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Senate Bill 151 |
Senate Author: Zaffirini |
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Effective: 6-18-05 |
House Sponsor: Morrison |
Senate Bill 151 amends the Education Code to authorize the establishment of a pilot project for educationally disadvantaged high school students enrolled in junior college courses for concurrent high school and college credit. The bill provides that participating junior colleges would waive tuition and fees for such students and that the cost of textbooks would be paid by the school district in which the student attends school. The pilot project may only be implemented in a fiscal year in which the General Appropriations Act provides the participating junior colleges with increased funding to cover the exempted tuition and fees.
The bill also establishes the Texas Academy of International Studies at Texas A&M International University to (1) provide academically gifted junior high and high school students a challenging university-level curriculum that allows students to complete high school graduation requirements while earning college credits at a public university and that emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to international studies; and (2) provide those students with an awareness of international career and professional development opportunities through seminars, workshops, collaboration with foreign university students, summer international studies internships abroad, and other similar programs.