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By: West, et al. S.B. No. 333
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 and to certain
other practices and procedures concerning the admission process.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsections (e) and (g), Section 28.025,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(e) Each school district shall report the academic
achievement record of a student in an electronic format [students
who have completed a minimum, recommended, or advanced high school
program] on a uniform transcript form [forms] adopted by the State
Board of Education. The transcript form [forms] adopted by the
board must be designed to:
(1) clearly differentiate between [each of] the
minimum, recommended, and advanced high school programs and
identify the program completed by a student;
(2) provide information in a standard format
regarding:
(A) any honors, advanced placement, or
international baccalaureate courses available at a student's high
school and which, if any, of those courses the student completed;
and
(B) any college-level courses available to a
student under a dual credit program provided under an agreement
between the student's high school and an institution of higher
education and which, if any, of those courses the student
completed; and
(3) identify whether a student received a diploma or a
certificate of coursework completion.
(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), shall:
(1) indicate whether the student completed those
courses necessary to complete the program that were available to
the student; and
(2) identify those courses necessary to complete the
program that were unavailable to the student as a result of course
scheduling, lack of enrollment capacity, or another cause not
within the student's control.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 28.0252 to read as follows:
Sec. 28.0252. COMPUTATION OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADE POINT
AVERAGE. (a) The commissioner shall develop a standard method of
computing a student's high school grade point average that provides
for additional weight to be given to each honors course, advanced
placement course, international baccalaureate course, or dual
credit course described by Section 28.025(e)(2)(B) completed by a
student.
(b) A school district shall use the standard method
developed under this section to compute a student's high school
grade point average, and the student's grade point average computed
in that manner shall be used in determining the student's
eligibility for automatic college admission under Section 51.803.
(b-1) Subsection (b) applies only to students entering
grade nine during or after the 2007-2008 school year. This
subsection expires September 1, 2010.
(c) The commissioner may adopt rules necessary to implement
this section.
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, 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, 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 79th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2005, to each district student who, for the 2005-2006
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, 2006.
SECTION 4. 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:
(1) 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;
(2) the applicant 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, the applicant 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 curriculum
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
completed the portion of the curriculum that was available to the
student but was unable to complete the curriculum solely because
courses necessary to complete the curriculum 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 recognized 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.
(c) The Texas Education Agency by rule shall prescribe
criteria for determining whether a person completed a significant
portion of any honors, advanced placement, international
baccalaureate, or college-level dual credit courses available to
the person at the person's high school for purposes of Section
51.805(b).
SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 51.805, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) The general academic teaching institution, after
admitting students under Sections 51.803 and 51.804, shall admit
other applicants for admission as undergraduate students, giving
priority to those applicants who completed a significant portion of
any honors, advanced placement, international baccalaureate, or
college-level dual credit courses available to the applicant at the
applicant's high school. It is the intent of the legislature that
all institutions of higher education pursue academic excellence by
considering students' academic achievements in decisions related
to admissions. Because of changing demographic trends, diversity,
and population increases in the state, each general academic
teaching institution shall also consider all of, any of, or a
combination of the following socioeconomic indicators or factors in
making first-time freshman admissions decisions:
(1) the applicant's academic record;
(2) the socioeconomic background of the applicant,
including the percentage by which the applicant's family is above
or below any recognized measure of poverty, the applicant's
household income, and the applicant's parents' level of education;
(3) whether the applicant would be the first
generation of the applicant's family to attend or graduate from an
institution of higher education;
(4) whether the applicant has bilingual proficiency;
(5) the financial status of the applicant's school
district;
(6) the performance level of the applicant's school as
determined by the school accountability criteria used by the Texas
Education Agency;
(7) the applicant's responsibilities while attending
school, including whether the applicant has been employed, whether
the applicant has helped to raise children, or other similar
factors;
(8) the applicant's region of residence;
(9) whether the applicant is a resident of a rural or
urban area or a resident of a central city or suburban area in the
state;
(10) the applicant's performance on standardized
tests;
(11) the applicant's performance on standardized tests
in comparison with that of other students from similar
socioeconomic backgrounds;
(12) whether the applicant attended any school while
the school was under a court-ordered desegregation plan;
(13) the applicant's involvement in community
activities;
(14) the applicant's extracurricular activities;
(15) the applicant's commitment to a particular field
of study;
(16) the applicant's personal interview;
(17) the applicant's admission to a comparable
accredited out-of-state institution; and
(18) any other consideration the institution
considers necessary to accomplish the institution's stated
mission.
SECTION 6. (a) The Texas Education Agency shall conduct a
study to determine the feasibility of requiring school districts to
provide high school seniors with an elective class period during
the school day to enable the student to:
(1) research colleges and major areas of study;
(2) work with guidance counselors in preparing college
applications, admission essays, and financial aid applications;
and
(3) search for scholarships and financial aid options.
(b) In conducting the study required by this section, the
Texas Education Agency shall survey the current practices of school
districts in this state and determine the best practices relating
to college application assistance for high school seniors.
(c) Not later than December 1, 2006, the Texas Education
Agency shall submit a report on the results of the study required by
this section to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the
legislature.
SECTION 7. The State Board of Education shall adopt the
uniform transcript form required by Subsection (e), Section 28.025,
Education Code, as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable after
the effective date of this Act, and not later than January 1, 2006.
A school district shall use the form beginning with the 2006-2007
school year.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act to Subsection
(b), Section 51.805, Education Code, apply beginning with
admissions for the 2008-2009 academic year.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.