The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

1. (1) Agent--A proprietary institution owner, partner, stockholder, officer, recruiter, administrator, faculty member, financial aid counselor, academic counselor or other person who represents the institution in an official capacity. Persons employed in clerical, custodial, or similar positions, or shareholders with no direct relationship to the institution, are not considered agents of an institution.
2. (2) Associate degree program--A grouping of courses designed to lead the individual directly to employment in a specific career, or to transfer to an upper-level baccalaureate program. This specifically refers to the associate of arts, the associate of science, the associate of applied arts, the associate of applied science, and the associate of occupational studies degrees.
3. (3) Board or Coordinating Board--The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
4. (4) Certificate of Authority--The document provided to a proprietary institution to certify that it has met the standards set forth in the rules of the Board and that, pursuant to the Texas Education Code, Chapter 132 and Chapter 61, Subchapter G, it is authorized to conduct courses and grant the degrees specified on the certificate.

5. (5) Change of ownership or control--Any change in ownership or control of a proprietary institution or an agreement to transfer control of such institution. The ownership or control of a proprietary institution is considered to have changed:

   1. (A) In the case of ownership by an individual, when more than 50% of the institution has been sold or transferred;
   2. (B) In the case of ownership by a partnership or a corporation, when more than 50% of the institution or of the owning partnership or corporation has been sold or transferred;
   3. (C) When the board of directors, officers, shareholders, or similar governing body has been changed to such an extent as to significantly alter the management and control of the institution; or
   4. (D) A change of ownership or control does not include a transfer which occurs as a result of the retirement or death of the owner if transfer is to a member of the owner's family who has been directly and constantly involved in the management of the institution for a minimum of two years preceding the transfer. For the purposes of this section, a member of the owner's family is a parent, sibling, spouse or child; spouse's parent or sibling; or sibling's or child's spouse.
6. (6) Cited--Any reference to an institution in a negative finding or action by an accreditor.
7. (7) Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Code--The 4- or 6-digit code assigned to an approved associate degree program in accordance with the CIP manual published by the U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. CIP codes define the authorized teaching field of the specified degree program, based upon the occupation(s) for which the program is designed to prepare its graduates.
8. (8) Commissioner or Commissioner of Higher Education--The chief executive officer of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
9. (9) Concurrent instruction--Students enrolled in different classes, courses, and/or subjects being taught, monitored, or supervised simultaneously by a single faculty member.
10. (10) Contract instruction--Specifically targeted instruction designed by a proprietary institution and a contracting entity.
11. (11) Degree--Any title or designation, mark, abbreviation, appellation, or series of letters or words, including associate, bachelor's, master's, doctor's and their equivalents, which signify, purport to signify, or are generally taken to signify satisfactory completion of the requirements of all or part of a program of study which is generally regarded and accepted as an academic/occupational degree-level program among Texas postsecondary institutions.
12. (12) Exempt institution--A degree-granting institution exempt from the Texas Education Code, Chapter 132.
13. (13) Guidelines for Instructional Programs in Workforce Education--Board-approved publication of policies and guidelines for the effective design, development, operation, and evaluation of workforce education programs, in two-year associate degree-granting institutions, including the elements of applied associate degree programs in proprietary institutions.
14. (14) Institution--A proprietary institution.
15. (15) Owner--The proprietor of a proprietary institution including an individual; a partnership including all full, silent, and limited partners; a corporation or corporations including directors, officers, and each shareholder owning shares of issued and outstanding stock aggregating at least 10% of the total of the issued and outstanding shares.

16. (16) Private postsecondary institution--An institution of higher education that:

    1. (A) Is not a public junior college, public senior college, or university, medical or dental unit or other agency as defined in the Texas Education Code, §61.003;
    2. (B) Is incorporated under the laws of this state, or maintains a place of business in this state, or has a representative present in this state, or solicits business in this state; and
    3. (C) Furnishes or offers to furnish courses of instruction in person, by electronic media, or by correspondence leading to a degree or provides or offers to provide credits alleged to be applicable to a degree.
17. (17) Program approval--The process whereby a proprietary institution requests approval from the Board to implement a technical or vocational program of study leading to an applied associate degree.
18. (18) Program or program of study--Any course or grouping of courses which entitles a student to an applied associate degree or to credits which are applicable to an applied associate degree.

19. (19) Proprietary institution--Any business enterprise operated for a profit, or on a nonprofit basis, that maintains a place of business in the State of Texas or solicits business within the State of Texas, and that is not specifically exempted by this chapter, and:

    1. (A) That offers or maintains a course or courses of instruction or study; or
    2. (B) At which place of business such a course or courses of instruction or study is available through classroom instruction or by correspondence, or both, to a person for the purpose of training or preparing the person for a field of endeavor in a business, trade, technical, or industrial occupation, or for avocational or personal improvement.
20. (20) Prospective student--An individual who expresses interest in a program of study and who is provided with written information about the institution or any of the institutions' programs.
21. (21) Target market area--The local, regional, statewide, and/or national area from which the proprietary institution's students are drawn and in which employment opportunities have been identified for graduates of that institution's associate degree programs.
22. (22) Teach-out agreement--A formal arrangement between a closed proprietary institution and another institution authorized by the Board to grant the associate degree, which provides for student transfer, completion of degree requirements, and awarding degrees to students transferred from the closed proprietary institution.
23. (23) Teach-out institution--An institution authorized by the Board to grant the associate degree and has formally accepted the transfer of students from a closed proprietary institution.
24. (24) Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) Test--The test required under the Texas Education Code, §51.306, that is uniformly administered statewide on days prescribed by the Board and is scored by the testing contractor. The test measures college readiness in reading, writing, and mathematics and includes a written essay and is administered under secure conditions and for which each student is provided diagnostic information regarding test performance.

Source Note:The provisions of this §12.3 adopted to be effective November 23, 2000, 25 TexReg 11382.