1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to counseling public school students regarding higher
1-3 education.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 33, Education Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 33.007 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 33.007. COUNSELING REGARDING HIGHER EDUCATION.
1-8 (a) Each counselor at an elementary, middle, or junior high
1-9 school, including an open-enrollment charter school offering those
1-10 grades, shall advise students and their parents or guardians
1-11 regarding the importance of higher education, coursework designed
1-12 to prepare students for higher education, and financial aid
1-13 availability and requirements.
1-14 (b) During the first school year a student is enrolled in a
1-15 high school or at the high school level in an open-enrollment
1-16 charter school, and again during a student's senior year, a
1-17 counselor shall provide information about higher education to the
1-18 student and the student's parent or guardian. The information must
1-19 include information regarding:
1-20 (1) the importance of higher education;
1-21 (2) the advantages of completing the recommended or
1-22 advanced high school program adopted under Section 28.025(a);
1-23 (3) the disadvantages of taking courses to prepare for
1-24 a high school equivalency examination relative to the benefits of
1-25 taking courses leading to a high school diploma;
2-1 (4) financial aid eligibility;
2-2 (5) instruction on how to apply for federal financial
2-3 aid;
2-4 (6) the center for financial aid information
2-5 established under Section 61.0776;
2-6 (7) the automatic admission of certain students to
2-7 general academic teaching institutions as provided by Section
2-8 51.803; and
2-9 (8) the eligibility and academic performance
2-10 requirements for the TEXAS Grant as provided by Subchapter M,
2-11 Chapter 56, as added by Chapter 1590, Acts of the 76th Legislature,
2-12 Regular Session, 1999.
2-13 SECTION 2. Section 33.001, Education Code, is amended to
2-14 read as follows:
2-15 Sec. 33.001. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
2-16 applies only to a school district that receives funds as provided
2-17 by Section 42.152(i), except that Section 33.007 applies to all
2-18 school districts and open-enrollment charter schools.
2-19 SECTION 3. Section 33.007, Education Code, as added by this
2-20 Act, applies beginning with the 2001-2002 school year. The
2-21 commissioner of education shall adopt rules regarding the provision
2-22 of counseling regarding higher education as required by Subsection
2-23 (b), Section 33.007, Education Code, as added by this Act, to high
2-24 school students or open-enrollment charter school students other
2-25 than those for whom the 2001-2002 school year is the first or
2-26 senior year of high school.
3-1 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
3-2 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
3-3 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
3-4 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
3-5 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 158 passed the Senate on
February 22, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0, one
present, not voting; and that the Senate concurred in House
amendment on May 24, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0,
one present, not voting.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 158 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 16, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 139,
Nays 0, two present, not voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor