BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3904

By: Schubert

Higher Education

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties report concerns that not enough students from small schools are being granted automatic admission to general academic teaching institutions. H.B. 3904 seeks to address these concerns by providing valedictorians of high school graduating classes automatic admission to general academic teaching institutions and providing eligibility for certain scholarships to those students.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

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

H.B. 3904 amends the Education Code to require each general academic teaching institution to admit an applicant for admission to the institution as an undergraduate if the applicant graduated as the valedictorian of the student's high school graduating class in one of the two school years preceding the academic year for which the student is applying for admission and satisfies certain other requirements for automatic admission. The bill authorizes an institution that admits such an applicant to admit the applicant for either the fall semester of the academic year for which the applicant applies or for the summer session preceding that fall semester, as determined by the institution. The bill makes a student who graduated from a public or accredited private high school in Texas as the valedictorian of the student's graduating class eligible for a scholarship for students graduating in the top 10 percent of their high school class, provided the other applicable conditions are met. The bill applies beginning with admissions to a general academic teaching institution and scholarships awarded for the 2017-2018 academic year.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2017.