Honorable Terry M. Wilson, Chair, House Committee on Higher Education
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB4909 by Wilson (relating to the creation of the My Texas Future portal and a requirement to submit academic information through that portal to determine acceptance for admission at a public institution of higher education as a condition of high school graduation for public school students.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB4909, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($5,520,520) through the biennium ending August 31, 2027.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five- Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2026
($3,432,760)
2027
($2,087,760)
2028
($2,087,760)
2029
($2,087,760)
2030
($2,087,760)
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2025
2026
($3,432,760)
4.0
2027
($2,087,760)
4.0
2028
($2,087,760)
4.0
2029
($2,087,760)
4.0
2030
($2,087,760)
4.0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would require the Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to create, maintain, and administer an electronic platform and submission portal, known as My Texas Future, through which a prospective postsecondary student may create a profile and account to access information regarding institutions of higher education at which the student will be accepted for admission and financial aid awards at each institution that the student is eligible to receive. The bill would require that to graduate from high school, a student enrolled in a school district or open-enrollment charter school must elect to either create an account and profile in the My Texas Future portal or opt out.
Methodology
It is assumed that any costs associated with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) providing data to THECB could be absorbed within TEA's existing resources.
The Higher Education Coordinating Board indicates that there would be one-time costs in fiscal year 2026 and recurring costs to implement the bill. For purposes of this analysis, it is assumed that the THECB will continue to use self-reported data and any costs to integrate with TEA or school districts' data are not considered.
The one-time costs include $625,000 related to application development for user experience enhancements and development of field validations to ensure and improve functionality for all students. Additional one-time technology costs total $700,000 and include funding for user management, security, cloud-based tool to handle traffic, and load testing to ensure application security and functionality for the increased number of students visiting the platform.
Beginning in fiscal 2026, the THECB estimates $1,650,000 in ongoing infrastructure costs for the platform tied to an increase in monthly billing through the data center from $75,000 to $212,500 per month due to the increased usage. The agency would also hire 4.0 FTEs to increase outreach for their ApplyTexas Help Desk at a cost of $457,760 in fiscal year 2026 and $437,760 for subsequent fiscal years.
Local Government Impact
School districts would be required to make data available to THECB necessary to administer the bill's provisions for which there may be indeterminate costs to the districts.
Source Agencies:
701 Texas Education Agency, 710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 717 Texas Southern University, 719 Texas State Technical College System Administration, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 758 Texas State University System, 768 Texas Tech University System Administration, 769 University of North Texas System Administration, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board, 783 University of Houston System Administration, 966 Howard College, 978 San Jacinto College