Program Rule Changes & Implementation
Lunch & Learn Series
The Division of Academic and Health Affairs (AHA) will hold a Lunch & Learn series throughout the summer and fall to share more detailed information about upcoming changes. The rule revisions primarily affect universities and health-related institutions, but some rules also affect community colleges offering academic associate and bachelor’s degrees.
Previous Lunch & Learns
- May 16th: Rule Changes & Implementation Overview
- July 31st: Overview of New Processes & Forms
- August 22nd: Using the Portal and Submitting New Forms
- October 10th: Troubleshooting New Forms & Submissions
- November 16th TDLW: New Distance Education Rules: What To Know and How to Get Ready
Frequently Asked Questions
Community College Baccalaureate
A college may offer the Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree program, including a BAS in early childhood education, Bachelor of Applied Technology, or Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
The ability to submit a planning notification will be limited to those staff at institutions who currently have access to submit other program approval documents.
A college may add a set of designated or preferred electives that enhance or allow specialization in a closely related field of study/academic discipline. Specializations must be closely related to the degree program itself and the set of courses required of all students in the program, regardless of specialization.
A new program request may be needed if more than three new courses are added to a specialization.
Yes, a college may offer a pre- or post- licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing program but must continue to offer the Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN). The ADN and BSN must meet the standards and criteria the Texas Board of Nursing uses to approve pre-licensure degree programs.
An applied baccalaureate is intended for students who have completed an applied associate degree. If a student will be enrolling in the bachelor’s degree program as a freshman, the college must offer an applied associate degree in the same or closely related field embedded within the bachelor’s degree program. This provides the student an off-ramp with a credential if they are unable to finish the bachelor’s degree.
The college sets admission requirements for the baccalaureate program and may develop a pathway for students who enter the program with an academic associate. The required upper-level courses will be the same for all students.
Yes, however, course sequencing should not prevent a student from earning the embedded applied associate degree along the way.
Non-substantive revisions and modifications, including changing the CIP code, degree title or designation, require THECB approval. See Texas Administrative Code, Section 2.9.
Yes, Texas Education Code, Ch. 130, Section 130.309, requires the college to secure an articulation agreement with a teach-out pathway for the first five years the baccalaureate program would be offered. The agreement must be with a Texas public institution that offers a comparable degree program. The agreement ensures students enrolled in the bachelor’s degree program can complete the degree if the college ceases to offer the program. A copy of the teach-out agreement must be included in the proposal submission.
Notification of Planning
The planning notification form is a short online form that includes basic contact information and the proposed degree title, designation, level, and CIP code. A formal signature from a chief administrative officer (CAO), or designee, and board member (or designee) is not required, but the submitter will need to certify that its CAO and board or designees have approved the planning notification.
The ability to submit a planning notification will be limited to those staff at institutions who currently have access to submit other program approval documents.
The planning notification form is an online form. The link is available in the existing document submission portal and will be visible once a user logs in. As noted above, only those with existing access to the document submission portal will be able to access and submit the form.
The current rules require a one-year waiting period for professional programs, and that requirement has been extended to doctoral programs. Given the amount of time and planning required to launch a doctoral program, the THECB anticipates that most institutions will know the basic information listed above at least one year in advance. This also allows the THECB to anticipate more accurately when doctoral programs will be submitted and plan for the allocation of staff time dedicated doctoral program approvals. If there are extenuating circumstances related to meeting the one-year planning notification requirement for a doctoral or professional program, please contact emma.gelsinger@highered.texas.gov.
No, if a planning notification has already been submitted before June 1, 2023, the doctoral program falls under the current planning notification rules and the one-year waiting period is not required.
30-Day Comment Period
Except for applied associate and workforce certificates, a 50-mile notification is no longer required prior to submission of a new degree program proposal to the THECB. THECB will send out a notice for a 30-day comment period upon receipt of a new proposal.
THECB will send a notification to public institutions within the same higher education region as the institution submitting the proposal.
THECB has utilized existing lists of chief academic and instructional officers, liaisons, and certificate and degree program submitters to identify contacts at each institution. Please contact AHA@highered.texas.gov if any of these contacts change moving forward.
The 30-day comment period notification email will indicated which THECB staff is assigned to the proposal and comments should be emailed directly to that staff member.
THECB staff will review the comment and include the feedback in the overall analysis of need and duplication of the proposed degree program. If there are significant issues raised. THECB staff will work with institutions to reach a resolution.
Degree Program Approval
Higher education and the Texas economy have undergone a significant transformation in recent years, and the academic program approval rules had not been significantly revised over the last two decades. AHA has revised the program approval and program modification rules to better align degree program approval requirements with the state’s strategic plan for higher education, Building a Talent Strong Texas, and to ensure transparency regarding timelines and criteria for program approval.
Beginning September 1, new degree programs requiring board approval will include only doctoral, professional, and degrees that represent a level change up for the institution (e.g. first bachelor’s degree at a community college). New degree programs with 50% or more new content will require Commissioner approval, and the majority of other requests will require assistant commissioner approval or notification only.
With the new rule changes, AHA is working to streamline internal business processes, modernize technology used for proposal processing, and increase transparency for institutions.
Estimated timelines for approval:
- Less than 50% new content: 30-60 days
- 50% or more new content: 60-90 days
- Proposals that require approval at a quarterly board meeting: 6-9 months
The above timelines are estimates only and depend heavily on the number of proposals already submitted in the queue for approval, the complexity and length of the proposal, and whether there is a need for additional information following an initial review of the proposal.
The determination of whether a proposed degree program consists of 50% or more new content is made by the institution in preparing the degree program proposal and should align with the 50% new content guidelines provided by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCO).
No, institutions are no longer required to complete a 50-mile notification before submitting a full proposal. Instead, the THECB will notify area institutions once proposals have been received and there will be a 30-day comment period during the approval process. Comments received from institutions will be considered in the proposal review process. Comments received from institutions will be considered in the proposal review process and used as one part of criteria for program approval. AHA staff will reach out to institutions if there are follow-up questions regarding comments received.
The only exception is the applied associate degrees and workforce certificates, since these programs were not included in the current rule revision. Future rule revisions will address workforce program approvals.
Budget and Enrollment
Projected Enrollments
This differentiation is designed primarily for proposed programs with specific out-of-state and out-of-country recruitments plans and provides THECB with a better understanding of the target student population. These estimates should be aligned with projected tuition revenue. If no out-of-state/out-of-country enrollment estimates are available or planned, institutions may list projected enrollments under in-state.
Full-time and part-time enrollments should be listed as headcounts, and so attrition for either type of students should subtract 1 from the cumulative headcount. A student is not counted in attrition until they are not enrolled for the next academic year, which is why attrition cannot be entered for year 1. Attrition from year 1 is calculated into year 2 cumulative headcount.
Student Costs & Support
This additional information provides THECB with a clearer estimate of the total annual cost of the program for the student. Student cost, financial support, and labor market trends will be taken into consideration during review of the program.
This should include the annual tuition charged to the student.
Required fees should include any mandatory fees required for the student to complete the degree program.
THECB understands that not all students will pay the institution’s health insurance fee and so it is not included in the total calculation. However, providing this information gives more insight into the potential total costs for students since institutions typically require that students since institutions typically require that students who are enrolled full-time have health insurance.
If programs are aware of exceedingly high-cost course materials needed to complete a degree program, those should be reflected as an average annual estimate. If course material estimates are not above the average for the institution, that average can be used.
Total Costs & Funding
The previous proposal template was aligned with the Texas Administrative Code that required Board approval for any program exceeding $2 million in new costs. Amendments to the Texas Administrative Code removed this requirement. As a result, THECB no longer requires differentiation between new and reallocated costs and is primarily concerned with new costs related to launching a new degree program. This is particularly important for new faculty hires and other high-cost items such as new facilities. Institutions may continue to include separate line items for reallocated costs, if desired.
Benefits are a significant part of the cost of hiring new employees to deliver a program.
While ideally a program would receive formula funding by year 2 of implementation, it may not receive funding until year 3 depending on when the program was approved and launched. Given that it is unknown exactly when the program will be approved and fully launched at the time of submission and initial review, institutions must demonstrate that the program can break even by the end of the first five years without formula funding for the first two years. This has not changed from the previous proposal templates.
Academic Certificates
The delivery of academic certificates, regardless of degree level or credit hours, requires notification only. Institutions must notify THECB no later than 90 days after the new certificate has started being offered. Universities and health-related institutions are no longer required to complete a 50-mile notification for academic certificates.
The goal of the expansion is to provide institutions more flexibility with the kinds of certificates they are able to offer and the ability to report graduates of any certificate on file with THECB. This change also allows THECB to collect a more comprehensive list of credentials available across the state.
A new certificate notification form will be available no later than November 1, 2023.
AHA developing a process where a bulk collection of all existing certificates can be completed, including providing institutions with a dashboard of all academic certificated currently on file. More information will be provided about a bulk collection, when available.
Embedded Associate Degree
Following the definition of an embedded credential as defined in the Texas Administrative Code, an embedded associate degree is an associate degree that is wholly embedded in an existing or proposed bachelor’s degree program. The function of an embedded associate degree is similar to other credentials embedded in degree programs such as master’s degrees in doctoral programs and other embedded certificates.
The embedded associate degree is designed to be an offramp for students previously or currently enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program who stop out or need to (hopefully temporarily) discontinue their baccalaureate education. The embedded associate provides another mechanism to award students a credential even though they have not yet been able to complete a bachelor’s degree. The Coordinating Board recommends that institutions review degree program data and identify which programs students are most likely to stop out of with a high number of semester credit hours and no degree.
The adopted rules do not require any institution to create an embedded associate degree. As noted above, the Coordinating Board expects institutions to be intentional and targeted in the development of these degrees.
While universities may have a multidisciplinary studies associate degree embedded in a multidisciplinary bachelor’s program, universities are not permitted to develop standalone associate degrees including a general studies degree similar to those offered at community colleges. Universities are not permitted to advertise stand-alone associate degrees and the Coordinating Board will, at its discretion, review how embedded associate degrees are being advertised on institutional or departmental websites and recruitment materials. Universities are not permitted to enroll incoming students directly in associate degrees.
If the institution has not offered associate degree before, it must be approved for a level change with SACSCOC to offer an embedded associate degree. Please review the embedded associate degree criteria on the SACSCOC website and contact your accreditation liaison for more information.
Institutions should follow the same process used to submit other program approval requests. If the institution would like to include an embedded associate degree in a request for a new bachelor’s degree, please include the embedded
associate degree information in the bachelor’s degree proposal.
No, embedded associate degrees are exempt from these requirements.
The adopted rules require that embedded associate degrees must be in the same, related or supporting CIP code. If the CIP code relationship is logical and degree, institutions have flexibility in assigning CIP codes to the degree programs. CIP codes will be evaluated as part of the staff review of the degree request.
Embedded associate degrees will be listed on the program inventory as an associate degree with a footnote indicating that it is embedded. The Coordinating Board is working on updating the program inventory database so that the degree associated with an embedded degree can be listed directly in the inventory.
Institutions must provide the semester credit hours (SCH) required for core curriculum components, the discipline-specific required courses, and the elective courses that need to be completed for the degree. While embedded associate degrees are not required to include the full core curriculum (except for multidisciplinary associate degrees as required by statute), they must meet accreditation general studies requirements and statutory core curriculum requirements for American History (6SCH) and Government/Political science (6SCH).
The full criteria for embedded associate degrees is in Chapter 2, Subchapter D.
Contact
Inquiries regarding rule changes and implementation should be send to Emma Gelsinger, Senior Director, Academic and Health Affairs.
