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.