BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 4701

By: Leo Wilson

Higher Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that a single standardized test may not comprehensively reflect a student's academic abilities and potential and that permitting students to use alternative assessments in undergraduate admissions may benefit students who excel in areas not measured by traditional standardized tests and, as a result, enable students with different learning styles to put their best foot forward in the admissions process. C.S.H.B. 4701 seeks to address this issue by enabling the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to determine which college entrance examinations may be considered for admission to a general academic teaching institution.

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 rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in SECTIONS 1 and 2 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 4701 amends the Education Code to revise the criteria that an applicant must meet to qualify for automatic admission as an undergraduate student at a general academic teaching institution by replacing the option for an otherwise qualifying applicant to have satisfied ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks on the ACT assessment or earned a score of at least 1,500 out of 2,400 or the equivalent on the SAT assessment with the option for the applicant to have achieved a score set by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) on a college entrance examination designated by THECB rule. The bill makes the same change to the criteria that a graduating student who does not qualify for automatic admission must meet to be authorized to apply to any general academic teaching institution.

C.S.H.B. 4701 applies beginning with admissions to a general academic teaching institution for the 2026 fall semester. Admissions to a general academic teaching institution for a term or semester before the 2026 fall semester are governed by the law in effect immediately before the bill's effective date, and the former law is continued in effect for those purposes.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 4701 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Both the introduced and the substitute revise the college entrance examination performance standards specified as part of the criteria that must be met to qualify for automatic admission to a general academic teaching institution or to be authorized to apply to any such institution if not eligible for automatic admission. However, the substitute replaces the standards prescribed by current law for performance on the ACT or SAT with a more general provision providing for achievement of a score set by the THECB on any college entrance examination designated by THECB rule, whereas the introduced provided the option for an applicable individual to satisfy either of the following test performance standards as an alternative to satisfying the ACT or SAT standards prescribed in current law:

· earning a score on the Classic Learning Test (CLT) of at least 71 out of 120 or the equivalent; or

· achieving a score set by THECB rule on a college entrance examination designated by the THECB other than the ACT, SAT, or CLT.

The substitute omits the provision from the introduced specifying that the SAT, the ACT, and CLT are each considered one of the valid, reliable, and nationally norm-referenced tests used by colleges and universities as part of their undergraduate admissions processes that a high school student in the spring of the 11th grade or during the 12th grade may select and take once, at state cost.