80R7417 CAS-F
 
  By: Morrison H.B. No. 3826
 
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to high school curriculum requirements for admission to
public institutions of higher education.
       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:
             (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 successfully completed:
                   (A)  at a public high school, the curriculum
requirements established under Section 28.025 for the recommended
or advanced high school program; or
                   (B)  at a high school to which Section 28.025 does
not apply, a curriculum that is equivalent in content and rigor to
the recommended or advanced high school program; 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)  Subsection (a)(2) does not apply to an applicant who
graduates from a high school that does not have the curriculum
described by that subsection. An applicant who does not satisfy the
curriculum requirements prescribed by Subsection (a)(2)(A) or (B)
is considered to have satisfied those requirements if the student
completed the portion of the recommended or advanced curriculum or
of the curriculum equivalent in content and rigor, as applicable,
that was available to the student but was unable to complete the
remainder of the curriculum solely because courses necessary to
complete the remainder 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.
       (c)  To qualify for admission under this section, an
applicant must:
             (1)  submit an application before the expiration of any
application filing deadline established by the institution; and
             (2)  provide a high school transcript or diploma that
satisfies the requirements of Subsection (d).
       (d)  For purposes of Subsection (c)(2), a student's official
transcript or diploma must, not later than the end of the student's
junior year, indicate:
             (1)  whether the student has satisfied or is on
schedule to satisfy the requirements of Subsection (a)(2)(A) or
(B), as applicable; or
             (2)  if Subsection (b) applies to the student, whether
the student has completed the portion of the recommended or
advanced curriculum or of the curriculum equivalent in content and
rigor, as applicable, that was available to the student.
       (e)  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.
       SECTION 2.  Section 51.804, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 51.804.  ADDITIONAL AUTOMATIC ADMISSIONS: SELECTED
INSTITUTIONS.  For each academic year, the governing board of each
general academic teaching institution shall determine whether to
adopt an admissions policy under which an applicant to the
institution as a first-time freshman student, other than an
applicant eligible for admission under Section 51.803, shall be
admitted to the institution if the applicant:
             (1) graduated from a public or private high school in
this state accredited by a generally recognized accrediting
organization with a grade point average in the top 25 percent of the
applicant's high school graduating class; and
             (2)  satisfies the requirements of:
                   (A)  Section 51.803(a)(2) or (b), as applicable to
the student; and
                   (B)  Sections 51.803(c)(2) and (d).
       SECTION 3.  Sections 51.805(a) and (e), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
       (a)  A graduating student who does not qualify for admission
under Section 51.803 or 51.804 may apply to any general academic
teaching institution if the student satisfies the requirements of
Section 51.803(a)(2) or (b), as applicable to the student, and
Sections 51.803(c)(2) and (d).
       (e)  This section does not apply to an institution that has
an open enrollment policy, except that a student may apply to a
general academic teaching institution that has an open enrollment
policy only if the student satisfies the requirements described by
Subsection (a).
       SECTION 4.  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 recognized accrediting organization; and
             (2)  whether a person completed a high school
curriculum that is equivalent in content and rigor to the
curriculum requirements established under Section 28.025 for the
recommended or advanced high school program.
       SECTION 5.  The commissioner of education shall adopt
procedures to ensure that, as soon as practicable after this Act
takes effect, each school district in this state provides written
notification of the substance of Subchapter U, Chapter 51,
Education Code, as amended by this Act, to each district student
who, for the 2007-2008 school year, registers for one or more
courses required for high school graduation. The commissioner may
adopt rules under this section in the manner provided by law for
emergency rules. Each district shall comply with the procedures
adopted by the commissioner under this section.
       SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by this Act apply
beginning with admissions to a general academic teaching
institution for the 2008-2009 academic year. Admissions to a
general academic teaching institution for an academic period before
that academic year are governed by the law in effect immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
       SECTION 7.  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 September 1, 2007.