2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB5180
HB5180 requires a Texas public institution of higher education to give an eligible graduate two diplomas if the institution merged, was acquired by another postsecondary institution, or changed its name during the student's enrol…
Official caption: Relating to the issuance of a diploma to a student graduating from a public institution of higher education that has undergone a merger, acquisition, or name change.
Official report lists House author(s): Wilson. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.
Bill highlights
Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.
- HB5180 requires a Texas public institution of higher education to give an eligible graduate two diplomas if the institution merged, was acquired by another postsecondary institution, or changed its name during the student's enrollment.
- The student must graduate within six years of the merger, acquisition or name change.
- Sources: final law; official history and effective date.
What does it do?
HB5180 requires a Texas public institution of higher education to give an eligible graduate two diplomas if the institution merged, was acquired by another postsecondary institution, or changed its name during the student’s enrollment. One diploma must use the institution’s original name at initial enrollment and the same style, design or format, including symbols or insignia; the other must use the new name.
The student must graduate within six years of the merger, acquisition or name change. The institution cannot charge an additional fee for a diploma under this provision. The law took effect June 20, 2025, and applies beginning with diplomas provided for the 2025–2026 academic year. It concerns public institutions under Education Code 61.003, not all private colleges.
Sources: final law; official history and effective date.
What changed along the way?
The introduced bill would have offered students enrolled at a merger or name change a choice of a diploma bearing the old or new institution name. It did not contain the final six-year graduation limit, two-diploma requirement or explicit ban on an additional fee.
The House committee substitute changed that choice to two required diplomas, expressly included acquisitions, preserved the old diploma’s design, added the six-year limit and fee protection, and moved the provision to Education Code 51.995. It also allowed immediate effect with sufficient votes, instead of a fixed September 1 date.
The committee substitute’s operative provisions match the engrossed, Senate committee and final versions. No floor amendments are indexed. The House passed the bill 148–0 and the Senate 31–0, meeting the immediate-effect threshold; it became effective when signed June 20.
Sources: five text versions; amendment index; introduced proposal; committee substitute.
For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.
Official bill versions
Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.
Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?
Students who finish within the deadline can retain a diploma showing the institution they entered while also receiving one bearing its new name. Covered institutions must maintain or reproduce the old design and issue both without passing an additional diploma fee to those students. This is a document requirement, not an award of two separate degrees or a change to graduation requirements.
The May 13, 2025 fiscal note anticipates no significant state or local fiscal impact and assumes costs can be handled using existing resources. The April 14 introduced and April 20 substitute notes reach the same fiscal conclusion. The final requirement can still involve printing and administrative work; “no significant fiscal implication” is not a finding that every institution has zero costs.
Review boundary: the full three-section law, history, five versions, no-amendment index and all three fiscal notes were read. The historical public-institution definition in Education Code 61.003 was checked. The explanation does not assume a particular campus merger date, an individual student’s eligibility, or that institutions have already issued compliant diplomas.
Source: latest fiscal note.
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.
