H.B. No. 114

AN ACT

relating to providing public high school students information regarding the availability of college credit awarded for military experience, education, and training obtained during military service.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 33.007, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-2) to read as follows:

(b) During the first school year a student is enrolled in a high school or at the high school level in an open-enrollment charter school, and again during each year of a student's enrollment in high school or at the high school level, a school counselor shall provide information about postsecondary education to the student and the student's parent or guardian. The information must include information regarding:

(1) the importance of postsecondary education;

(2) the advantages of earning an endorsement and a performance acknowledgment and completing the distinguished level of achievement under the foundation high school program under Section 28.025;

(3) the disadvantages of taking courses to prepare for a high school equivalency examination relative to the benefits of taking courses leading to a high school diploma;

(4) financial aid eligibility;

(5) instruction on how to apply for federal financial aid;

(6) the center for financial aid information established under Section 61.0776;

(7) the automatic admission of certain students to general academic teaching institutions as provided by Section 51.803;

(8) the eligibility and academic performance requirements for the TEXAS Grant as provided by Subchapter M, Chapter 56;

(9) the availability of programs in the district under which a student may earn college credit, including advanced placement programs, dual credit programs, joint high school and college credit programs, and international baccalaureate programs; [and]

(10) the availability of education and training vouchers and tuition and fee waivers to attend an institution of higher education as provided by Section 54.366 for a student who is or was previously in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services; and

(11) the availability of college credit awarded by institutions of higher education to veterans and military servicemembers for military experience, education, and training obtained during military service as described by the informational materials developed under Section 302.0031(h), Labor Code.

(b-2) Information provided under Subsection (b)(11) must explain to any student who is enlisted or intends to enlist in the armed forces of the United States the informational materials developed under Section 302.0031(h), Labor Code.

SECTION 2. Section 302.0031, Labor Code, is amended by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:

(h) For purposes of Section 33.007(b)(11), Education Code, the commission, in cooperation with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, shall develop and annually make available to each school district and each open-enrollment charter school that offers a high school program informational materials regarding the availability of college credit awarded by institutions of higher education to veterans and military servicemembers for military experience, education, and training obtained during military service, including information regarding the program under this section.

SECTION 3. Section 33.007, Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies beginning with the 2020-2021 school year.

SECTION 4. Not later than September 1, 2020, the Texas Workforce Commission, in cooperation with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, shall develop and make available to each school district and each open-enrollment charter school that offers a high school program the informational materials required under Section 302.0031(h), Labor Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 5. 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, 2019.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 114 was passed by the House on April 9, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 147, Nays 1, 1 present, not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 114 was passed by the Senate on May 3, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate APPROVED: _____________________

Date

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Governor