By Crabb                                              H.B. No. 1565
         77R5850 KSD-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the admission of top high school graduates to general
 1-3     academic teaching institutions.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 51.803(a), Education Code, is amended to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           (a)  Each general academic teaching institution shall admit
 1-8     an applicant for admission to the institution as an undergraduate
 1-9     student if the applicant graduated with a grade point average in
1-10     the top five [10] percent of the student's high school graduating
1-11     class in one of the two school years preceding the academic year
1-12     for which the applicant is applying for admission and the applicant
1-13     graduated from a public or private high school in this state
1-14     accredited by a generally recognized accrediting organization or
1-15     from a high school operated by the United States Department of
1-16     Defense.  To qualify for admission under this section, an applicant
1-17     must submit an application before the expiration of any application
1-18     filing deadline established by the institution and, if the
1-19     applicant graduated from a high school operated by the United
1-20     States Department of Defense, must be a Texas resident under
1-21     Section 54.052 or be entitled to pay tuition fees at the rate
1-22     provided for Texas residents under Section 54.058(d) for the term
1-23     or semester to which admitted.
1-24           SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies
 2-1     beginning with admissions to general academic teaching institutions
 2-2     for the 2002 fall semester.
 2-3           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
 2-4     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
 2-5     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
 2-6     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
 2-7     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.