By: Wentworth, et al. S.B. No. 974
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the eligibility of a high school graduate for automatic
1-3 admission to an institution of higher education.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 51.803 and 51.807, Education Code, are
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 51.803. AUTOMATIC ADMISSION: ALL INSTITUTIONS.
1-8 (a) Each general academic teaching institution shall admit an
1-9 applicant for admission to the institution as an undergraduate
1-10 student if the applicant graduated with a grade point average in
1-11 the top 10 percent of the student's high school graduating class in
1-12 one of the two school years preceding the academic year for which
1-13 the applicant is applying for admission and the applicant:
1-14 (1) graduated from a public or private high school in
1-15 this state accredited by a generally recognized accrediting
1-16 organization or from a high school operated by the United States
1-17 Department of Defense;
1-18 (2) completed the recommended or advanced high school
1-19 curriculum established under Section 28.002 or 28.025 or an
1-20 equivalent curriculum at a high school to which those sections do
1-21 not apply; and
1-22 (3)[. To qualify for admission under this section, an
1-23 applicant must submit an application before the expiration of any
1-24 application filing deadline established by the institution and,] if
1-25 the applicant graduated from a high school operated by the United
2-1 States Department of Defense, is [must be] a Texas resident under
2-2 Section 54.052 or is [be] entitled to pay tuition fees at the rate
2-3 provided for Texas residents under Section 54.058(d) for the term
2-4 or semester to which admitted.
2-5 (b) To qualify for admission under this section, an
2-6 applicant must submit an application before the expiration of any
2-7 application filing deadline established by the institution.
2-8 (c) After admitting an applicant under this section, the
2-9 institution shall review the applicant's record and any other
2-10 factor the institution considers appropriate to determine whether
2-11 the applicant may require additional preparation for college-level
2-12 work or would benefit from inclusion in a retention program. The
2-13 institution may require a student so identified to enroll during
2-14 the summer immediately after the student is admitted under this
2-15 section to participate in appropriate enrichment courses and
2-16 orientation programs. This section does not prohibit a student who
2-17 is not determined to need additional preparation for college-level
2-18 work from enrolling, if the student chooses, during the summer
2-19 immediately after the student is admitted under this section.
2-20 (d) Subsection (a)(2) does not apply to an applicant who
2-21 graduated from a public high school which applies for and receives
2-22 a waiver from the Texas Education Agency due to an inability to
2-23 offer or make available the recommended or advanced high school
2-24 curriculum established under Section 28.002 or 28.025.
2-25 Sec. 51.807. RULEMAKING. (a) The Texas Higher Education
2-26 Coordinating Board may adopt rules relating to the operation of
3-1 admissions programs under this subchapter, including rules relating
3-2 to the identification of eligible students and the reporting
3-3 requirements of Section 51.806.
3-4 (b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board after
3-5 consulting with the Texas Education Agency by rule shall establish
3-6 standards for determining:
3-7 (1) whether a private high school is accredited by a
3-8 generally accepted accrediting organization; and
3-9 (2) whether a person completed a high school
3-10 curriculum that is equivalent to the recommended or advanced high
3-11 school curriculum established under Section 28.002 or 28.025.
3-12 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
3-13 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies beginning
3-14 with admissions for the 2004-2005 academic year.