(a) Application for approval of a qualifying course.
  (1) For each qualifying course a provider intends to offer, the provider must:
    (A) submit the course application and course approval forms, including all materials required; and
    (B) pay the fee required by §535.101 or §535.210 of this title.
  (2) A provider may file a single application for a qualifying course offered through multiple delivery methods. A fee is required for content and examination review of each qualifying course and for each distinct delivery method utilized by a provider for that course.
  (3) A provider who seeks approval of a new delivery method for a currently approved qualifying course must submit a new application and pay all required fees, including a fee for content and examination review.
  (4) The Commission may:
    (A) request additional information be provided to the Commission relating to an application;
    (B) terminate an application without further notice if the applicant fails to provide the additional information not later than the 60th day after the Commission mails the request; and
    (C) prior to approval of a proposed qualifying real estate inspector course, submit the course to the Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee for review and recommendation.
(b) Standards for course approval. To be approved as a qualifying course by the Commission, a provider must satisfy the Commission that the course:
  (1) covers all topics and units for the course subject required by the Act, Chapter 1102 and this chapter;
  (2) covers all units within the prescribed topic;
  (3) contains sufficient content to satisfy the number of hours for which credit is being requested as evidenced by:
    (A) word count studies;
    (B) samples of student time studies; or
    (C) other methods acceptable to the Commission;
  (4) will be scheduled for the full clock hours of time for which credit is awarded and presented in full hourly units;
  (5) does not have daily course segments that exceed 12 hours;
  (6) will be delivered by one of the following delivery methods:
    (A) classroom delivery;
    (B) distance education delivery; or
    (C) a combination of (A) and (B) of this paragraph, if at least 50% of the combined course is offered by classroom delivery;
  (7) include at a minimum, the following methods to assess a student's comprehension of the course material:
    (A) topic quizzes, with at least three questions related to the subject matter in each course topic;
    (B) at least one scenario-based learning exercise per every increment of 10 credit hours or less; and
    (C) if the course is delivered by distance education delivery:
      (i) prevent the student from moving from one topic to the next topic until the student answers all topic quiz questions correctly and receives a passing grade on the scenario based learning exercises; and
      (ii) for quiz questions answered incorrectly, employ a method to present the rationale behind the correct answer and ask a subsequent related quiz question that will count toward passing the topic if answered correctly; and
  (8) include at least four versions of a final examination, and ensure that each version of the examination:
    (A) covers each topic required by the Act or Rules for the specific course;
    (B) does not contain any true/false questions;
    (C) does not repeat more than one third of the questions from other versions of the final examination;
    (D) for all qualifying courses other than a real estate math course:
      (i) consists of at least two questions per credit course hour; and
      (ii) draws from a question bank consisting of at least four questions per credit course hour; and
    (E) for all qualifying real estate math courses, consists of at least 20 questions that are drawn from a question bank consisting of at least 40 questions.
(c) If the course is currently certified by a distance learning certification center acceptable to the Commission, the provider will be deemed to have met requirements for verification of clock/course hours for distance education delivery.
(d) Approval of currently approved courses by a secondary provider.
  (1) If a secondary provider wants to offer a course currently approved for another provider, the secondary provider must:
    (A) submit the course application and approval forms including all materials required;
    (B) submit written authorization to the Commission from the owner of the rights to the course material granting permission for the secondary provider to offer the course; and
    (C) pay the fee required by §535.101 or §535.210 of this title.
  (2) If approved to offer the previously approved course, the secondary provider is required to:
    (A) offer the course as originally approved, assume the original expiration date, include any approved revisions, use all materials required for the course; and
    (B) meet the requirements of §535.65 of this title.
(e) Required revision of a currently approved qualifying course.
  (1) Providers are responsible for keeping current on changes to the Act and Commission Rules and must revise or supplement materials for approved courses when changes are adopted on or before the effective date of those statutes or rules.
  (2) If the Commission adopts new requirements for a course, including but not limited to a course approval form that divides selected qualifying course subjects into topics and units, the Commission will determine, at the time the Commission adopts the new requirements, whether a provider must revise the course or supplement the course. Any provider currently offering a course that is subject to change must:
    (A) revise or supplement any currently approved classroom qualifying course covering that subject no later than 12 months after the effective date of the new requirements; and
    (B) revise or supplement any currently approved qualifying course offered by distance or combination delivery no later than 15 months after the effective date of the new requirements.
  (3) If the Commission determines that a qualifying course should be supplemented, a provider must submit the supplemental materials required by the Commission. No fee will be required and the course will maintain its original expiration date.
  (4) If the Commission determines that a qualifying course should be revised, a provider must:
    (A) submit the course application and approval forms including all materials required; and
    (B) pay the fee required by §535.101 or §535.210 of this title.
  (5) A provider may not offer a course for qualifying credit after the deadlines established by this subsection following a required revision or supplement if the provider has not received written approval from the Commission to offer the revised or supplemented course.
  (6) If a provider paid a fee for the initial course approval, the provider will receive a prorated credit on the fee paid under this subsection for a revised course for the unexpired time remaining on that initial approval. The Commission will calculate the prorated credit by dividing the fee paid for the initial approval by 48 months and multiplying that amount by the number of full months remaining between the approval date of the revised course and the expiration date of the currently approved version of the course.
  (7) A revised course approved under this subsection expires four years from the date of approval of the revision.
  (8) No later than 90 days before the effective date of a revised or supplemented course, a provider shall send written notice to all students who have purchased the currently approved course and not completed it, that credit will no longer be given for the current course as of the effective date of the revised or supplemented course.
  (9) If an approved provider fails to give the notice set out in paragraph (8) of this subsection, the provider shall allow the student to take the revised or supplemented course at no additional charge.
(f) Voluntary revision of a currently approved qualifying course.
  (1) A provider who voluntarily revises a currently approved course, shall, prior to implementation of any course materials:
    (A) file any updated course materials and revisions of the course outline with the Commission; and
Cont'd...
(B) pay the fee required by §535.101 and §535.210 of this title.
  (2) If after review the Commission is not satisfied with the updated course materials and revised course outline, the Commission may direct a provider to:
    (A) further revise the materials;
    (B) cease use of materials; or
    (C) withdraw a course text.
  (3) If a provider paid a fee for the initial course approval, the provider will receive a prorated credit on the fee paid under this subsection for the unexpired time remaining on that initial approval. The Commission will calculate the prorated credit by dividing the fee paid for the initial approval by 48 months and multiplying that amount by the number of full months remaining between the approval date of the revised course and the expiration date of the currently approved version of the course.
  (4) A revised course approved under this subsection expires four years from the date of approval of the revision.
  (5) No later than 90 days before the effective date of a revised course, a provider shall send written notice to all students who have purchased the currently approved course and not completed it, that credit will no longer be given for the current course as of the effective date of the revised course.
  (6) If an approved provider fails to give the notice set out in paragraph (5) of this subsection, the provider shall allow the student to take the revised course at no additional charge.
(g) Approval and Expiration of approval.
  (1) A Qualifying provider shall not offer qualifying education courses until the provider has received written notice of the approval from the Commission.
  (2) A Qualifying course expires four years from the date of approval and providers must reapply and meet all current requirements of this Section to offer the course for another four years.
  (3) Courses approved for use by a subsequent provider under subsection (d) of this section expire on the same date that the originally approved course expires.
(h) Renewal of course approval.
  (1) Not earlier than 90 days before the expiration of a course approval, a provider may apply for a renewal of course approval for another four-year period.
  (2) Approval of an application to renew course approval shall be subject to the standards for initial approval set out in this section.
  (3) The Commission may deny an application to renew course approval if the provider is in violation of a Commission order.
(i) Course preapproval for exempt providers.
  (1) Providers exempt from approval by the Commission may submit courses to the Commission for preapproval by meeting the standards for course approval under this section, including submitting all applicable forms and fees.
  (2) Any course offered by an exempt provider without preapproval by the Commission will be evaluated by the Commission to determine whether it qualifies for credit at such time as a student submits a course completion certificate to the Commission for credit.
  (3) The Commission will determine whether or not a course offered by an exempt provider without preapproval by the Commission qualifies for credit using the standards set out under this section.
  (4) An exempt provider may not represent that a course qualifies for credit by the Commission unless the exempt provider receives written confirmation from the Commission that the course has been preapproved for credit.

Source Note: The provisions of this §535.62 adopted to be effective January 1, 2015, 39 TexReg 9669; amended to be effective January 1, 2016, 40 TexReg 8226; amended to be effective December 7, 2016, 41 TexReg 9521; amended to be effective December 9, 2018, 43 TexReg 7898; amended to be effective December 11, 2019, 44 TexReg 7702