Gervin-Hawkins Course Credit Bill Doesn’t Fully Bite Until 2030-2031

The text as introduced · 1,244 words

89R3643 CXP-D

By: Gervin-Hawkins
H.B. No. 771

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. The

board by rule may approve a core curriculum of fewer than 42

semester credit hours for an associate degree program if the board

determines that the approval would facilitate the award of a degree

or transfer of credit consistent with this subchapter.

(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, 2026, 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 2030-2031

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,

2032.

[ (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 2026-2027 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

2030-2031 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, 2025.