BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	H.B. 3041
	By: Paul (Middleton)
	Education K-16
	5/9/2025
	Engrossed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Students who complete a nontraditional secondary education�such as homeschooling�often face disadvantages when applying to public colleges and universities in Texas. These challenges include inequitable access to automatic admission and state financial aid programs, even when homeschool students demonstrate strong academic ability.

In the 88th Legislature, the passage of H.B. 3993, authored by Representative Paul and passed with bipartisan support, was a key step toward addressing these issues. That legislation allowed homeschool and other nontraditional students to be considered for automatic admission based on standardized test scores. However, it relied on a flawed calculation method that unintentionally raised the bar significantly higher for homeschool applicants compared to their peers. For example, homeschoolers needed perfect or near-perfect SAT scores to gain admission under the same class rank thresholds available to traditional students.

Additionally, while current statute includes financial aid programs for most Texas students, many homeschool graduates are either excluded or face ambiguous eligibility. There remains a pressing need to align access for nontraditional students with that of their peers.

H.B. 3041 amends current law relating to measures to support the enrollment of students with a nontraditional secondary education at public institutions of higher education, including eligibility for certain student financial assistance programs.

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 Sections 51.803(a-1), (a-2), and (m), Education Code, as follows.

(a-1) Requires a university, if the university elects to offer admission under this subsection, except as otherwise provided by this subsection for those students who completed a nontraditional secondary education, to offer admission to those applicants by percentile rank according to high school graduating class standing based on grade point average, beginning with the top percentile rank, until the applicants qualified under Subsection (a), including those applicants who completed a nontraditional secondary education as determined below, have been offered admission in the number estimated in good faith by the university as sufficient to fill 75 percent of the university's enrollment capacity designated for first-time resident undergraduate students, except that the university must offer admission to all applicants with the same percentile rank. Requires the university, notwithstanding Section 51.9241 (Admission of Student with Nontraditional Secondary Education), for the admission under this subsection of those applicants qualified for automatic admission under Subsection (a) (relating to requiring each general academic teaching institution to admit an applicant for admission to the institution as an undergraduate student if the applicant meets certain criteria) who completed a nontraditional secondary education, instead of offering admission to those applicants by high school graduating class percentile rank, to offer admission to those applicants whose score on a standardized test on a college entrance examination meets or exceeds a benchmark test score set by the university for purposes of this subsection. Requires the university to set the benchmark test score to be used under this subsection for an academic year based on the standardized test scores on a college entrance examination of applicants to the university who completed a nontraditional secondary education and who were offered admission under this subsection in the academic year preceding the academic year by two years and in a manner designed to ensure that the percent of applicants who completed a nontraditional secondary education and who are offered admission under this subsection for an academic year will be the same as the percent of applicants who completed a traditional secondary education and who are offered admission under this subsection for that year. Requires the university, after the applicants qualified for automatic admission under Subsection (a), including those who completed a nontraditional secondary education, have been offered admission under this subsection in the number estimated in good faith as sufficient to fill 75 percent of the designated enrollment capacity described by this subsection, to consider any remaining applicants qualified for automatic admission under Subsection (a) in the same manner as other applicants for admission as first-time undergraduate students in accordance with Section 51.805 (Transmission or Distribution of Data). Defines "nontraditional secondary education."

(a-2) Requires an institution, if the number of applicants who apply to a general academic teaching institution during the current academic year for admission in the next academic year and who qualify for automatic admission to a general academic teaching institution under Subsection (a) exceeds 75 percent of the institution's enrollment capacity designated for first-time resident undergraduate students for that next academic year and the institution plans to offer admission under Subsection (a-1) during the next school year, in the manner prescribed by the Texas Education Agency and not later than September 15, to provide to each school district, for dissemination of the information to high school junior-level students and their parents, notice of what benchmark test score will be used by the institution to offer admission under Subsection (a-1) during the next school year to students who qualify for automatic admission under Subsection (a) and who complete a nontraditional secondary education. Makes nonsubstantive changes.

(m) Requires a general academic teaching institution, in determining the eligibility for admission under Subsection (a), rather than under Section 51.803 (Automatic Admission: All Institutions), of an applicant with a nontraditional secondary education, as defined by Section 51.9241, that does not include a high school graduating class ranking, to calculate the applicant's class rank in the manner provided by Section 51.9241(d).

SECTION 2. Amends Section 51.9241, Education Code, by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e), as follows:

(d) Requires an institution of higher education, if the institution, in its undergraduate admission review process, sorts applicants by high school graduating class rank, to assign a class rank to any applicant who presents evidence that the applicant has successfully completed a nontraditional secondary education that does not include a high school graduating class ranking by:

(1) calculating for each class rank of other applicants to the institution the median score on each college entrance examination the institution considers in admissions; and

(2) assigning to the applicant the highest class rank for which the applicant's score on a college entrance examination the institution considers in admissions is at least equal to the median score for that class rank calculated under Subdivision (1).

Deletes existing text requiring an institution of higher education, if the institution, in its undergraduate admission review process, sorts applicants by high school graduating class rank, to place any applicant who presents evidence that the applicant has successfully completed a nontraditional secondary education that does not include a high school graduating class ranking at the average high school graduating class rank of undergraduate applicants to the institution who have equivalent standardized testing scores as the applicant.

(e) Requires an institution of higher education to which Subsection (d) applies to post on the institution's Internet website the median score on each college entrance examination the institution considers in admissions calculated for each class rank under Subsection (d)(1) for the preceding admissions cycle.

SECTION 3. Amends Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, by adding Section 51.9675, as follows:

Sec. 51.9675. EQUAL ACCESS TO DUAL CREDIT COURSES. (a) Defines "institution of higher education."

(b) Requires an institution of higher education, in admitting or enrolling high school students in a dual credit course, to apply the same criteria and conditions to each student wishing to enroll in the course without regard to whether the student attends a public school or a private or parochial school, including a home school. Provides that, for purposes of this section, a student who attends a school that is not formally organized as a high school and is at least 16 years of age is considered to be attending a high school.

SECTION 4. Amends Section 56.013, Education Code, as follows:

Sec. 56.013. INFORMATION REGARDING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FUNDED FROM DESIGNATED TUITION. Requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to post on THECB's Internet website and disseminate to each public or accredited private high school in this state information regarding the financial assistance available under Subchapter B (Financial Assistance Funded From Designated Tuition) and to include information designed to educate high school students and the parents of those students on available opportunities and required preparation with respect to institutions of higher education.

SECTION 5. Amends Section 56.304(a), Education Code, as follows:

(a) Requires a person who graduated from high school before May 1, 2013, to be eligible initially for a Toward Excellence, Access, & Success (TEXAS) grant, to meet certain academic requirements, including be a graduate of a public or accredited private high school, or a graduate who presents evidence of successful completion of a nontraditional secondary education, as defined by Section 51.9241, in this state who graduated not earlier than the 1998-1999 school year and who completed the recommended or advanced high school curriculum established under Section 28.002 (Required Curriculum) or 28.025 (High School Diploma and Certificate; Academic Achievement Record) or its equivalent.

SECTION 6. Amends Section 56.3041(a), Education Code, to make a conforming change.

SECTION 7. Amends Sections 56.308(a) and (d), Education Code, as follows:

(a) Makes a conforming change to this subsection.

(d) Provides that, in addition to the eligibility requirements of Section 56.304 (Initial Eligibility for Grant), a person who graduated from an accredited private high school or who presents evidence of successful completion of a nontraditional secondary education, as defined by Section 51.9241, is eligible to receive a grant under Subchapter M (Toward Excellence, Access, & Success (Texas) Grant Program) only if the student's official transcript or diploma includes the information required as provided by certain provisions of Section 56.308 (Notification of Program; Responsibilities of School Districts).

SECTION 8. Amends Section 56.484, Education Code, as follows:

Sec. 56.484. INITIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR SCHOLARSHIP. (a) Creates this subsection from existing text. Requires a student, to be eligible for a scholarship under Subchapter R (Scholarships for Students Graduating), to:

(1) have graduated from a public or accredited private high school, or be a graduate who presents evidence of successful completion of a nontraditional secondary education, as defined by Section 51.9241, in this state while ranked in the top 10 percent or as the valedictorian of the student's graduating class, subject to Section 56.487(b) (relating to authorizing THECB to permit a student to establish initial eligibility based on the student's class rank at the end of the student's seventh semester in high school); and

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(2)-(7) makes no changes to these subdivisions.

(b) Requires that the class rank of a student who presents evidence of successful completion of a nontraditional secondary education, for purposes of Subsection (a)(1), be calculated in the manner provided by Section 51.9241(d)(1).

SECTION 9. Provides that the changes in law made by this Act to Sections 51.803 and 51.9241, Education Code, apply beginning with admissions to a public institution of higher education for the 2026 fall semester. Provides that admissions to a public institution of higher education for a term or semester before the 2026 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 10. Provides that Section 51.9675, Education Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with admissions or enrollment in a dual credit course at a public institution of higher education for the 2025 fall semester. Provides that admissions or enrollment in a dual credit course at a public institution of higher education for a term or semester before the 2025 fall semester is 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 11. Provides that the changes in law made by this Act to Chapter 56 (Student Financial Assistance), Education Code, apply beginning with student financial assistance awarded by a public institution of higher education for the 2026 fall semester. Provides that student financial assistance awarded by a public institution of higher education for a term or semester before the 2026 fall semester is 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 12. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2025.