BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3276

By: Howard, Donna

Higher Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Over the years, the TEXAS grant program has contributed directly to the improvement of student academic preparation.  In 1999, the year the grant program was enacted, only 15 percent of Texas high school graduates had completed the recommended high school program (RHSP) despite it being the best predictor of college success.   TEXAS grant designers made completion of the RHSP an eligibility requirement, and coupled with other state policies, this eligibility requirement led to 80 percent of the class of 2008 completing the RHSP. 

However, exposure to the right course content is no longer enough.  According to the Texas Education Agency, approximately 40 percent of the high school class of 2008 graduated academically ready for both college-level English language arts and math.  According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, half of entering first-time college students require remedial coursework, costing taxpayers at least $200 million per biennium and students and their families and institutions still more.  The TEXAS grant program can and should again play a role in improving student academic preparation, without reducing the pool of eligible recipients. 

C.S.H.B. 3276 requires institutions, beginning with grants awarded for the 2012-2013 academic year, to give priority to financially needy students who complete at least the recommended high school program and meet, exceed, or receive an exemption from the higher education success initiative or "college ready" standard.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3276 amends the Education Code to include an additional criterion for the purpose of determining priorities in the award of TEXAS grants.  The bill requires the eligible institutions of higher education, beginning with grants awarded for the 2012-2013 academic year, to give the highest priority to students who not only demonstrate the greatest need but also meet, exceed, or receive an exemption from the standards developed for those tests designed to assess a student's readiness to perform freshman-level academic coursework under Texas' higher education success initiative.

C.S.H.B. 3276 adds a temporary provision, set to expire December 1, 2013, requiring each eligible institution, for the 2012-2013 academic year and for grants awarded for the 2013-2014 academic year before September 30, 2013, to give priority to a student who meets, exceeds, or is exempt from the current student success initiative standards or from the standards as they existed on January 1, 2009.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 3276 differs from the original by adding a new subsection requiring each eligible institution of higher education, in determining who should receive a TEXAS grant, to give highest priority to students who not only demonstrate the greatest financial need but also meet, exceed, or receive an exemption from the student success initiative standards, whereas the original amends an existing subsection to require both the coordinating board and each eligible institution to apply the additional criterion with respect to meeting or exceeding the prescribed standards but not with respect to receiving an exemption from the standards.

C.S.H.B. 3276 adds a temporary provision not in the original, set to expire December 1, 2013, requiring each eligible institution, for the 2012-2013 academic year and for grants for the 2013-2014 academic year that are awarded before September 30, 2013, to give priority to a student who meets, exceeds, or is exempt from the current student success initiative standards or from the standards as they existed on January 1, 2009.