(a) The board may prescribe courses leading to customary degrees offered at leading American universities and medical schools as applicable and may award those degrees, including:
(1) bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees and their equivalents; and
(2) medical school degrees and other health science degrees.
(b) The board shall award degrees in the name of the university.

(c) A department, school, or degree program may not be instituted without the prior approval of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, except that the university may include any department or school or offer any degree program previously approved for The University of Texas–Pan American or The University of Texas at Brownsville or expressly authorized by this chapter or other law.