80R2786 KSD-D

By: Morrison H.B. No. 1186

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) A general academic teaching institution is not required to admit under Subsection (a) more than 50 percent of the institution's first-time resident undergraduate students in an academic year. If the number of applicants who qualify for automatic admission to a general academic teaching institution under Subsection (a) exceeds that percentage of the institution's enrollment capacity designated for first-time resident undergraduate students, 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), offer admission to the remaining applicants by percentile rank according to graduating class standing based on grade point average, beginning with the top percentile rank, until a sufficient number of applicants have accepted admission offers to fill that percentage of the institution's enrollment capacity designated for first-time resident undergraduate students, except that the institution must offer admission to all applicants with the same percentile rank; 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 percentage of the institution's enrollment capacity designated for first-time resident undergraduate students specified by Subsection (c), the institution shall offer admission to those applicants by percentile rank according to graduating class standing based on grade point average, beginning with the top percentile rank, until a sufficient number of applicants have accepted admission offers to fill that percentage, except that the institution must offer admission to all applicants with the same percentile rank. 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. The change in law made by this Act applies beginning with admissions to institutions of higher education for the 2008-2009 academic year. Admissions to an institution of higher education before that academic year are covered by the law in effect before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt rules as required by Section 51.807(b), Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.