Recommended Course Sequence

Background

Texas Education Code Section 51.96852

Passed by the 86th Texas Legislature, Senate Bill 25 (SB 25, codified as Texas Education Code, Section 51.96852) requires each public institution to provide at least one recommended course sequence for each undergraduate certificate or degree. A recommended course sequence is a list of courses by semester, term, or enrollment period that satisfy the requirement for a student to complete an undergraduate certificate or degree program without exceeding the semester credit hours required for the degree program. Each public institution is required to do the following:

  • Include the recommended course sequences in the institution’s course catalog
  • Include the recommended course sequences on the institution’s website
  • Submit the recommended course sequences to the Coordinating Board

Benefits

Recommended course sequence reporting to the Coordinating Board benefits students and families, institutions of higher education, policymakers, researchers, and others:

  • Students and families
    Recommended course sequences provide clarity and transparency by identifying at least one efficient, timely path for completing a higher education credential.
  • Institutions
    Recommended course sequences provide actionable data to facilitate student success and target advising efforts.
  • Statewide
    The THECB will be able to provide insightful tools and reporting for students, institutions, policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders on the impact of transfer policies and practices.

Deadlines

Institutions posted recommended course sequences to their websites (August 1, 2021) and completed the initial course sequence data submission (December 1, 2021). The Coordinating Board will launch its 2024 data collection in March 2024, and it’s expected to run to June 2024.

Instructions & Resources

Recommended Course Sequence Frequently Asked Questions

The responses below are intended to provide general guidance for institutions as it pertains to recommended course sequence policy and reporting to THECB.

Policy Guidance

Q1: What constitutes a recommended course sequence?

Texas Education Code, Chapter 51, Section 51.96852, Recommended Course Sequences, requires institutions to develop and post a recommended course sequence for each certificate and degree program they offer beginning in fall 2021.

Proposed Texas Administrative Code, Title 19, Part 1, Chapter 4, Subchapter U, Rule 4.364(4) provides the following definition:

4.362 (4) Course Sequence – a recommended list of courses by semester, term, or enrollment period that will satisfy the requirement for a student to complete an undergraduate certificate or degree program. 

For further clarification, the proposed rules provide the following standards in developing a course sequence:

4.363 (b) – Each course sequence developed by the institution of higher education must:  

  1. Identify all required lower-division courses for each certificate or degree program, if applicable;
  2. Include for each course, if applicable:  
    1. The TCCNS course number; and
    2. The course equivalent in the ACGM; and
  3. Be designed to enable a full-time student to obtain a certificate or degree, as applicable, within:
    1. two years, for a 60-hour degree or certificate program;
    2. four years, for a 120-hour degree program; or  
    3. a comparable time frame, for an approved certificate or degree program that requires credit hours other than those specified in subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph.
  4. include at least one specific sequence in which courses should be taken to ensure completion of the applicable program within the time frame described in Section (b), subsection (3).

Having a recommended course sequence for each certificate and degree program allows academic advisors to help guide students to take appropriate courses in an order that ensures students proceed without the loss of credit.
A recommended course sequence provides a student a clear roadmap of the courses they can take in each semester, including summer, to ensure they will make efficient progress in their selected program to receive a certificate or degree.

For students who change their major, a recommended course sequence provides the information needed to compare the courses students have completed to other degree or certificate programs, thereby increasing the chance for timely completion.

Q2: What information is an institution required to report to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and how will this be used?

Based on SB 25 requirements for recommended course sequences, institutions must post and report the recommended course sequences to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (Coordinating Board) beginning in fall 2021. The Coordinating Board will not require an institution to report information detailing how it complied with Education Code Section 51.96852(c)(1).

First and foremost, the Coordinating Board will use reported recommended course sequences to provide tools and resources to students and advisors to help students identify a viable path for transfer and/or completion of a credential or degree. Reported recommended course sequences will also provide actionable data to institutions to promote student success and target advising efforts, as well as provide statewide tools and reporting on the impact of transfer policies and practices for stakeholders. This information will not be used by the Coordinating Board for degree audit purposes.

Institutional Posting Guidance

Q3: If an institution currently includes degree plans in the institution’s catalog, does the catalog fulfill both institutional requirements for posting recommended course sequences as specified in SB 25?

New section 51.96852 requires the development of a separate recommended course sequence. The statute then provides that the institution must publish the recommended course sequence in its catalog and on the institution’s website. Texas Education Code, Sec. 51.96852(c)(1), states:

Each institution of higher education shall: 

include the recommended course sequences developed under this section in the institution’s course catalog and on the institution’s Internet website; and

Therefore, posting a catalog, rather than a recommended course sequence, on an institution’s website does not satisfy the plain text of Texas Education Code, Sec. 51.96852(c)(1), which specifically requires the development of a recommended course sequence separate from the catalog. The intent of requiring the institution of higher education to publish its recommended course sequences on its website is to provide students, parents, high school and college advisors, and others with easily accessible information about certificate and degree programs. Additionally, such public-facing information provides prospective students with important information to help them better understand their educational options.

Publication of recommended course sequences helps to ensure that students will understand which courses to take and when, which will likely reduce excess hours and improve time to degree.

The recommended course sequence requirements must meet the standards set out in the proposed rule (see response to Question 1).

Q4: Are degree maps acceptable for fulfilling the recommended course sequence website publication requirement?

Degree maps that meet the definition in the proposed rules and standards set out in the development of a course sequence, as prescribed in the Texas Education Code, Chapter 51, Section 51.96852(b)(1)-(4), will likely fulfill the website publication requirement.

Reporting Guidance

Q5: What degrees/certificate programs should be included in this recommended course sequence reporting?

Institutions of higher education are only required to report undergraduate degrees/certificate programs active within the 2022-2023 academic year and not captured in the WECM Access and Inventory Portal. Programs that came online or expired after the 2022-2023 academic year will be accounted for in future data submissions. See Q7 for a list of program award types that should not be included in your submission.

Q6: If we offer an upper division only program designed for junior and senior level courses, are we required to report lower division classes as prerequisites?

Only courses taught at your institution as part of a program should be included in your submission. For example, if you offer a program that requires students to enter at a junior standing or requires students to have a certain credential (e.g., RN) prior to admittance into the program, you will only be required to submit courses taught within the last two years of the program. In other words, courses that were required but not taught at your institution should not be included within your course sequences.  

Q7: What information should not be included in the recommended course sequence reporting?

Please do not report a recommended course sequence for the following: (1) programs with recommended course sequences that are already submitted through the WECM Inventory Access and Update Portal (this includes AAA, AAS, Level 1 and Level 2 Certificates, Advanced Technical Certificates, Enhanced Skills Certificates, and Occupational Skills Awards), (2) field of study completions and core curriculum completions, or (3) requirements to fulfill a minor. IHEs are not required to report degree programs in which a student simultaneously earns a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree. Individual FOS and Core curricula courses that are part of the recommended course sequence should be reported.

Q8: When reporting recommended course sequences, what should we do if there are discrepancies with the CIP codes in the Degree Program (Clearinghouse) Awards for community and technical colleges and what we have in our catalog?

Institutions should refer to the Degree Program (Clearinghouse) Awards to get the correct six-digit CIP codes and degree/certificate titles when they are reporting recommended course sequences to the Coordinating Board. The Degree Program (Clearinghouse) Awards displays the full six-digit CIP codes for each of the individual degrees and certificates on the program inventory.

The THECB Program Inventory site displays each program area that the college offers and groups them by the first four digits, with the final two digits defaulting to -00. If there are any discrepancies between the six-digit CIP codes in the Degree Program (Clearinghouse) Awards and what an institution has in their catalog, please notify Duane.Hiller@highered.texas.gov.

Q9: How do we submit our recommended course sequences to the Coordinating Board?

Institutions shall email their RCS data to the Coordinating Board at RCS@highered.texas.gov. If you do not receive a confirmation within 3 business days, then the file was likely rejected. Email the Coordinating Board at the same email address and request arrangements to transfer the file via MoveIT.

Q10: Will the Coordinating Board change the recommended course sequence reporting format next year? Will institutions have to report the same recommended course sequences?

As part of the Coordinating Board’s continued efforts to improve data systems and the reporting experience, the Coordinating Board anticipates changes to the submission process for future reporting. Refreshed instructions will be distributed as part of future data collection efforts.

Q11: If institutions have multiple campuses, should each campus submit their own recommended course sequences, or should we only submit one file?

Only institutions who submit reports to the Coordinating Board at the district FICE level (i.e., Dallas College, Tarrant County College District, and San Jacinto College) should submit one file. Other institutions with multiple campuses that report at the campus FICE level can only submit one file if each campus offers the same programs and courses. You must notify the Coordinating Board at RCS@highered.texas.gov if the latter applies to your campuses.  

Q12: Where can I find additional details and instructions for reporting recommended course sequences?

Additional information on reporting recommended course sequences is available in the instructions and reporting template in the Instructions & Resources section, including, but not limited to, information on the following:

  • College readiness
  • Program/degree concentration
  • Groups:
    • Showing instances where students have a choice of courses to fulfill a course requirement
    • Assigning group numbers for group identification
    • Reporting core curriculum group(s)
    • Reporting electives that are specifically related to a major
    • Reporting semester credit hours that vary in a group
  • Reporting of complex prerequisites
  • Submission of single or multiple Excel workbooks

Q13: If my institution reported RCS data in September 2023, are we required to submit in 2024?

Yes. All public institutions will need to report in 2024 following the latest guidelines and reporting template.

Q14: Can I reuse a previous reporting template to create my data files?

No. Institutions are not permitted to use previous reporting templates. A school can copy/paste data between templates after verifying that columns are identical between the two templates. Locate the current reporting template in the Instructions for Reporting section of this webpage and follow current reporting instructions and validation procedures to create the data files.

Contact

For questions about SB 25 recommended course sequence reporting, contact Dr. Christina Zavala at RCS@highered.texas.gov.

For questions about SB 25 recommended course sequence statute, rules, or policy, contact Elizabeth Mayer at Elizabeth.Mayer@highered.texas.gov.