By:  Wentworth, Shapiro                                           S.B. No. 86 


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the eligibility of a high school graduate for automatic 
admission to an institution of higher education.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Sections 51.803 and 51.807, Education Code, are 
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 2007-2008 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.
	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 2.  Section 28.025, Education Code, is amended by 
adding Subsections (g) and (g-1) to read as follows:
	(g)  If a student, other than a student permitted to take 
courses under the minimum high school program as provided by 
Subsection (b), is unable to complete the recommended or advanced 
high school program 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, the school district shall indicate that fact on the 
student's transcript form described by Subsection (e).
	(g-1)  Subsection (g) applies to students entering the ninth 
grade in the 2003-2004 school year and thereafter.  This subsection 
expires January 1, 2004.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.