BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Research Center H.B. 2424
81R23444 JRJ-D By: Morrison et al. (Huffman)
AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
Section 51.803 (Automatic Admission: All Institutions), Education Code, requires that students meet one or more criteria to be considered for admission to any general academic teaching institution. Those criteria are: to successfully complete the recommended or advanced high school curriculum (or the portion available at their specific high school); to successfully complete a curriculum comparable in content and rigor to the recommended curriculum; to satisfy the College Readiness Benchmarks on the ACT test; and to earn a score of at least 1,500 out of 2,400 on the SAT exam.
The statute is effective for the first time in the Fall of 2009 and applies to all general academic teaching institutions (as defined by Section 61.003 of the Education Code), including those that have open admission policies. Lamar State College-Orange (LSC-O) and Lamar State College-Port Arthur (LSC-PA) are included in this statute. No other two-year, lower division institutions were impacted by this legislation, and community colleges are exempt.
There are many potential students who, for any number of reasons, fail to graduate from high school having met the requirements of this law. LSC-O and LSC-PA have historically been the institutions to recruit and accept these students, offering them the opportunity to continue their educations. With Section 52.803, Education Code, and the absence of community colleges in Southeast Texas, these students find themselves with no opportunities to continue their education.
This bill amends current law to allow LSC-O and LSC-PA to accept into their institutions students who graduate from high school having completed the minimum high school curriculum.
H.B. 2424 amends current law relating to exempting LSC-O and LSC-PA from certain requirements relating to student admissions.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 51.805, Education Code, by adding Subsection (f), to provide that this section does not apply to Lamar State College—Orange or Lamar State College—Port Arthur as long as those institutions operate as two-year lower-division institutions of higher education.
SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2009.