North Carolina HB 640: Career Path Options Transparency Act.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA 
SESSION 2023 
H 2 
HOUSE BILL 640 
Committee Substitute Favorable 6/7/23 
 
Short Title: Career Path Options Transparency Act. (Public) 
Sponsors:  
Referred to:  
April 18, 2023 
*H640-v-2* 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1 
AN ACT TO ENACT THE CAREER PATH OPTIONS TRANSPARENCY ACT. 2 
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 3 
SECTION 1.  G.S. 116-209.16A reads as rewritten: 4 
"§ 116-209.16A.  Information on career and major options. 5 
(a) Know  Before  You  Go. – The  Authority  shall  provide  information  on  a Web  site, 6 
website, under  a  section  entitled  "Know  Before  You  Go,"  to  students  and  parents  to  assist  in 7 
selection  of  major  and  career  options in  the  State  and in each prosperity  zone of the  State, as 8 
provided in this section. The information shall be updated annually. 9 
(a1) Definitions. – The following definitions shall apply in this section: 10 
(1) Private institutions of higher education. – Includes postsecondary institutions 11 
that award postsecondary degrees, as defined in G.S. 116-15(a2)(1). 12 
(2) Prosperity  zones of  the  State. – The  eight  permanent  prosperity  zones 13 
identified in G.S. 143B-28.1. 14 
(3) Public institutions of higher education. – Includes the constituent institutions 15 
of  The  University  of  North  Carolina  and  the  community  colleges  under  the 16 
jurisdiction of the State Board of Community Colleges. 17 
(4) Vocational and technical school. – A school licensed as a proprietary school 18 
under G.S. 115D-90. 19 
(b) Career  Options. – The  Authority  shall,  as  data  is  available,  provide  information  on 20 
projected employment needs in the labor economy economy in the State and in each prosperity 21 
zone of the State, including highest demand career areas, and associated salary ranges for those 22 
areas  of  employment,  college  majors  which  may  fulfill  those  needs,  and  institutions  of  higher 23 
education  that  may  provide  those  majors.  The  Authority  may  use  existing  sources  of  public 24 
information, such as the employment projections produced by the federal Department of Labor, 25 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, to develop this information. 26 
(c) Major Options. – The Authority shall, as data is available, provide information based 27 
on  aggregate  data  for  outcomes  of  public  and  private  institutions  of  higher  education and 28 
vocational  and  technical  schools in  North  Carolina.  Outcome  information  for  each  public  and 29 
private institution of higher education and vocational and technical school shall include, but is 30 
not limited to, the following: 31 
(1) Completion  rates  within  the  expected  number  of  semesters  for  the  degree 32 
sought. 33 
(2) Transfer rates of students to other institutions. 34 
(2a) Average  tuition  for  public and  private  institutions  of  higher  education and 35 
vocational and technical schools. 36 

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2023 
Page 2  House Bill 640-Second Edition 
(3) Percentage of students receiving financial aid, by type of aid. 1 
(4) Average  and  median  amount  of  loan  debt  upon  student  graduation,  by 2 
major.major,  and  among  graduates from  four-year  institutions of  higher 3 
education, community colleges, and vocational and technical schools. 4 
(4a) Average monthly student loan payment from four-year institutions of higher 5 
education, community colleges, and vocational and technical schools. 6 
(5) Average  and  median  salary,  by major.major,  and  among  graduates  from 7 
four-year institutions of higher education, community colleges, and vocational 8 
and technical schools. 9 
(6) Percentage  of  graduates  employed  within  six  months  of  graduation,  by 10 
major.major,  and  among  graduates  from  four-year  institutions of  higher 11 
education, community colleges, and vocational and technical schools. 12 
(7) Percentage  of  graduates  enrolled  in  graduate  school  within  six  months  of 13 
graduation, by major. 14 
(d) Public and Private Institutions of Higher Education. – For the purposes of this section, 15 
"public  institutions  of  higher education"  shall  include  the  constituent  institutions  of  The 16 
University  of  North  Carolina  and  the  community  colleges  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State 17 
Board  of  Community  Colleges  and  "private  institutions  of  higher  education"  shall  include 18 
postsecondary institutions that award postsecondary degrees, as defined in G.S. 116-15(a2)(1)." 19 
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C-12 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read: 20 
"(41a) To Compile Data for the "Know Before You Go" Program. – The State Board 21 
and the   Department   of Public   Instruction shall collaborate   with   the 22 
Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor in collecting data for 23 
local boards of education to provide to sophomore students to enable them to 24 
make  in