Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 1641 amends the Education Code to allow a graduate or professional program of a public college or university or a medical or dental school to consider certain academic, socioeconomic, family, personal, geographic, and other factors when admitting students to or granting scholarships for the graduate or professional program. The bill prohibits the use of an applicant's performance on a standardized test as the sole criterion for consideration or as the primary criterion to end consideration of the applicant. If test scores are considered, they must also be used to compare applicants from similar socioeconomic backgrounds to the extent such comparisons are possible with the information available. The bill prohibits a college or university from assigning a specific weight to any one factor, and it requires each institution to publish a description of the factors in its catalog at least one year before admissions and scholarship applications are considered using those factors.

            House Bill 1641 applies beginning with admissions and scholarships for the 2002-2003 academic year.