| TO: | Honorable Geanie Morrison, Chair, House Committee on Higher Education |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB101 by Shapiro (Relating to limitations on the automatic admission of undergraduate students to general academic teaching institutions and to fees charged to certain admitted students.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted |
The bill would amend Section 51.803of the Texas Education Code, relating to the current automatic
admission of high school students graduating in the top ten percent of their class, by: 1) requiring top
ten percent students to complete the recommended or advanced high school curriculum to be eligible
for automatic admission to a Texas public university; and 2) allowing universities to admit as little as
fifty percent of the institution's freshman enrollment capacity to these students. Institutions would be
required to offer admission to those applicants by percentile rank according to their graduating class
standing until a sufficient number of applicants have accepted admission offers to fill those spaces.
The bill would also direct the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to consult with the Texas Education Agency to adopt rules establishing standards applicable to students who attended a school that did not offer the recommended or advanced high school curriculum. Each general academic institution would have to submit a report to Higher Education Board and post on their website information about the demographic characteristics of the incoming freshman class.
The bill will not affect overall state enrollment in institutions of higher education and would not require significant changes to current enrollment processes. General academic institutions and the Higher Education Coordinating Board could absorb costs associated with passage of the bill within existing resources.
| Source Agencies: |
| LBB Staff: | JOB, MN, RT, JMI
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