| (a) Beginning with the fall 2007 academic term, and
applying to students who enroll in higher education for the first
time during the fall 2007 academic term or any term subsequent to
the fall 2007 term, an institution of higher education may not permit
an undergraduate student a total of more than six dropped courses,
including any course a transfer student has dropped at another institution
of higher education, unless:
(1) the institution has adopted a policy under which
the maximum number of courses a student is permitted to drop is less
than six; or
(2) a disaster declared by the governor results in
cessation or limitation of in-person course attendance by students
at the institution of a duration determined by the institution to
significantly affect the student's ability to participate in course
work with consideration of the length of time of the cessation or
limitation of in-person course attendance, the type of courses, and
the personal circumstances of students affected by the disaster; or
(3) the student shows good cause for dropping more
than that number, including but not limited to a showing of:
(A) a severe illness or other debilitating condition
that affects the student's ability to satisfactorily complete the
course;
(B) the student's responsibility for the care of a
sick, injured, or needy person if the provision of that care affects
the student's ability to satisfactorily complete the course;
(C) the death of a person who is considered to be a
member of the student's family or who is otherwise considered to have
a sufficiently close relationship to the student that the person's
death is considered to be a showing of good cause;
(D) the active duty service as a member of the Texas
National Guard or the armed forces of the United States of either
the student or a person who is considered to be a member of the student's
family or who is otherwise considered to have a sufficiently close
relationship to the student that the person's active military service
is considered to be a showing of good cause;
(E) the change of the student's work schedule that
is beyond the control of the student, and that affects the student's
ability to satisfactorily complete the course; or
(F) other good cause as determined by the institution
of higher education.
(4) the enrollment is for a student who qualifies for
a seventh course enrollment, who:
(A) has reenrolled at the institution following a break
in enrollment from the institution or another institution of higher
education covering at least the 24-month period preceding the first
class day of the initial semester or other academic term of the student's
reenrollment; and
(B) successfully completed at least 50 semester credit
hours of course work at an institution of higher education that are
not exempt from the limitation on formula funding set out in §13.104(1)
- (6) of this title (relating to Exemptions for Excess Hours) before
that break in enrollment.
(b) For purposes of this section, a "member of the
student's family" is defined to be the student's spouse, child, grandchild,
father, mother, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle,
nephew, niece, first cousin, step-parent, step-child, or step-sibling;
a "person who is otherwise considered to have a sufficiently close
relationship to the student" is defined to include any other relative
within the third degree of consanguinity, plus close friends, including
but not limited to roommates, housemates, classmates, or other persons
identified by the student, for approval by the institution on a case-by-case
basis.
(c) For purposes of this section, a "grade" is defined
to be the indicator, usually a letter like A, B, C, D, or F, or P
(for pass) assigned upon the student's completion of a course. A "grade"
indicates either that the student has earned and will be awarded credit,
if the student has completed the course requirements successfully;
or that the student remained enrolled in the course until the completion
of the term or semester but failed to provide satisfactory performance
required to be awarded credit. A "grade" under this definition does
not include symbols to indicate that the course has been left incomplete,
whether those symbols indicate a negotiated temporary suspension of
the end-of-term deadline for completion of the course requirements
commonly designated as "incomplete" status, a dropped course under
the conditions designated for this section, or a withdrawal from the
institution.
(d) An institution of higher education may not count
toward the number of courses permitted to be dropped a course that
the student dropped:
(1) while enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program
previously earned by the student; or
(2) a dual credit or dual enrollment course that a
student dropped before graduating from high school.
(e) Each institution of higher education shall adopt
a policy and procedure for determining a showing of good cause as
specified in subsection (a) of this section and shall provide a copy
of the policy to the Coordinating Board.
(f) Each institution of higher education shall publish
the policy adopted under this section in its catalogue and other print
and Internet-based publications as appropriate for the timely notification
of students.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §4.9 adopted to be effective May 22, 2019, 44 TexReg 2451; amended to be effective November 11, 2021, 46 TexReg 7599; amended to be effective February 15, 2024, 49 TexReg 663 |
