The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings:

(1) Academically Disadvantaged--A designation that applies to postsecondary students who have not met the college-readiness standard in one or more Texas Success Initiative (TSI) assessments as provided by chapter 4, subchapter C, §4.57 of this title (relating to College Ready Standards), and who were not classified as either waived or exempt pursuant to chapter 4, subchapter C, §4.54 of this title (relating to Exemptions, Exceptions, and Waivers).

(2) Adult Learner--A student aged 25 or older on September 1 of the fiscal year for which the applicable data are reported, in accordance with Coordinating Board data reporting requirements.

(3) Advanced Technical Certificate (ATC)--A certificate that has a specific associate or baccalaureate degree or junior level standing in a baccalaureate degree program as a prerequisite for admission. An ATC consists of at least 16 semester credit hours (SCH) and no more than 45 SCH and must be focused, clearly related to the prerequisite degree, and justifiable to meet industry or external agency requirements.

(4) Associate Degree--An academic associate degree as defined under Texas Education Code, §61.003(11), or an applied associate degree as defined under Texas Education Code, §61.003(12)(B).

(5) Baccalaureate Degree--A degree program that includes any grouping of subject matter courses consisting of at least 120 SCH which, when satisfactorily completed by a student, will entitle that student to an undergraduate degree from a public junior college.

(6) Base Tier Funding--The amount of state and local funding determined by the Board for each public junior college that ensures the college has access to a defined level of funding for instruction and operations.

(7) Base Year--The time period comprising the year of contact hours used for calculating the contact hour funding to public junior colleges. A base year includes certified contact hours reported in the Summer 1, Summer 2, and Fall of the prior calendar year and Spring of the current calendar year relative to September 1st of the current fiscal year.

(8) Basic Allotment--A dollar value per Weighted FTSE, as determined by the Legislature based on appropriations made in that biennium's General Appropriations Act.

(9) Census Date--The date upon which a college may report a student in attendance for the purposes of formula funding, as specified in the Coordinating Board Management (CBM) manual for the year in which the funding is reported.

(10) Credential of Value--A credential earned by a student that would be expected to provide a positive return on investment. A positive return on investment is met when a typical student completing the credential is expected to earn cumulative wages greater than the cumulative median earnings of an average Texas high school graduate, plus recouping the net cost of attendance within ten years after earning the credential. This calculation shall include the student's opportunity cost, calculated as the difference between median earnings for a typical Texas high school graduate and typical earnings for students while enrolled for four years for baccalaureate degree holders, two years for associate degree holders, and one year for holders of a Level 1 certificate, Level 2 certificate, or Advanced Technical Certificate. The Coordinating Board shall calculate the expected return on investment based on the data available to the agency for the funding year. The calculation shall include the most current available data for each program or a comparable program.

(11) Credentialing examination--A licensure, certification, or registration exam provided by a state or national agency or by professional organization.

(12) Dual Credit or Dual Enrollment Fundable Outcome--A student who has earned at least 15 SCH or the equivalent of state-funded dual credit or dual enrollment courses that apply toward an academic or workforce program requirement at the postsecondary level. For the purpose of this subchapter, the term "dual credit or dual enrollment fundable outcome" includes the following fundable courses taken for college credit by a high school student who has not yet received a high school diploma: (A) Any course taken for dual credit that is within the core curriculum of the college that is providing the course; (B) A course in a Coordinating Board-established field of study curriculum under Texas Education Code, §61.823, or program of study curriculum under Texas Education Code, §61.8235; (C) Career and technical education courses that apply to a certificate or associate degree offered by the institution providing the credit; (D) Foreign language courses; (E) All courses taken by students enrolled in an approved Early College High School program, with the exception of the physical education courses taken by high school students for high school physical education credit; and (F) A course taken for college credit only by a student who is also enrolled in high school but does not yet have a high school diploma.

(13) Economically Disadvantaged--A designation that applies to postsecondary students who received the federal Pell Grant under 20 U.S.C. §1070a.

(14) Formula Funding--The funding allocated by the Coordinating Board among all public junior colleges by applying provisions of the Texas Education Code, agency rule, and the General Appropriations Act to a sector-wide appropriation from the General Appropriations Act.

(15) Full-Time Student Equivalent (FTSE)--A synthetic measure of enrollment based on the number of instructional hours delivered by an institution of higher education divided by the number of hours associated with full-time enrollment for the time period in question.

(16) Fundable Credential--A Fundable Credential counts toward Weighted Outcome Completions as defined in paragraph (27) of this section. For the purpose of funding delivered in fiscal year 2024, a fundable credential is defined as any of the following, except that, for credentials under subparagraph (B) or (C) of this paragraph, if more than one credential that the institution awarded to a student includes the same contact hours, the institution may only submit one credential for funding under subparagraph (B) or (C) of this paragraph. (A) Any of the following credentials awarded by an institution that meets the criteria of a credential of value as defined in paragraph (10) of this section using the methodology established for the most current fiscal year, that is otherwise eligible for funding, and the institution reported and certified to the Coordinating Board: (i) An associate degree; (ii) A baccalaureate degree; (iii) A Level 1 or Level 2 Certificate; and (iv) An Advanced Technical Certificate. (B) An Occupational Skills Award awarded by an institution that the institution reported and certified to the Board during fiscal year 2023; or (C) An Institutional Credential Leading to Licensure or Certification (ICLC) not included in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph and that the institution reported and certified to the Coordinating Board during fiscal year 2023, that meets one of the following criteria: (i) The credential includes no fewer than 144 contact hours or nine (9) semester credit hours; or (ii) The credential is awarded in a high demand field, as defined in Board rule, and includes no fewer than 80 contact hours or five (5) semester credit hours; or (iii) A licensure or certification earned by a student who did not receive a credential if the student: (I) earned the licensure or certification as the result of the student's successful passage of a credentialing examination for a licensure or certification, while or after being enrolled in one of the institution's Institutional Credentials Leading to Licensure or Certification (ICLC) programs that would qualify for funding under clauses (i) or (ii) of this subparagraph; and (II) earned the licensure or certification not later than twelve months after the student's enrollment in the ICLC program for which the student earned the licensure or certification.

(17) High-Demand Fields--An academic discipline, delineated by the federal Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code, that the Coordinating Board has approved for inclusion on a published list of High-Demand Fields, available at https://www.highered.texas.gov/our-work/supporting-our-institutions/community-college-finance/high-demand-fields/, based on their satisfaction of either: (A) Inclusion on the list of Critical Fields employed for the purpose of determining formula funding allocations under the Student Success strategy in the 2022-2023 General Appropriations Act; or (B) Appearing on the list of CIP codes resulting from the following methodology completed in Fall 2021: (i) Extracting the top 25 occupations for each higher education region as ranked by their ten-year projected number of new openings, after having excluded those with an average wage less than the statewide median wage and those with a typical entry credential other than "Some college, no degree", "Postsecondary non-degree award", and "Associate degree", from the texaslmi.com website maintained by the Texas Workforce Commission; (ii) Placing occupations appearing on at least seven of the ten resulting regional lists on a statewide list; (iii) Adding to the statewide list any occupations appearing among the top five of one or more regional list but not yet on the statewide list; and (iv) Generating a list of CIP codes populated by each four-digit CIP code associated with an occupation on the statewide list per the crosswalk promulgated by the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education, which as of the effective date of this rule is available at the following address: https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/post3.aspx?y=56.

(18) Institutional Credentials Leading to Licensure or Certification (ICLC)--A credential awarded by an institution upon a student's completion of a course or series of courses that represent the achievement of identifiable skill proficiency and leading to licensure or certification. This definition includes a credential that meets the definition of an Occupational Skills Award in all respects except that the program did not obtain the required Workforce Development Board approval.

(19) Level 1 Certificate--A certificate designed to provide the necessary academic skills and the workforce skills, knowledge, and abilities necessary to attain entry-level employment or progression toward a Level 2 Certificate or an Applied Associate Degree, with at least 50% of course credits drawn from a single technical specialty. A Level 1 Certificate must be designed for a student to complete in one calendar year or less time and consists of at least 15 semester credit hours and no more than 42 semester credit hours.

(20) Level 2 Certificate--A certificate consisting of at least 30 semester credit hours and no more than 51 semester credit hours. Students enrolled in Level 2 Certificates must demonstrate meeting college readiness standards set forth in chapter 4, subchapter C, §4.57 of this title and other eligibility requirements determined by the institution.

(21) Local Share--The amount determined to be the institution's contribution of local funds to the Instruction and Operations (I&O) amount for each public junior college. The amount consists of estimated ad valorem maintenance and operations tax revenue and tuition and fees revenue, as determined by the Board.

(22) Non-Formula Support Item--An amount appropriated by line item in the General Appropriations Act to a single public junior college or limited group of colleges for a specific, named purpose.

(23) Occupational Skills Award--A sequence of courses that meet the minimum standard for program length specified by the Texas Workforce Commission for the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program (9-14 SCH for credit courses or 144-359 contact hours for workforce continuing education courses). An OSA must possess the following characteristics: (A) The credential is TSI-waived under chapter 4, subchapter C, §4.54 of this title; (B) The content of the credential must be recommended by an external workforce advisory committee, or the occupation must appear on the Local Workforce Development Board's Demand Occupations list; (C) In most cases, the credential should be composed of Workforce Education Course Manual (WECM) courses only. However, non-stratified academic courses may be used occasionally if recommended by the external committee and if appropriate for the content of the credential; (D) The credential complies with the Single Course Delivery guidelines for WECM courses; and (E) The credential prepares students for employment in accordance with guidelines established for WIOA.

(24) Structured Co-Enrollment Fundable Outcome--A student who earns at least 15 semester credit hours at the junior college district in a Coordinating Board-recognized program structured through a binding written agreement between a general academic teaching institution and a community college. Under such a program, students will be admitted to both institutions and recognized as having matriculated to both institutions concurrently.

Cont'd...