85R4806 JRJ-F
	By: Seliger	S.B. No. 2118

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to authorization by the Texas Higher Education
	Coordinating Board for certain public junior colleges to offer
	baccalaureate degree programs.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 130.0012, Education Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (a), (b), (d), (e), (g), and (h) and adding
	Subsections (e-1), (f-1), (g-1), and (g-2) to read as follows:
	(a)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may
	[shall] authorize public junior colleges to offer baccalaureate
	degree programs in the fields of applied science, [and] applied
	technology, and nursing under this section. Offering a
	baccalaureate degree program under this section does not otherwise
	alter the role and mission of a public junior college.
	(b)  The coordinating board:
	(1)  shall authorize baccalaureate degree programs in
	the fields of applied science and applied technology at each public
	junior college that previously participated in a pilot project to
	offer baccalaureate degree programs; and
	(2)  may authorize baccalaureate degree programs at one
	or more public junior colleges that offer a degree program in the
	fields of applied science, applied technology, or nursing and have
	demonstrated a workforce need.
	(d)  A public junior college offering a baccalaureate degree
	program under this section may not offer more than three [five]
	baccalaureate degree programs at any time.  The degree programs are
	subject to the continuing approval of the coordinating board.
	(e)  In determining whether a public junior college may offer
	[what] baccalaureate degree programs and what degree programs may
	[are to] be offered, the coordinating board shall:
	(1)  apply the same criteria and standards the
	coordinating board uses to approve baccalaureate degree programs at
	general academic teaching institutions;
	(2)  consider the following factors:
	(A) [(1)]  the workforce need for the degree
	programs in the region served by the junior college;
	(B) [(2)]  how those degree programs would
	complement the other programs and course offerings of the junior
	college and whether the associate degree program offered by the
	junior college in the same field has been successful;
	(C) [(3)]  whether those degree programs would
	unnecessarily duplicate the degree programs offered by other
	institutions of higher education; and
	(D) [(4)]  the ability of the junior college to
	support the degree programs with student enrollment [program] and
	the adequacy of the junior college's facilities, faculty,
	administration, libraries, and other resources, including evidence
	provided to the coordinating board and the Texas Board of Nursing
	that a public junior college seeking approval of a baccalaureate
	degree program in nursing has secured adequate long-term clinical
	space; and
	(3)  ensure the program would not draw faculty employed
	by a neighboring institution offering a similar program.
	(e-1)  A public junior college may offer a baccalaureate
	degree program under this section only if its junior college
	district had a taxable property valuation amount of not less than
	$10 billion in the preceding year.
	(f-1)  The coordinating board shall establish minimum
	admission standards for students enrolling in a baccalaureate
	degree program in nursing offered by a public junior college under
	this section.
	(g)  Except as provided by Subsection (g-1), a degree program
	created under this section may be funded solely by a public junior
	college's proportionate share of state appropriations under
	Section 130.003, local funds, and private sources. This subsection
	does not require the legislature to appropriate state funds to
	support a degree program created under this section.
	(g-1)  Notwithstanding Subsection (g), in [In] its
	recommendations to the legislature relating to state funding for
	public junior colleges, the coordinating board shall recommend that
	a public junior college that previously participated in a pilot
	project to offer baccalaureate degree programs receive
	substantially the same state support for junior-level and
	senior-level courses in the fields of applied science and applied
	technology offered under this section as that provided to a general
	academic teaching institution for substantially similar courses.
	For purposes of this subsection, in [In] determining the contact
	hours attributable to students enrolled in a junior-level or
	senior-level course in the field of applied science or applied
	technology offered under this section used to determine a public
	junior college's proportionate share of state appropriations under
	Section 130.003, the coordinating board shall weigh those contact
	hours as necessary to provide the junior college the appropriate
	level of state support to the extent state funds for those courses
	are included in the appropriations. This subsection does not
	prohibit the legislature from directly appropriating state funds to
	support junior-level and senior-level courses to which this
	subsection applies [offered under this section].
	(g-2)  A public junior college may not charge a student
	enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program offered under this
	section tuition and fees in an amount that exceeds the amount of
	tuition and fees charged by the junior college to a similarly
	situated student who is enrolled in an associate degree program in a
	corresponding field.
	(h)  Each biennium, each [Each] public junior college
	offering a baccalaureate degree program under this section shall
	conduct a review of each baccalaureate degree program offered and
	prepare a [biennial] report on the operation, quality, and
	effectiveness of those [the junior college's baccalaureate] degree
	programs. A [and shall deliver a] copy of the report shall be
	delivered to the coordinating board in the form and at the time
	determined by the coordinating board.
	SECTION 2.  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, 2017.