and

(3) three members appointed by the speaker of the

house of representatives.

(c) Members serve four-year terms and may not be removed

except by the person who appointed the member for wilful neglect of

duty or malfeasance.

(d) The governor shall appoint one member of the commission

as the presiding officer.

(e) The presiding officer shall:

(1) convene meetings of the commission; and

(2) coordinate and direct the activities of the

commission.

(f) At least two of the three commission members appointed

under Subsections (b)(1), (2), and (3) must be employers or

representatives of an association of employers in a target

occupations field, as determined by the Texas Workforce Commission.

(g) A person may not serve on the commission if the person

was employed by an accreditor recognized by the United States

Department of Education at any time during the five years preceding

the date on which the person would be appointed to the commission.

(h) A member of the commission is not entitled to

compensation but is entitled to reimbursement for the travel

expenses incurred by the member while transacting commission

business, as provided by the General Appropriations Act.

(i) The commission is subject to Chapters 551, 552, and

2001, Government Code.

Sec. 51.373. APPROVAL AND REVIEW OF ACCREDITING AGENCIES.

(a) The commission shall identify and approve at least three

accrediting agencies best suited to serve as accreditors for

institutions of higher education.

(b) Subject to Subsections (c) and (d), the commission shall

conduct a biennial evaluation of approved accrediting agencies.

The evaluation must rate each agency as unsatisfactory,

satisfactory, or exemplary based on evaluation standards

established by the commission. The commission shall publish the

evaluation standards on a publicly accessible Internet website.

(c) If an institution of higher education seeks

accreditation from a recognized accrediting agency, as defined by

Section 61.003, that the commission has not reviewed, the

commission shall evaluate the accrediting agency under Subsection

(b) not later than the fifth anniversary of the date the institution

receives accreditation from the accrediting agency.

(d) If at the time the commission would be required to

conduct an evaluation of an accrediting agency under Subsection (b)

the commission does not have sufficient information to conduct the

evaluation, the commission shall conduct the evaluation of the

accrediting agency as soon as practicable after obtaining the

necessary information.

(e) The commission's evaluation of each approved

accrediting agency must include an assessment of:

(1) evidence demonstrating the agency's focus on

educational and labor market outcomes for students attending an

institution accredited by the agency, including:

(A) the percentage of students who return to the

accredited institution after completing their first year of study;

(B) degree or credential completion and

graduation rates;

(C) the percentage of institution graduates

employed in a field related to the credential or degree received

within one year of graduation, to the extent that data is available;

(D) the median student loan debt among borrowers

attending the institution;

(E) the percentage of students at each accredited

institution who fully repay their student loans within the standard

10-year repayment period; and

(F) the median earnings of institution graduates

expressed as a yearly amount and as a percentage of median student

debt among borrowers, as reported by the U.S. Department of

Education's College Scorecard or successor tool; and

(2) evidence of whether the agency takes or considers

taking action with respect to an institution's accreditation in a

manner that would hinder or interfere with the authority of the

institution's governing board and the institution's accountability

to the legislature.

(f) The commission may revoke the approval of an approved

accrediting agency if the commission determines based on an

evaluation under this section that the agency should no longer be

approved.

(g) Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year,

the commission shall submit to the governor, lieutenant governor,

speaker of the house of representatives, Legislative Budget Board,

and chairs of the standing committees of each house of the

legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher education and

publish on a publicly accessible Internet website a report of the

evaluation made under this section. The report must include a

ranking of the performance of approved accrediting agencies and

information on any accrediting agency the commission determines

should no longer be approved due to poor performance.

Sec. 51.374. ACCREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER

EDUCATION. (a) Each institution of higher education shall, at the

institution's expense, seek accreditation by an accrediting agency

approved by the commission with a performance rating of

satisfactory or higher.

(b) An institution of higher education accredited by an

accrediting agency that receives an unsatisfactory performance

rating from the commission shall, at the institution's expense,

obtain accreditation from a different approved accrediting agency

with at least a satisfactory performance rating not later than the

earlier of:

(1) the fifth anniversary of the date the agency

receives the unsatisfactory performance rating; or

(2) a date determined by coordinating board rule.

(c) An institution of higher education accredited by an

accrediting agency with a satisfactory performance rating shall, at

the institution's expense, obtain accreditation from a different

approved accrediting agency at the institution's next

accreditation renewal date after 15 years have elapsed from the

date of the institution's current accreditation.

(d) An institution of higher education accredited by an

accrediting agency with an exemplary performance rating may

continue to be accredited by that accrediting agency for as long as

the agency maintains an exemplary performance rating. If as a

result of an evaluation under Section 51.373 the commission assigns

the agency a rating other than exemplary, the institution shall, at

the institution's expense, obtain accreditation from a different

approved accrediting agency not later than:

(1) if the agency receives a satisfactory performance

rating, the 15th anniversary of the date the agency receives a

satisfactory performance rating; or

(2) if the agency receives an unsatisfactory

performance rating, the date described by Subsection (b).

Sec. 51.375. NOTICE OF NONCOMPLIANCE. (a) If the

commission determines that an institution of higher education has

failed to substantially comply with the requirements of Section

51.374, the commission shall provide the institution with written

notice of the institution's substantial noncompliance with that

section.

(b) An institution of higher education that receives notice

under Subsection (a) shall take corrective actions to comply with

the requirements of Section 51.374 not later than the 180th day

after the date of receipt of the notice. If the institution fails

to substantially comply with the requirements of Section 51.374 by

that date, the commission shall notify the comptroller of the

institution's noncompliance.

(c) On receipt of notice under Subsection (b), the

comptroller shall withhold all state funding from the noncompliant

institution of higher education until the commission notifies the

comptroller that the institution is substantially complying with

the requirements of Section 51.374.

Sec. 51.376. RULES. The coordinating board shall adopt

rules as necessary to implement this subchapter.

SECTION 2. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective

date of this Act, the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of

the house of representatives shall appoint the members to the Texas

Higher Education Accreditation Commission as provided by Section

51.372, Education Code, as added by this Act.

(b) The Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission

established under Subchapter G-1, Chapter 51, Education Code, as

added by this Act, shall identify and approve accrediting agencies

as required by Section 51.373(a), Education Code, as added by this

Act, not later than September 1, 2026.

SECTION 3. (a) In this section, "commission" means the

Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission.

(b) Notwithstanding any other section of this Act, in a

state fiscal year, the commission is not required to implement a

provision found in another section of this Act that is drafted as a

mandatory provision imposing a duty on the commission to take an

action unless money is specifically appropriated to the Texas

Higher Education Coordinating Board for that fiscal year to carry

out that duty. The commission may implement the provision in that

fiscal year to the extent other funding is available to the

commission to do so.

(c) If, as authorized by Subsection (b) of this section, the

commission does not implement the mandatory provision in a state

fiscal year, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in its

legislative budget request for the next state fiscal biennium,

shall certify that fact to the Legislative Budget Board and include

a written estimate of the costs of implementing the provision in

each year of that next state fiscal biennium.

(d) This section and the suspension of the commission's duty

to implement a mandatory provision of this Act, as provided by

Subsection (b) of this section, expire and the duty to implement the

mandatory provision resumes on September 1, 2029.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.