SB1401

Eligible participating institutions are general academic teaching institutions or qualifying private or independent higher-education institutions offering bachelor’s and postbaccalaureate degree and certificate programs. An institution developing a pipeline must partner with at least one public junior college. The covered careers are psychologists, licensed professional counselors, advanced practice registered nurses with nationally recognized psychiatric or mental-health nursing board certification, licensed master or clinical social workers, licensed specialists in school psychology, and licensed marriage and family therapists. The act uses the cited professional definitions; it does not replace professional licensing requirements. Final law; Institutional definitions.

For a transferring public junior college student who completes a field-of-study curriculum or earns a Texas Direct associate degree, the pipeline institution must ensure no previously earned credits are lost and that the student can earn a bachelor’s degree in less than two years after transfer. Texas Direct already requires an approved field of study plus the applicable core curriculum; it is not simply any associate degree. The board determines which existing field-of-study curricula may be accepted and what additional ones institutions may develop for the listed specialties. Final law; Texas Direct requirements; Existing field-of-study framework.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in an appropriate program chosen by the institution, the student receives automatic admission to that institution’s postbaccalaureate degree or certificate program only if the student meets its minimum academic requirements and the program has capacity. Capacity depends on required or institutional student-to-faculty ratios and available clinical placements and supervising faculty or preceptors. This is not unconditional admission or a waiver of those limits. Final law, section 61.070(c).

The board must promote the program and publish curriculum information, program and institution lists, a location map and program data. Institutions must annually report enrollment, credit-preserving transfers, bachelor’s completions in two years or less, capacity, committed financial resources and average time from junior-college enrollment to the targeted degree or certificate. The reporting measure says “two years or less”; the separate pathway requirement says “less than two years.” Necessary rules must be adopted as soon as practicable after the effective date. Final law.

The Senate substitute narrowed the original transfer assurance to students completing a field of study or Texas Direct degree, required an appropriate bachelor’s program before graduate admission, and replaced simple program designation with curriculum determinations. It also added program promotion and curriculum information to the public website duties and refined the reporting language. Senate-passed, House committee and enrolled substantive text then match the substitute; no floor amendments are listed. Introduced; Senate substitute; Senate-passed; House committee; Final law; Version index; Amendment index.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

The intended benefit is fewer transfer-credit losses and clearer education routes into mental-health careers. Institutions developing pipelines must coordinate curricula, progression and reporting, while graduate places remain constrained by academic standards, staffing and clinical capacity. The act encourages institutions to develop pipelines rather than requiring every eligible college to operate one. It provides no tuition scholarship, guarantees no job and does not establish how many additional professionals will qualify. Final law.

The April 3 substitute fiscal note anticipates no significant state or local fiscal impact and assumes participating institutions and the coordinating board can implement the program within existing resources. The introduced note reached the same general conclusion. Neither establishes actual workforce gains or quantifies individual students’ savings. The act makes no appropriation. Substitute fiscal note; Introduced fiscal note; Final law.