H.B. No. 2504
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to requiring a public institution of higher education to
  establish uniform standards for publishing cost of attendance
  information, to conduct student course evaluations of faculty, and
  to make certain information available on the Internet.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 51.974 to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.974.  INTERNET ACCESS TO COURSE INFORMATION. (a)  
  Each institution of higher education, other than a medical and
  dental unit, as defined by Section 61.003, shall make available to
  the public on the institution's Internet website the following
  information for each undergraduate classroom course offered for
  credit by the institution:
               (1)  a syllabus that:
                     (A)  satisfies any standards adopted by the
  institution;
                     (B)  provides a brief description of each major
  course requirement, including each major assignment and
  examination;
                     (C)  lists any required or recommended reading;
  and
                     (D)  provides a general description of the subject
  matter of each lecture or discussion;
               (2)  a curriculum vitae of each regular instructor that
  lists the instructor's:
                     (A)  postsecondary education;
                     (B)  teaching experience; and
                     (C)  significant professional publications; and
               (3)  if available, a departmental budget report of the
  department under which the course is offered, from the most recent
  semester or other academic term during which the institution
  offered the course.
         (a-1)  A curriculum vitae made available on the
  institution's Internet website under Subsection (a) may not include
  any personal information, including the instructor's home address
  or home telephone number.
         (b)  The information required by Subsection (a) must be:
               (1)  accessible from the institution's Internet website
  home page by use of not more than three links;
               (2)  searchable by keywords and phrases; and
               (3)  accessible to the public without requiring
  registration or use of a user name, a password, or another user
  identification.
         (c)  The institution shall make the information required by
  Subsection (a) available not later than the seventh day after the
  first day of classes for the semester or other academic term during
  which the course is offered.  The institution shall continue to make
  the information available on the institution's Internet website
  until at least the second anniversary of the date on which the
  institution initially posted the information.
         (d)  The institution shall update the information required
  by Subsection (a) as soon as practicable after the information
  changes.
         (e)  The governing body of the institution shall designate an
  administrator to be responsible for ensuring implementation of this
  section.  The administrator may assign duties under this section to
  one or more administrative employees.
         (f)  Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, each
  institution of higher education shall submit a written report
  regarding the institution's compliance with this section to the
  governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
  representatives, and the presiding officer of each legislative
  standing committee with primary jurisdiction over higher
  education.
         (g)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may adopt
  rules necessary to administer this section.
         (h)  Institutions of higher education included in this
  section shall conduct end-of-course student evaluations of faculty
  and develop a plan to make evaluations available on the
  institution's website.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter E, Chapter 56, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 56.080 to read as follows:
         Sec. 56.080.  ONLINE LIST OF WORK-STUDY EMPLOYMENT
  OPPORTUNITIES. Each institution of higher education shall:
               (1)  establish and maintain an online list of
  work-study employment opportunities, sorted by department as
  appropriate, available to students on the institution's campus; and
               (2)  ensure that the list is easily accessible to the
  public through a clearly identifiable link that appears in a
  prominent place on the financial aid page of the institution's
  Internet website.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 61.0777 to read as follows:
         Sec. 61.0777.  UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR PUBLICATION OF COST OF
  ATTENDANCE INFORMATION. (a)  The board shall prescribe uniform
  standards intended to ensure that information regarding the cost of
  attendance at institutions of higher education is available to the
  public in a manner that is consumer-friendly and readily
  understandable to prospective students and their families. In
  developing the standards, the board shall examine common and
  recommended practices regarding the publication of such
  information and shall solicit recommendations and comments from
  institutions of higher education and interested private or
  independent institutions of higher education.
         (b)  The uniform standards must:
               (1)  address all of the elements that constitute the
  total cost of attendance, including tuition and fees, room and
  board costs, book and supply costs, transportation costs, and other
  personal expenses; and
               (2)  prescribe model language to be used to describe
  each element of the cost of attendance.
         (c)  Each institution of higher education that offers an
  undergraduate degree or certificate program shall:
               (1)  prominently display on the institution's Internet
  website in accordance with the uniform standards prescribed under
  this section information regarding the cost of attendance at the
  institution by a full-time entering first-year student; and
               (2)  conform to the uniform standards in any electronic
  or printed materials intended to provide to prospective
  undergraduate students information regarding the cost of
  attendance at the institution.
         (d)  Each institution of higher education shall consider the
  uniform standards prescribed under this section when providing
  information to the public or to prospective students regarding the
  cost of attendance at the institution by nonresident students,
  graduate students, or students enrolled in professional programs.
         (e)  The board shall prescribe requirements for an
  institution of higher education to provide on the institution's
  Internet website consumer-friendly and readily understandable
  information regarding student financial aid opportunities. The
  required information must be provided in connection with the
  information displayed under Subsection (c)(1) and must include a
  link to the primary federal student financial aid Internet website
  intended to assist persons applying for student financial aid.
         (f)  The board shall provide on the board's Internet website
  a program or similar tool that will compute for a person accessing
  the website the estimated net cost of attendance for a full-time
  entering first-year student attending an institution of higher
  education. The board shall require each institution to provide the
  board with the information the board requires to administer this
  subsection.
         (g)  The board shall prescribe the initial standards and
  requirements under this section not later than January 1, 2010.
  Institutions of higher education shall comply with the standards
  and requirements not later than April l, 2010. This subsection
  expires January 1, 2011.
         (h)  The board shall encourage private or independent
  institutions of higher education approved under Subchapter F to
  participate in the tuition equalization grant program, to the
  greatest extent practicable, to prominently display the
  information described by Subsections (a) and (b) on their Internet
  websites in accordance with the standards established under those
  subsections, and to conform to those standards in electronic and
  printed materials intended to provide to prospective undergraduate
  students information regarding the cost of attendance at the
  institutions.  The board shall also encourage those institutions to
  include on their Internet websites a link to the primary federal
  student financial aid Internet website intended to assist persons
  applying for student financial aid.
         (i)  The board shall make the program or tool described by
  Subsection (f) available to private or independent institutions of
  higher education described by Subsection (h), and those
  institutions shall make that program or tool, or another program or
  tool that complies with the requirements for the net price
  calculator required under Section 132(h)(3), Higher Education Act
  of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 1015a), available on their Internet
  websites not later than the date by which the institutions are
  required by Section 132(h)(3) to make the net price calculator
  publicly available on their Internet websites.
         SECTION 4.  Section 51.974, Education Code, as added by this
  Act, applies beginning with the 2010 fall semester.
         SECTION 5.  As soon as practicable after the effective date
  of this Act, each public institution of higher education shall
  establish an online list of work-study employment opportunities for
  students as required by Section 56.080, Education Code, as added by
  this Act.
         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, 2009.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2504 was passed by the House on May 8,
  2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 138, Nays 0, 2 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 2504 on May 29, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 143, Nays 0,
  1 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2504 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor