SECTION 4.32. Field of Study Curriculum

(a) In accordance with Texas Education Code, §61.823, the Board is authorized to approve Field of Study Curricula for certain fields of study/academic disciplines. The Board delegates to the Commissioner development of Field of Study Curricula with the assistance of the Texas Transfer Advisory Committee, as defined by Title 19, Subchapter V, Chapter 1. The Texas Transfer Advisory Committee is responsible for convening Discipline-Specific Subcommittees. Discipline-Specific Subcommittees shall provide subject-matter expertise to the Texas Transfer Advisory Committee in developing Field of Study Curricula in specific disciplines.

(b) A complete Field of Study Curriculum will consist of the following components:

(1) Selected Texas Core Curriculum courses.

(A) Selected Texas Core Curriculum courses relevant to the discipline may be included in the Field of Study Curriculum for that discipline.

(B) Discipline-Specific Subcommittees are responsible for identifying discipline-relevant courses from a list of all Texas Core Curriculum courses provided by the Board that may be used to satisfy core curriculum requirements. Each Discipline-Specific Subcommittee shall recommend identified Texas Core Curriculum courses to the Texas Transfer Advisory Committee.

(C) The Texas Transfer Advisory Committee shall recommend the Texas Core Curriculum courses selected for inclusion in a Field of Study Curriculum to the Commissioner who may approve or deny the inclusion of the recommended Texas Core Curriculum courses in the Field of Study Curriculum.

(D) Each institution of higher education must publish on its public website in manner easily accessed by students the Texas Core Curriculum courses selected for inclusion in a Field of Study Curriculum with the cross-listed TCCNS course number.

(2) Discipline Foundation Courses (DFC).

(A) Discipline Foundation Courses are a set of courses within a major course of study, consisting of up to twelve (12) semester credit hours, selected for inclusion in a Field of Study Curriculum for that discipline. These courses will apply toward undergraduate degrees within the Field of Study Curriculum at all Texas public institutions that offer a corresponding major or track, except for those institutions approved to require alternative Discipline Foundation Courses under Title 19, Chapter 4, Subchapter B, §4.35 (relating to Petition for Alternative Discipline Foundation Courses).

(B) Each receiving institution must apply the semester credit hours a student has completed in a Discipline Foundation Course upon the student's transfer into a corresponding major or track. The sending institution must indicate Discipline Foundation Courses on the transfer student's transcript.

(C) Discipline-Specific Subcommittees are responsible for identifying discipline-relevant courses for inclusion on the Discipline Foundation Courses list. The Discipline-Specific Subcommittees must select from courses listed in the Lower-Division Academic Course Guide Manual. Each Discipline-Specific Subcommittee shall report this course list to the Texas Transfer Advisory Committee.

(D) The Texas Transfer Advisory Committee shall recommend the Discipline Foundation Courses selected by the Discipline Specific Subcommittees for inclusion in a Field of Study Curriculum to the Commissioner. The Commissioner may approve or deny the Discipline Foundation Courses recommended by the Texas Transfer Advisory Committee for inclusion in a Field of Study Curriculum.

(E) General academic teaching institutions may submit a request for an alternative set of Discipline Foundation Courses for a specific program of study according to the process in Title 19, Chapter 4, Subchapter B, §4.35.

(F) Each institution of higher education must report to the Coordinating Board and publish on its public website in manner easily accessed by students the Discipline Foundation Courses with the cross-listed TCCNS course numbers for each course.

(G) The Commissioner must publish the list of Discipline Foundation Courses for each approved Field of Study Curriculum on the agency website with the cross-listed TCCNS course number for each course.

(3) Directed Electives.

(A) Directed Electives are a set of courses that apply toward a major course of study within a Field of Study Curriculum at a specific general academic teaching institution.

(B) The Directed Electives for each Field of Study Curriculum must consist of at least six (6) semester credit hours. The Directed Electives and Discipline Foundation Courses components combined may not exceed twenty (20) semester credit hours in total.

(C) Faculty from each general academic teaching institution may select a list of Directed Electives for the major course of study corresponding to each Field of Study curriculum. Faculty must select the Directed Electives only from courses listed in the Lower-Division Academic Course Guide Manual.

(D) The Chief Academic Officer of the institution must submit the list of Directed Electives for inclusion in a Field of Study Curriculum with the cross-listed TCCNS course number to the Commissioner who shall publish the list of each institution's Directed Electives for each approved Field of Study Curriculum on the agency website with the cross-listed TCCNS course numbers for each course.

(E) Each institution of higher education must publish on its public website in manner easily accessed by students Directed Electives with the cross-listed TCCNS course number.

(c) A receiving general academic teaching institution shall determine whether a transfer student is Field of Study Curriculum complete upon the transfer student's enrollment. If a student successfully completes an approved Field of Study Curriculum, a general academic teaching institution must substitute that block of courses for the receiving institution's lower-division requirements for the degree program for the corresponding Field of Study Curriculum into which the student transfers. Upon enrollment, the general academic teaching institution must grant the student full academic credit toward the degree program for the block of courses transferred.

(d) If a student transfers from one institution of higher education to another without completing the Field of Study Curriculum, the receiving institution must grant academic credit in the Field of Study Curriculum for each of the courses that the student has successfully completed in the Field of Study Curriculum of the sending institution. After granting the student credit for these courses, the institution may require the student to satisfy remaining course requirements in the current Field of Study Curriculum of the receiving general academic teaching institution, or to complete additional requirements in the receiving institution's program, as long as those requirements do not duplicate course content the student previously completed through the Field of Study Curriculum.

(e) Each institution must note the selected Texas Core Curriculum component and Discipline Foundation Courses components of the Field of Study Curriculum courses on student transcripts as recommended by the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (TACRAO).

(f) The Board shall publish on its website the components of each Field of Study Curriculum, including the selected Texas Core Curriculum courses, the Discipline Foundation Courses, and the Directed Electives of each general academic teaching institution.

(g) Effective Dates.

(1) Unless repealed or replaced, Field of Study Curricula in effect as of March 1, 2021 will remain in effect until August 31, 2025, upon which date those Field of Study Curricula expire by operation of law. For Field of Study Curricula that are repealed, replaced, or expire by operation of law, the following transition or "teach out" provisions apply:

(A) A student who has earned credit on or before August 31, 2022, in one or more courses included in a Field of Study Curriculum that exists on March 1, 2021, is entitled to complete that Field of Study Curriculum on or before August 31, 2025.

(B) A student who has not, on or before August 31, 2022, earned any course credit toward a Field of Study Curriculum in effect on March 1, 2021, is not entitled to transfer credit for that Field of Study Curriculum.

(2) After an institution's Spring 2026 enrollment deadline, a receiving institution is not required to transfer a complete Field of Study Curricula that expired prior to that date. A receiving institution may, at its discretion, choose to accept a complete or partial Field of Study Curricula that has expired.

Source Note: The provisions of this §4.32 adopted to be effective April 8, 2021, 46 TexReg 2209; amended to be effective February 15, 2023, 48 TexReg 670