S.B. No. 2314

AN ACT

relating to the creation of an electronic platform and submission portal, known as My Texas Future, to facilitate public high school students' awareness of and application to institutions of higher education using the electronic common admission application form.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 28.025(c), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) A person may receive a diploma if the person is eligible for a diploma under Section 28.0251. In other cases, a student may graduate and receive a diploma only if:

(1) the student successfully completes the curriculum requirements identified by the State Board of Education under Subsection (a) and complies with Sections 28.0256, 28.0257, and 39.025; or

(2) the student successfully completes an individualized education program developed under Section 29.005.

SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 28, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 28.0257 to read as follows:

Sec. 28.0257. DIRECT ADMISSIONS DATA SHARING OPT-IN ELECTION FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION. (a) In this section:

(1) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

(2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by Section 61.003.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), before graduating from high school, each student must elect whether to opt in to allowing the coordinating board to share the student's data and education records, as necessary, with institutions of higher education to allow the student to participate in the direct admissions program established by the coordinating board pursuant to Section 61.0511(b)(2).

(c) A student is not required to comply with Subsection (b) if:

(1) the student's parent or other person standing in parental relation submits a signed form indicating that the parent or other person authorizes the student to decline to complete and submit information necessary to participate in a program offered under Subsection (b);

(2) the student signs and submits the form described by Subdivision (1) on the student's own behalf if the student is 18 years of age or older or the student's disabilities of minority have been removed for general purposes under Chapter 31, Family Code; or

(3) a school counselor authorizes in writing the student to decline to complete and submit the information necessary to participate in a program offered under Subsection (b).

(d) Each school district or open-enrollment charter school shall use a form adopted by the coordinating board, in consultation with the Texas Education Agency, to allow a student to opt out pursuant to Subsection (c). The form shall:

(1) provide the student or the student's parent or other person standing in parental relation, as applicable, the opportunity to elect whether to share the student's data or education records, as necessary, with institutions of higher education to facilitate the student's participation in a program offered under Subsection (b); and

(2) be made available in English, Spanish, and any other language spoken by a majority of the students enrolled in a bilingual education or special language program under Subchapter B, Chapter 29, in the district or school.

SECTION 3. Section 51.763, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) Each institution of higher education shall publish prominently on its admission application website a link to MyTexasFuture.Org or its successor electronic platform and provide notice to students that they may apply to the institution using the electronic common admission application form found in ApplyTexas.Org or via MyTexasFuture.Org.

SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 61.0511 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.0511. DIRECT ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID PORTAL AT MYTEXASFUTURE.ORG. (a) The board shall create, maintain, and administer an electronic platform and submission portal, known as My Texas Future (MyTexasFuture.Org), to facilitate the awareness and application of students into institutions of higher education.

(b) My Texas Future, or any successor electronic platform established pursuant to this section, shall include:

(1) a link or direct submission portal to the electronic common admission application form adopted and established pursuant to Subchapter S, Chapter 51;

(2) a direct admissions program that lists institutions of higher education to which a student may be directly admitted based on the student's profile and information;

(3) to the greatest extent possible, a list of financial aid awards that a student may be eligible to receive based on the student's profile and information; and

(4) the data required by Section 61.09022 to assist students in assessing the value of postsecondary credentials by program.

(c) A Texas school district or an open-enrollment charter school shall as part of the high school registration process annually notify, in a manner prescribed by board rule, each parent or guardian of a student who has earned at least three high school course credits or not later than the end of a student's first semester of ninth grade:

(1) of the option to create or update annually a profile and account in My Texas Future;

(2) that a student or their parent is permitted to update or revise their own profile in My Texas Future;

(3) that a student or parent of a student who creates a profile and account under this section, may opt out of one or more programs offered under Subsection (b); and

(4) of the graduation requirement under Section 28.0257 for a student or parent to indicate whether the student wishes to opt in to allowing the board to share the student's data and educational records with institutions of higher education for the purpose of participating in the direct admissions program established under Subsection (b)(2).

(d) The Texas Education Agency and the board shall jointly prepare and post on their respective Internet websites a publication that includes the information required to be provided under Subsection (c) in a form that enables a school district or open-enrollment charter school to reproduce the publication for distribution under that subsection.

(e) The Texas Education Agency and each Texas public school district or open-enrollment charter school shall make the data available to the board necessary to administer this section.

(f) The board may adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

(g) The board may share a student's contact information in MyTexasFuture.Org with an institution of higher education unless the student opts out of sharing the student's contact information. Any student information shared with an institution of higher education is confidential pursuant to Subsection (l). The board shall ensure that a student may opt out of sharing the student's contact information with an institution of higher education.

(l) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except as provided by this section, information that relates to a current, former, or prospective applicant or student of an educational institution and that is obtained, received, or held by the board for the purpose of administering this section or otherwise providing assistance with access to postsecondary education is confidential and excepted from disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, and may only be released in conformity with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g). The board may withhold information prohibited from being disclosed under this subsection without requesting a decision from the attorney general under Subchapter G, Chapter 552, Government Code.

SECTION 5. Section 61.0511, Education Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year.

SECTION 6. Section 28.025, Education Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 28.0257, Education Code, as added by this Act, apply beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year.

SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2314 passed the Senate on April 29, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2314 passed the House on May 6, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 134, Nays 14, one present not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

______________________________

Date

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Governor