88R13034 CXP-F
 
  By: Paul, Lopez of Cameron, Anderson H.B. No. 3993
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the automatic admission of students with a
  nontraditional secondary education to certain public institutions
  of higher education.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 51.803, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (m) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  Subject to Subsection (a-1), each general academic
  teaching institution shall admit an applicant for admission to the
  institution as an undergraduate student if the applicant graduated
  with a grade point average in the top 10 percent of the student's
  high school graduating class in one of the two school years
  preceding the academic year for which the applicant is applying for
  admission and:
               (1)  the applicant:
                     (A)  graduated from a public or private high
  school in this state accredited by a generally recognized
  accrediting organization or from a high school operated by the
  United States Department of Defense; or
                     (B)  completed a nontraditional secondary
  education as defined by Section 51.9241;
               (2)  the applicant:
                     (A)  successfully completed:
                           (i)  at a public high school, the curriculum
  requirements established under Section 28.025 for the
  distinguished level of achievement under the foundation high school
  program; or
                           (ii)  at a high school to which Section
  28.025 does not apply, a curriculum that is equivalent in content
  and rigor to the distinguished level of achievement under the
  foundation high school program; or
                     (B)  satisfied ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks
  on the ACT assessment applicable to the applicant or earned on the
  SAT assessment a score of at least 1,500 out of 2,400 or the
  equivalent; and
               (3)  if the applicant graduated from a high school
  operated by the United States Department of Defense, the applicant
  is a Texas resident under Section 54.052 or is entitled to pay
  tuition fees at the rate provided for Texas residents under Section
  54.241(d) for the term or semester to which admitted.
         (m)  In determining the eligibility for admission under this
  section of an applicant with a nontraditional secondary education,
  as defined by Section 51.9241, that does not include a high school
  graduating class ranking, a general academic teaching institution
  shall calculate the applicant's class rank in the manner provided
  by Section 51.9241(d).
         SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply
  beginning with admissions to a public institution of higher
  education for the 2024 fall semester. Admissions to a public
  institution of higher education for a term or semester before the
  2024 fall semester are governed by the law in effect immediately
  before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is
  continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  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, 2023.