(a) Applicants for a license must meet all educational requirements established by the AQB.     
      (b) The Board may accept a course of study to satisfy educational requirements for licensing established by the Act or by this section if the Board has approved the course and determined it to be a course related to real estate appraisal.     
      (c) The Board will approve courses for licensing upon a determination of the Board that:      
        (1) the subject matter of the course was appraisal related;       
        (2) the course was offered by an accredited college or university, or the course was approved by the AQB under its course approval process as a qualifying education course;       
        (3) the applicant obtained credit received in a classroom presentation the hours of instruction for which credit was given and successfully completed a final examination for course credit except as specified in subsection (i) of this section (relating to distance education); and       
        (4) the course was at least 15 classroom hours in duration, including time devoted to examinations that are considered to be part of the course.       
      (d) The Board may require an applicant to furnish materials such as course outlines, syllabi, course descriptions or official transcripts to verify course content or credit.     
      (e) Course providers may obtain prior approval of a course by filing forms prescribed by the Board and submitting a letter indicating that the course has been approved by the AQB under its course approval process. Approval of a course based on AQB approval expires on the date the AQB approval expires and is automatically revoked upon revocation of the AQB approval.     
      (f) If the transcript reflects the actual hours of instruction the student received from an acceptable provider, the Board will accept classroom hour units of instruction as shown on the transcript or other document evidencing course credit. Fifteen classroom hours of credit may be awarded for one academic semester hour of credit.     
      (g) Distance education courses may be acceptable to meet the classroom hour requirement, or its equivalent, provided that the course is approved by the Board, that a minimum time equal to the number of hours of credit elapses from the date of course enrollment until its completion, and that the course meets the criteria listed in paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection.      
        (1) The course must have been presented by an accredited college or university that offers distance education programs in other disciplines; and                  (A) the person has successfully completed a written examination administered to the positively identified person at a location and proctored by an official approved by the college or university; and                   (B) the content and length of the course must meet the requirements for real estate appraisal related courses established by this chapter and by the requirements for qualifying education established by the AQB and is equivalent to a minimum of 15 classroom hours.         
        (2) The course has received approval for academic credit or has been approved under the AQB Course Approval program; and                  (A) the person successfully completes a written examination proctored by an official approved by the presenting entity;                   (B) the course meets the requirements for qualifying education established by the AQB; and                   (C) is equivalent to a minimum of fifteen classroom hours.         
      (h) "In-house" education and training is not acceptable for meeting the educational requirements for licensure.     
      (i) To meet the USPAP educational requirements, a course must:      
        (1) utilize the "National Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) Course" promulgated by the Appraisal Foundation, including the Student Manual and Instructor Manual; or       
        (2) be an equivalent USPAP course as determined by the AQB that:                  (A) is devoted to the USPAP with a minimum of 15 classroom hours of instruction;                   (B) uses the current edition of the USPAP promulgated by the ASB; and                   (C) provides each student with his or her own permanent copy of the current edition of the USPAP promulgated by the ASB         
      (j) Unless authorized by law, neither current members of the Board nor those Board staff engaged in the approval of courses or educational qualifications of applicants or license holders shall be eligible to teach or guest lecture as part of an education course approved for licensing.     
      (k) If the Board determines that a course no longer complies with the requirements for approval, it may suspend or revoke the approval. Proceedings to suspend or revoke approval of a course shall be conducted in accordance with the Board's disciplinary provisions for licenses.     
     Source Note:        The provisions of this §153.13 adopted to be effective March 2, 1992, 17 TexReg 1231; amended to be effective November 10, 1993, 18 TexReg 7542; amended to be effective January 1, 1994, 18 TexReg 9930; amended to be effective September 1, 1995, 20 TexReg 6202; amended to be effective March 1, 1997, 22 TexReg 1717; amended to be effective January 1, 1999, 23 TexReg 6443; amended to be effective November 17, 1999, 24 TexReg 10090; amended to be effective April 1, 2001, 26 TexReg 2163; amended to be effective January 1, 2006, 30 TexReg 8689; amended to be effective June 6, 2006, 31 TexReg4624; amended to be effective March 27, 2007, 32 TexReg 1747; amended to be effective December 27, 2010, 35 TexReg 11658; amended to be effective November 1, 2011, 36 TexReg 7316; amended  to be effective September 7, 2014, 39 TexReg 6857; amended to be effective September 15, 2018; 43 TexReg 5776