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(a)General.
(1)In accordance with Texas Education Code, §§61.821
- 61.832, each 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.
(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 communicate
persuasively.
(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, Teamwork, and Personal 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 the physical world and 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 express 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, 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 and ideas 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 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.
(H)Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 SCH).
(i)Courses in this category focus on the application
of empirical and scientific methods that contribute to 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 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 Social Responsibility.
(4)Component Area Option (6 SCH).
(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this
paragraph, each course designated to complete the Component Area Option
must meet the definition and Core Objectives specified in one of the
foundational component areas outlined in paragraph (3)(A) - (H) of
this subsection.
(B)As an option for up to three (3) semester credit
hours of the Component Area Option, an institution may certify that
the course(s):
(i)Meet(s) the definition specified for one or more
of the foundational component areas; and
(ii)Include(s) a minimum of three Core Objectives,
including Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, and one
of the remaining Core Objectives of the institution's choice.
(C)For the purposes of gaining approval for or reporting
a Component Area Option course under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph,
an institution is not required to notify the Board of the specific
foundational component area(s) and Core Objectives associated with
the course(s).
(5)Applicability of Texas Core Curriculum.
(A)Any student who first enrolls in an institution
of higher education following high school graduation 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, have 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.
(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 must be substituted in transfer to any other Texas
public institution of higher education 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.
(d)Concurrent Enrollment.
(1)A student concurrently enrolled at more than one
institution of higher education shall follow the core curriculum requirements
in effect for the institution at which the student is classified as
a degree-seeking student.
(2)A student who is concurrently enrolled at more
than one institution of higher education may be classified as a degree-seeking
student at only one institution.
(3)If a student maintains continuous enrollment from
a spring semester to the subsequent fall semester at an institution
at which the student has declared to be seeking a degree, the student
remains a degree-seeking student at that institution regardless of
the student's enrollment during the intervening summer session(s)
at another institution.
(e)Transfer of Credit--Core Curriculum Not Completed.
Except as specified in subsection (f) of this section, a student who
transfers from one institution of higher education to another without
completing the core curriculum of the sending institution must receive
academic credit within the core curriculum of the receiving institution
for each of the courses that the student has successfully completed
in the core curriculum of the sending institution. Following receipt
of credit for these courses, the student may be required to satisfy
the remaining course requirements in the core curriculum of the receiving
institution.
(f)Satisfaction of Foundational Component Areas. Each
student must meet the number of semester credit hours in each foundational
component area; however, an institution receiving a student in transfer
is not required to apply to the fulfillment of a foundational component
area requirement semester credit hours beyond the number of semester
credit hours specified in a foundational component area.
(g)A course may only apply to a single foundational
component area. If the SCH for a course in a foundational component
exceed the number of SCH allotted in that foundational component area,
the excess SCH must either be applied to the Component Area Option
or as part of the specific degree requirements, such that the additional
SCH will not increase the number of required SCH to complete the degree.
(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.
(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.
(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
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 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.
The agency certifies that legal counsel has reviewed
the adoption and found it to be a valid exercise of the agency's legal
authority.
Filed with the Office
of the Secretary of State on November 5, 2015
TRD-201504755 Bill Franz
General Counsel
Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board
Effective date: November 25, 2015
Proposal publication date: July 17, 2015
For further information, please call: (512) 427-6114
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