MMA C.S.H.B. 2725 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS HIGHER EDUCATION C.S.H.B. 2725 By: Maxey 5-02-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND At schools such as the University of Texas Graduate School, admissions officers rely on standardized test scores to automatically reject candidates without considering their academic record. A book published by the University of Chicago Press, The Case Against the SAT, found that the SAT is "statistically irrelevant" in college admissions. For persons with disabilities like deafness, standardized test scores are often inaccurate measures of the student's ability. Studies have shown that because the native tongue of persons with deafness is sign language, primarily verbal assessment instruments, like the verbal sections of the GRE or SAT, are not accurate in measuring the abilities of persons with deafness. PURPOSE C.S.H.B. 2725 makes the submission of standardized test scores for persons with disabilities optional for admissions and financial aid determinations for all types of higher education programs, undergraduate, graduate, and professional. Universities would be prohibited from requiring applicants with disabilities to submit their scores. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, by adding Section 51.9241 to read as follows: Sec. 51.9241. USE OF STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES IN ADMISSIONS OF HANDICAPPED APPLICANTS. (a) Prohibits an institution from requiring that an applicant submit, for admission, a standardized test score or scores, including results of tests commonly known as the PSAT, SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, or LSAT, if the applicant: (1) is handicapped as defined by Section 121.002, Human Resources Code, and the person's handicap is reasonably likely to impair or interfere with the applicant's performance on a standardized test; and (2) submits with the admission application a signed statement of a licensed physician or other licensed health care provider that the applicant's disability is reasonably likely to impair or interfere with the applicant's performance on a standardized test. (b) Deems as grounds for disciplinary action by the appropriate licensing agency for a physician or other health care provider to: (1) sign a false or misleading statement described by Subsection (a); or (2) sign a statement described by Subsection (a) without determining the accuracy of the statement. SECTION 2. Amends Subchapter A, Chapter 56, Education Code, by adding Section 56.004 to read as follows: Sec. 56.004. USE OF STANDARDIZED TEST RESULTS IN FINANCIAL AID DETERMINATIONS OF HANDICAPPED APPLICANTS. (a) States that an institution of higher education, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, or any person acting on behalf of the above relating to the award of a scholarship or other financial aid to a student or applicant for financial aid may not require the applicant to submit his or her standardized test score or scores, including results of tests commonly known as the PSAT, SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, or LSAT if the applicant: (1) is handicapped, as defined by Section 121.002, Human Resources Code, and the person's handicap is reasonably likely to impair or interfere with the applicant's performance on a standardized test; and (2) submits with the scholarship or financial aid application a signed statement of a licensed physician or other licensed health care provider that the applicant's disability is reasonably likely to impair or interfere with the applicant's performance on a standardized test. (b) Deems as grounds for disciplinary action by the appropriate licensing agency for a physician or other health care provider to: (1) sign a false or misleading statement described by Subsection (a); or (2) sign a statement described by Subsection (a) without determining the accuracy of the statement. SECTION 3. Effective beginning with admissions or awards of financial aid for the 1998 fall semester. SECTION 4. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE H.B. 2725, as originally proposed, would have prohibited requiring the submission of standardized test scores for all applicants. C.S.H.B. 2725, instead, narrows the prohibition to handicapped persons. The applicant must submit a statement from a licensed professional confirming that the handicap would interfere with the applicant's performance. Any licensee providing misleading information would be subject to penalties from the appropriate licensing entity.