HBA-KDB C.S.H.B. 1946 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1946 By: Garcia Higher Education 4/4/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE There is concern that colleges and universities place too much emphasis on an applicant's standardized test scores in admitting or rejecting an applicant. Standardized testing results may be misleading as indicators of potential college performance. C.S.H.B. 1946 prohibits certain institutions of higher education from according the applicant's performance on a standardized test a weight of more than 20 percent in the overall decision making process for admitting an applicant or from considering that performance without considering all other relevant factors. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1946 amends the Education Code to prohibit a general academic teaching institution or medical and dental unit that offers admission to a baccalaureate, graduate, postgraduate, or professional degree program or to a professional school, including admissions by transfer from another institution or program, from counting or including an applicant's performance or score on an admission test in any index or formula for ranking applicants or for determining whether an applicant is eligible for admission in a manner in which the applicant's score or performance accounts for more than 20 percent of the applicant's total score on the index or formula. Such higher education institutions are further prohibited from excluding any applicant from consideration for admission based solely on the applicant's performance or score on an admission test or from considering an applicant's performance or score on an admission test without considering all other relevant factors available from the application and accompanying materials that relate to the applicant's academic aptitude, skills, and achievements. The bill requires the governing board of each applicable institution to monitor the institution's compliance with these provisions and to report on that compliance to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board before December 1 of each evennumbered year. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. The Act applies to admissions to any semester or other academic term that begins on or after January 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1946 modifies the original bill by adding a definition of "admission test." The substitute extends the applicability of the bill to a medical and dental unit offering admissions to certain types of programs. The substitute prohibits the specified institutions of higher education from considering an applicant's performance or score on an admission test without considering all other relevant factors available from the application and accompanying materials that relate to the applicant's academic aptitude, skills, and achievements. The substitute requires the governing board of each institution to monitor the institution's compliance with the provisions of the bill and to report on that compliance to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board before December 1 of each even-numbered year. The substitute modifies the effective date.