Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Beginning with the fall 2007 academic
term, and applying to students who enroll in higher education for the first
time during the fall 2007 academic term or any term subsequent to the fall 2007
term, an institution of higher education may not permit an undergraduate
student a total of more than six dropped courses, including any course a
transfer student has dropped at another institution of higher education, unless
any of the conditions listed in subsection (b) of this section are met. If an
institution adopts a policy allowing fewer than six dropped courses under Texas
Education Code, §51.907(d), but a student at that institution meets the
criteria in subsection (b) of this section, the institution shall allow that
student to drop an additional course or courses.
(b) An institution of higher education shall permit a student to
drop more than six courses if the institution determines good cause exists. If
one of the following situations has occurred, an institution shall consider it
good cause for purposes of this chapter:
(1) a
disaster declared by the governor results in cessation or limitation of
in-person course attendance by students at the institution of a duration
determined by the institution to significantly affect the student's ability to
participate in course work with consideration of the length of time of the
cessation or limitation of in-person course attendance, the type of courses,
and the personal circumstances of students affected by the disaster;
or
(2) the student shows good
cause for dropping more than that number, including a showing of:
(A) a severe illness or other debilitating
condition that affects the student's ability to satisfactorily complete the
course;
(B) the student's
responsibility for the care of a sick, injured, or needy person if the
provision of that care affects the student's ability to satisfactorily complete
the course;
(C) the death of a
person who is considered to be a member of the student's family or who is
otherwise considered to have a sufficiently close relationship to the student
that the person's death is considered to be a showing of good cause;
(D) the active duty service as a member of
the Texas National Guard or the armed forces of the United States of either the
student or a person who is considered to be a member of the student's family or
who is otherwise considered to have a sufficiently close relationship to the
student that the person's active military service is considered to be a showing
of good cause; or
(E) other good
cause as determined by the institution of higher education.
(3) An institution shall permit a student who
meets the criteria in this paragraph but does not meet the criteria in
paragraphs (1) or (2) of this subsection to drop one additional course in
addition to the number typically permitted by the institution's policy. If the
institution has not adopted a policy under Texas Education Code,
§51.907(d), such a student shall be permitted to drop a seventh course if:
(A) the student has reenrolled at the
institution following a break in enrollment from the institution or another
institution of higher education covering at least the 24-month period preceding
the first class day of the initial semester or other academic term of the
student's reenrollment; and
(B) the
student successfully completed at least fifty semester credit hours of course
work at an institution of higher education that have not been determined to be
excess hours pursuant to §13.104(1) - (6) of this title (relating to
Exemptions for Excess Hours) before that break in
enrollment.
(c)
For purposes of this section, a "member of the student's family" is defined to
be the student's spouse, child, father, mother, brother, sister, step-parent,
step-child, or step-sibling.
(d)
For the purposes of this section, a "person who is otherwise considered to have
a sufficiently close relationship to the student" may include any other
relative within the second or third degree of consanguinity, close friends,
roommates, or classmates.
(e) An
institution shall determine on a case-by-case basis whether a student
demonstrates good cause due to the death of a person outlined in subsection (d)
of this section.
(f) An institution
of higher education may not count toward the number of courses permitted to be
dropped a course that the student dropped:
(1) while enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program previously
earned by the student; or
(2) a
dual credit or dual enrollment course that a student dropped before graduating
from high school.
(g)
Each institution of higher education shall adopt a policy [and procedure] for
determining a showing of good cause as specified in subsection (b) of this
section and shall provide a copy of the policy to the Coordinating Board.
(1) Each institution of higher education
shall publish the policy adopted under this subsection in its catalogue and
other print and Internet-based publications as appropriate for the timely
notification of students.
(2) The
policy shall include a defined appeals process that complies with the Americans
with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, for a student requesting to drop
additional classes pursuant to the exception provided in subsection (b)(2)(A)
of this section. An institution may institute an appeals process for students
requesting an exemption under any of the other
subsections.
