79R5269 KSD-D

By:  Morrison                                                     H.B. No. 2330



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the automatic admission of undergraduate students to 
general academic teaching institutions.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 51.803, Education Code, is amended by 
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read 
as follows:
	(a)  Subject to Subsections (c) and (d), each [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 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.  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, must be a Texas resident under Section 
54.052 or 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.
	(c)  Beginning with admissions for the 2009-2010 academic 
year, a general academic teaching institution shall reserve for 
admissions under Subsection (a) not less than 50 percent of the 
institution's enrollment capacity designated for first-time 
undergraduate students.  Subsection (a) does not apply to the 
portion of the institution's enrollment capacity designated for 
first-time undergraduate students that is not reserved for 
admissions under Subsection (a).  If the number of applicants who 
qualify for automatic admission to a general academic teaching 
institution under Subsection (a) exceeds the number of spaces 
reserved by the institution for admissions under Subsection (a), 
the institution shall, except as provided by Subsection (d):
		(1)  offer admission to those applicants beginning with 
those who completed the curriculum requirements established under 
Section 28.025 for the advanced high school program or an 
equivalent curriculum at a high school to which that section does 
not apply;
		(2)  after offering admission to applicants under 
Subdivision (1), conduct a lottery to determine the order in which 
the institution offers admission to the remaining applicants until 
a sufficient number of applicants have accepted admission offers to 
fill the spaces reserved by the institution for admissions under 
Subsection (a); and
		(3)  after offering admission to applicants under 
Subdivisions (1) and (2), consider any remaining applicants 
qualified for automatic admission under Subsection (a) in the same 
manner as other applicants for admission as first-time freshmen 
students in accordance with Section 51.805.
	(d)  If the number of applicants qualified for admission 
under Subsection (c)(1) exceeds the number of spaces reserved by 
the institution for admission under Subsection (a), the institution 
shall conduct a lottery to determine the order in which the 
institution offers admission to those applicants until a sufficient 
number of applicants have accepted admission offers to fill those 
spaces.  The institution shall consider any remaining applicants 
qualified for automatic admission under Subsection (a), including 
remaining applicants qualified for admission under Subsection 
(c)(1), in the same manner as other applicants for admission as 
first-time freshmen students in accordance with Section 51.805.
	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 whether a 
person completed a high school curriculum that is equivalent to the 
curriculum established under Section 28.025 for the advanced high 
school program.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.