Relating to the transfer of students in public higher education and to transparency regarding certificate or degree program requirements, the official text

S.B. No. 3039

AN ACT

relating to the transfer of students in public higher education and

to transparency regarding certificate or degree program

requirements.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 51.4033 and 51.4034, Education Code,

are amended to read as follows:

Sec. 51.4033. TRANSFER REPORT [OF NONTRANSFERABLE CREDIT].

(a) Not later than May 1 of each year and in the form prescribed by

the coordinating board, each general academic teaching institution

shall provide to the coordinating board and the legislature a

report that:

(1) describes [describing] any courses in the

Lower-Division Academic Course Guide Manual or its successor

adopted by the coordinating board for which a student who transfers

to the institution from another institution of higher education is

not granted:

(A) [(1)] academic credit at the receiving

institution; or

(B) [(2)] if the student has declared a major and

has not changed majors, academic credit toward the student's major

at the receiving institution;

(2) details the institution's goals to increase the

number, success, and persistence, as measured by the coordinating

board, of students who transfer to the institution from a public

junior college;

(3) assesses the institution's academic and technical

transfer pathways;

(4) identifies:

(A) any existing barriers to transferring to the

institution; and

(B) emerging issues affecting transfer students

at the institution;

(5) details the institution's actions to serve current

and prospective transfer students through local and regional

articulation agreements that include:

(A) faculty collaboration;

(B) public junior college program enhancements;

(C) student outreach and advising services;

(D) website information development;

(E) targeted financial aid;

(F) student success programs; and

(G) degree program alignment; and

(6) contains any other information relating to the

transfer of academic credit to the institution required by

coordinating board rule.

(b) A report required by this section must indicate for each

course described by Subsection (a)(1):

(1) the course name, [and] type, and common course

number;

(2) the name of:

(A) the institution of higher education or other

postsecondary educational institution at which the student

completed the course; and

(B) the [which] institution of higher education

that awarded or transcribed [provided] academic credit for the

course; and

(3) the reason why the receiving institution did not

grant academic credit for the course as described by Subsection

(a), including whether the institution complied with the dispute

resolution process under Section 61.826.

(c) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year,

the coordinating board shall submit to the governor, the

Legislative Budget Board, the house appropriations committee, and

the senate finance committee a report that evaluates actions to

increase the number, success, and persistence of students who

transfer to a general academic teaching institution from a public

junior college. The report must include:

(1) a comparative analysis of institution reports and

performance data, including application and admission rates,

financial aid awarded, time-to-degree, and baccalaureate

graduation rates of students, including transfer students, by

program completion at public junior colleges and general academic

teaching institutions during the preceding academic year;

(2) a study of public junior college transfer

practices; and

(3) recommendations for legislative or other action to

meet the transfer student-related goals of the state's master plan

for higher education developed under Section 61.051.

(d) The coordinating board may adopt rules necessary to

implement this section.

Sec. 51.4034. REPORT OF COURSES TAKEN AT PUBLIC JUNIOR

COLLEGES. (a) Not later than May 1 of each year and in the form

prescribed by the coordinating board, each public junior college

shall provide to the coordinating board and the legislature a

report on courses taken by students who, during the preceding

academic year, transferred to a general academic teaching

institution, completed a field of study curriculum, or earned an

associate degree at the college.

(b) A report required by this section must include:

(1) the total number of:

(A) [(1)] courses attempted and completed at the

college, including the total number of semester credit hours for

those courses, disaggregated by whether the course is in:

(i) [(A)] the Workforce Education Course

Manual or its successor adopted by the coordinating board; or

(ii) [(B)] the Lower-Division Academic

Course Guide Manual or its successor adopted by the coordinating

board;

(B) [(2)] courses attempted and completed at the

college that are not in the recommended core curriculum developed

by the coordinating board under Section 61.822; and

(C) [(3)] dual credit courses, including courses

for joint high school and junior college credit under Section

130.008, attempted and completed at the college; and

(2) any other relevant information required by

coordinating board rule.

(c) The coordinating board may adopt rules necessary to

implement this section.

SECTION 2. Subchapter H, Chapter 51, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 51.4035 to read as follows:

Sec. 51.4035. PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION REGARDING DENIAL

OF TRANSFER CREDIT. (a) Each institution of higher education shall

maintain on the admissions page of the institution's Internet

website a list of:

(1) the five majors or degree or certificate programs

offered by the institution with the highest number of courses for

which academic credit is denied or not applied toward the major or

program; and

(2) the five courses for each major or degree or

certificate program described by Subdivision (1) for which academic

credit is most frequently denied because the credit is not

applicable toward the major or program.

(b) The coordinating board annually shall provide to each

institution of higher education a list of the courses described by

Subsection (a)(2).

(c) The coordinating board may adopt rules necessary to

implement this section.

SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 61.07771 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.07771. TRANSPARENCY IN CERTIFICATE AND DEGREE

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. (a) The board, in consultation with

institutions of higher education, shall adopt rules requiring

institutions of higher education to provide transparency in

certificate and degree program requirements for students enrolling

at or transferring to the institution.

(b) The rules must require each institution of higher

education to:

(1) ensure that the requirements for each certificate

or degree program offered by the institution:

(A) are current, accessible to students enrolled

at the institution and members of the public through the following

sources, as applicable, and uniform at each of the following

sources:

(i) the institution's internal Internet

website for students;

(ii) the institution's Internet website;

and

(iii) the Internet website of the

department at the institution that offers the certificate or degree

program; and

(B) state:

(i) the prerequisites for each course

required as part of the certificate or degree program; and

(ii) any non-course requirements for the

certificate or degree program and, if the institution offers

different tracks for completing the program, those requirements for

each track; and

(2) post on the institution's Internet website the

minimum requirements to be accepted as a transfer student at the

institution.

SECTION 4. Subchapter S, Chapter 61, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 61.8231 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.8231. TRANSFER LIAISON. (a) Each institution of

higher education, using existing resources, shall designate at

least one employee of the institution to serve as a single point of

contact for other institutions of higher education and the board

regarding transfer issues and to act as a liaison officer for

current or incoming students at the institution who will transfer

into or out of the institution.

(b) On a transfer or request to transfer to or from an

institution of higher education, the institution's transfer

liaison shall provide a current, former, or prospective student, as

applicable, with:

(1) a complete and current list of the institution's

core curriculum applicable to the student;

(2) a complete and current list of the institution's

field of study curricula that may be applicable to the student;

(3) for a receiving institution, a list of courses

completed by the student:

(A) for which the institution will accept

academic credit; and

(B) for which the institution proposes to deny

academic credit in accordance with Section 61.826, including the

procedures for credit transfer dispute required by that section;

and

(4) any other information required by board rule.

(c) On the admission of a transfer student, the receiving

institution of higher education's transfer liaison shall assist the

student in obtaining a degree audit to determine whether the

student's completed coursework satisfies the institution's core

curriculum, satisfies a field of study curriculum of the

institution, or qualifies the student to be awarded a Texas Direct

associate degree under Section 61.834 or any other degree or

certificate offered by the institution.

(d) The board shall adopt rules necessary to implement this

section.

SECTION 5. (a) Not later than January 1, 2026, the Texas

Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt the rules required

by Section 61.07771, Education Code, as added by this Act.

(b) A public institution of higher education shall comply

with the rules adopted under Subsection (a) of this section

beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year.

SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026

academic year.

SECTION 7. 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.

______________________________
______________________________

President of the Senate
Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 3039 passed the Senate on

May 6, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the

Senate concurred in House amendments on May 30, 2025, by the

following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________

Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 3039 passed the House, with

amendments, on May 28, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 77,

Nays 60, four present not voting.

______________________________

Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

______________________________

Date

______________________________

Governor