(a)General. (1)In accordance with Texas Education Code, §§61.821 - 61.832 [61.831], each [general academic institution, community college, and health-related] institution of higher education that offers an undergraduate academic degree program shall design and implement a core curriculum, including specific courses composing the curriculum, of no less than 42 lower-division semester credit hours. [Health-related institutions should encourage their students to complete their core curriculum requirement at a general academic institution or community college.] (2)No upper-division course shall be approved to fulfill a foundational component area requirement in the core curriculum if it is substantially comparable in content or depth of study to a lower-division course listed in the Lower-Division Academic Course Guide Manual. (3)Medical or dental units that admit undergraduate transfer students should encourage those students to complete their core curriculum requirement at a general academic teaching institution or public junior college. (b)Texas Core Curriculum. Each institution of higher education that offers an undergraduate academic degree program shall develop its core curriculum by using the Board-approved purpose, core objectives, and foundational component areas of the Texas Core Curriculum. (1)Statement of Purpose. Through the Texas Core Curriculum, students will gain a foundation of knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world, develop principles of personal and social responsibility for living in a diverse world, and advance intellectual and practical skills that are essential for all learning. (2)Core Objectives. Through the Texas Core Curriculum, students will prepare for contemporary challenges by developing and demonstrating the following core objectives: (A)Critical Thinking Skills: to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information; (B)Communication Skills: to include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication; (C)Empirical and Quantitative Skills: to include the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions; (D)Teamwork: to include the ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal; (E)Personal Responsibility: to include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making; and (F)Social Responsibility: to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities. (3)Foundational Component Areas with Content Descriptions, Core Objectives and Semester Credit Hour (SCH) Requirements. Each institution's core curriculum will be composed of courses that adhere to the content description, core objectives, and semester credit hour requirements for a specific component area. The foundational component areas are: (A)Communication (6 SCH). (i)Courses in this category focus on developing ideas and expressing them clearly, considering the effect of the message, fostering understanding, and building the skills needed to maximize the potential for effecting change through communication. (ii)Courses involve the command of oral, aural, written, and visual literacy skills that enable people to exchange messages appropriate to the subject, occasion, and audience. (iii)The following four Core Objectives must be addressed in each course approved to fulfill this category requirement: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Personal Responsibility, and Social Responsibility. (B)Mathematics (3 SCH). (i)Courses in this category focus on quantitative literacy in logic, patterns, and relationships. (ii)Courses involve the understanding of key mathematical concepts and the application of appropriate quantitative tools to everyday experience. (iii)The following three Core Objectives must be addressed in each course approved to fulfill this category requirement: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, and Empirical and Quantitative Skills. (C)Life and Physical Sciences (6 SCH). (i)Courses in this category focus on describing, explaining, and predicting natural phenomena using the scientific method. (ii)Courses involve the understanding of interactions among natural phenomena and the implications of scientific principles on human experiences. (iii)The following four Core Objectives must be addressed in each course approved to fulfill this category requirement: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Empirical and Quantitative Skills, and Teamwork. (D)Language, Philosophy, and Culture (3 SCH). (i)Courses in this category focus on how ideas, values, beliefs, and other aspects of culture reflect and affect human experience. (ii)Courses involve the exploration of ideas that foster aesthetic and intellectual creation in order to understand the human condition across cultures. (iii)The following four Core Objectives must be addressed in each course approved to fulfill this category requirement: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Teamwork OR Personal Responsibility, and Social Responsibility. (E)Creative Arts (3 SCH). (i)Courses in this category focus on the appreciation and analysis of creative artifacts and works of the human imagination. (ii)Courses involve the synthesis and interpretation of artistic expression and enable critical, creative, and innovative communication about works of art. (iii)The following four Core Objectives must be addressed in each course approved to fulfill this category requirement: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Teamwork, and Social Responsibility. (F)American History (6 SCH). (i)Courses in this category focus on the consideration of past events relative to the United States, with the option of including Texas History for a portion of this component area. (ii)Courses involve the interaction among individuals, communities, states, the nation, and the world, considering how these interactions have contributed to the development of the United States and its global role. (iii)The following four Core Objectives must be addressed in each course approved to fulfill this category requirement: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Personal Responsibility, and Social Responsibility. (G)Government/Political Science (6 SCH). (i)Courses in this category focus on consideration of the Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the states, with special emphasis on that of Texas. (ii)Courses involve the analysis of governmental institutions, political behavior, civic engagement, and their political and philosophical foundations. (iii)The following five Core Objectives must be addressed in each course approved to fulfill this category requirement: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Teamwork, Personal Responsibility, and Social Responsibility. (H)Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 SCH). (i)Courses in this category focus on the application of scientific methods in the understanding of what makes us human. (ii)Courses involve the exploration of behavior and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, and events, examining their impact on the individual, society, and culture. (iii)The following five Core Objectives must be addressed in each course approved to fulfill this category requirement: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Empirical and Quantitative Skills, Personal Responsibility, and Social Responsibility. (I)Component Area Option (6 SCH). (i)Courses in this category focus on the development and application of knowledge and skills introduced in the previous eight component areas. (ii)Courses must meet the definition and criteria specified in one of the Component Areas outlined in subparagraphs (A) - (H) of this paragraph. (iii)The Core Objectives required in the corresponding Component Area apply to each course used to fulfill the Component Area Option. (4)Applicability of Texas Core Curriculum. (A)Any student who first enrolls in an institution of higher education in fall 2014 or later shall be subject to the current Texas Core Curriculum requirements. (B)Any student who is admitted under the terms of the Academic Fresh Start program and who first enrolls under that admission in fall 2014 or later shall be subject to the current Texas Core Curriculum requirements. (C)Any student who first enrolled in an institution of higher education prior to fall 2014 shall, after consultation with an academic advisor, has the choice to: (i)complete the core curriculum requirements in effect in summer 2014; or (ii)transition to the current core curriculum requirements, in which case, previously completed core curriculum courses shall be applied to the current core curriculum requirements under the same terms as those that apply to a student who transfers from one institution to another. The student shall then complete the remaining requirements under the current core curriculum. [(b)Component Areas. Each institution's core curriculum must be designed to satisfy the exemplary educational objectives specified for the component areas of the "Core Curriculum: Assumptions and Defining Characteristics" adopted by the Board; all lower-division courses included in the core curriculum must be consistent with the "Texas Common Course Numbering System," and must be consistent with the framework identified in Charts I and II of this subsection. Chart I specifies the minimum number of semester credit hours required in each of five major component areas that a core curriculum must include (with sub-areas noted in parentheses). Chart II specifies options available to institutions for the remaining 6 - 12 semester credit hours.] [Figure: 19 TAC §4.28(b)]
(c)Transfer of Credit--Completed Core Curriculum. If a student successfully completes the 42 semester credit hour core curriculum at a Texas public institution of higher education, that block of courses may be transferred to any other Texas public institution of higher education and must be substituted for the receiving institution's core curriculum. A student shall receive academic credit for each of the courses transferred and may not be required to take additional core curriculum courses at the receiving institution [unless the Board has approved a larger core curriculum at that institution]. (d) - (e)(No change.) (f)Satisfaction of Foundational Component Areas. Each student must meet the [minimum] number of semester credit hours in each foundational component area [component area]; however, an institution receiving a student in transfer is not required to apply to the fulfillment of a foundational component area requirement [accept component core course] semester credit hours beyond the number of semester credit hours [ maximum] specified in a foundational component area [ core component area]. (g)A course approved to fulfill a core curriculum foundational component area requirement may only apply to a single foundational component area with the exception that an approved course may be designated to apply to the Component Area Option as well. (1)If the SCH for a required course in a foundational component area are in excess of the number of SCH designated in that foundational component area, the additional SCH must be applied to the Component Area Option. (2)Each SCH completed by a student may only be applied to a single foundational component area. (h)Transcripts. All undergraduate student transcripts should indicate whether a student has completed the core curriculum satisfactorily, and which courses satisfied a requirement of the institution's core curriculum. Identifying numbers recommended by the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (TACRAO) must identify each completed core curriculum course on students' transcripts, in order to indicate courses utilized to satisfy core curriculum foundational component area requirements as follows: (1)Communication = 010; (2)Mathematics = 020; (3)Life and Physical Sciences = 030; (4)Language, Philosophy and Culture = 040; (5)Creative Arts = 050; (6)American History = 060; (7)Government/Political science = 070; (8)Social and Behavioral Sciences = 080; and (9)Component Area Option = 090. [(g)Exemplary Educational Objectives From More Than One Component Area. An institution may include within its core curriculum a course or courses that combine exemplary educational objectives from two or more component areas of the exemplary educational objectives defined in this section.] [(h)Transcripts. Each institution must note core courses on student transcripts as recommended by the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (TACRAO).] (i)Notice. Each institution must publish and make readily available to students its core curriculum requirements stated in terms consistent with the Texas Common Course Numbering System [ "Texas Common Course Numbering System"]. (j)Substitutions and Waivers. No institution or institutional representative may approve course substitutions or waivers of the institution's core curriculum requirements for any currently enrolled student, except as provided in subsection (k) of this section. For students who transfer to a public institution from a college or university that is not a Texas public institution of higher education, courses the student completed prior to admission should be evaluated to determine whether they apply to one of the institution's core curriculum component areas. Only those courses the institution has accepted for transfer that can demonstrate fulfillment of the foundational component area content descriptions, core objectives, and semester credit hours required [exemplary educational objectives] for the appropriate foundational component area or areas should be applied to the institution's core curriculum. (k)Accommodations. (1)An institution of higher education may, on a case-by-case basis, approve an accommodation of a specific core curriculum foundational component area requirement as described in paragraph (3) of this subsection for a student with a medically-documented learning disability, including but not limited to dyslexia, dysgraphia, or Asperger's Syndrome. (2)Accommodation shall not include a waiver or exemption of any core curriculum requirement. (3)An institution may approve for core curriculum applicability a course the institution offers but that is not approved as a part of the institution's core curriculum, if the institution demonstrates that the course has been approved to fulfill the same specific foundational [core curriculum] component area requirement at five or more other Texas public colleges or universities. The Texas Common Course Numbering System course number may be used as evidence of the suitability of the course under this subsection.
This agency hereby
certifies that the proposal has
been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's
legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office
of the Secretary of State on August 12, 2011
TRD-201103165 Bill Franz
General Counsel
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Proposed date of adoption: October 27, 2011
For further information, please call: (512) 427-6114
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