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78S10289 JSA-D
By: West S.B. No. 38
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to automatic admissions to public institutions of higher
education by certain high school graduates.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.803, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.803. AUTOMATIC ADMISSION: ALL INSTITUTIONS.
(a) Each general academic teaching institution shall admit an
applicant for admission to the institution as an undergraduate
student if the applicant graduated with a grade point average in the
top 10 percent of the student's high school graduating class in one
of the two school years preceding the academic year for which the
applicant is applying for admission and the applicant:
(1) graduated from a public or private high school in
this state accredited by a generally recognized accrediting
organization or from a high school operated by the United States
Department of Defense;
(2) completed the curriculum requirements established
under Section 28.025 for the recommended or advanced high school
program or an equivalent curriculum at a high school to which that
section does not apply; and
(3)[. To qualify for admission under this section, an
applicant must submit an application before the expiration of any
application filing deadline established by the institution and,] if
the applicant graduated from a high school operated by the United
States Department of Defense, is [must be] a Texas resident under
Section 54.052 or is [be] entitled to pay tuition fees at the rate
provided for Texas residents under Section 54.058(d) for the term
or semester to which admitted.
(b) To qualify for admission under this section, an
applicant must submit an application before the expiration of any
application filing deadline established by the institution.
(c) After admitting an applicant under this section, the
institution shall review the applicant's record and any other
factor the institution considers appropriate to determine whether
the applicant may require additional preparation for college-level
work or would benefit from inclusion in a retention program. The
institution may require a student so identified to enroll during
the summer immediately after the student is admitted under this
section to participate in appropriate enrichment courses and
orientation programs. This section does not prohibit a student who
is not determined to need additional preparation for college-level
work from enrolling, if the student chooses, during the summer
immediately after the student is admitted under this section.
(d) Subsection (a)(2) applies beginning with admissions for
the 2008-2009 academic year. Subsection (a)(2) does not apply to an
applicant who graduated from a public high school that does not
offer the curriculum established under Section 28.025 for the
recommended or advanced high school program.
(e) An applicant who does not satisfy the requirements of
Subsection (a)(2) is considered to have satisfied those
requirements if the high school from which the student graduated
indicates on the student's transcript that the student was unable
to complete the appropriate curriculum solely because necessary
courses were unavailable to the student at the appropriate times in
the student's high school career as a result of course scheduling,
lack of enrollment capacity, or another cause not within the
student's control.
SECTION 2. Section 51.807, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.807. RULEMAKING. (a) The Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board may adopt rules relating to the operation of
admissions programs under this subchapter, including rules
relating to the identification of eligible students and the
reporting requirements of Section 51.806.
(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board after
consulting with the Texas Education Agency by rule shall establish
standards for determining for purposes of this subchapter:
(1) whether a private high school is accredited by a
generally accepted accrediting organization; and
(2) whether a person completed a high school
curriculum that is equivalent to the curriculum established under
Section 28.025 for the recommended or advanced high school program.
SECTION 3. Section 28.026, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 28.026. NOTICE OF AUTOMATIC COLLEGE ADMISSION. (a)
The board of trustees of a school district shall require each high
school in the district to post appropriate signs in each
counselor's office, in each principal's office, and in each
administrative building indicating the substance of Section 51.803
regarding automatic college admission. To assist in the
dissemination of this information, the school district shall:
(1) require that each high school counselor and class
advisor be provided a detailed explanation of the substance of
Section 51.803;
(2) provide each district student and the student's
parent or guardian, at the time the student first registers for one
or more classes required for high school graduation, with a written
notification of the substance of Section 51.803;
(3) require that each high school counselor and senior
class advisor explain to eligible students the substance of Section
51.803; and
(4) [(3)] provide each eligible senior student under
Section 51.803 and the student's parent or guardian, at the
commencement of a class's senior year, with a written notification
of the student's eligibility with a detailed explanation of the
substance of Section 51.803.
(b) The commissioner shall adopt forms to use in providing
notice under Subsections (a)(2) and (4). In providing notice under
Subsection (a)(2) or (4), a school district shall use the
appropriate form adopted by the commissioner.
(c) The commissioner shall adopt procedures to ensure that,
as soon as practicable after this subsection becomes law, each
school district provides written notification of the substance of
Section 51.803, as amended by the 78th Legislature, 1st Called
Session, 2003, to each district student and the parent or guardian
of each district student who, for the 2003-2004 school year,
registers for the first time for one or more courses required for
high school graduation. The commissioner may adopt rules under
this subsection in the manner provided by law for emergency rules.
Each district shall comply with the procedures adopted by the
commissioner under this subsection. This subsection expires
September 1, 2004.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Subchapter
U, Chapter 51, Education Code, applies beginning with admissions to
public institutions of higher education for the 2004 fall semester.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
legislative session.