HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES — NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

COMMITTEE:    Higher Education 

TIME & DATE:  9:00 AM, Monday, August 17, 2026 

PLACE:       E2.036 
CHAIR:       Rep. Terry M. Wilson 

The committee will meet to consider and hear invited and public testimony on the following interim charges, with the length of public testimony subject to the discretion of the chair. Public testimony will occur at the completion of invited testimony for all charges considered:

State of Higher Education: Study the current state of higher education in Texas. Examine enrollment trends, workforce demands, and postsecondary outcomes, as well as progress toward the state’s Building a Talent Strong Texas strategic plan. Examine indicators of institutional competitiveness, including completion rates, faculty recruitment and retention, and research classification trends in comparison to other states.

Monitoring: Monitor the implementation and associated rulemaking of legislation passed by the Committee and enacted by the 89th Legislature to ensure that legislative purposes are properly implemented, including the following:

· SB 1786, relating to public higher education.

· SB 2231, relating to requiring the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to waive fees for admission applications submitted to public institutions of higher education during certain periods.

· SB 2314, relating to the creation of an electronic platform and submission portal, known as My Texas Future, to facilitate public high school students' awareness of and application to institutions of higher education using the electronic common admission application form.

Aligning Advising Initiatives: Examine investments by the state in advising systems and tools that support high school and college course planning, credential attainment, and successful transitions to postsecondary education and the workforce. Evaluate partnership based models that leverage postsecondary and labor market research and available data aligned to high-wage and high-demand careers and expand advising capacity. Assess opportunities for the Tri-Agency to better align resources and services to strengthen advising systems and improve student outcomes.

Electronic public comments may be submitted for:

The State of Higher Education

Implementation of SB 1786

Implementation of SB 2231

Implementation of SB 2314

Aligning Advising Initiatives

For those persons who will be testifying, information for in-person witness registration, can be found here: https://mytxlegis.capitol.texas.gov/HWRSPublic/About.aspx

A live video broadcast of this hearing will be available here: https://house.texas.gov/video-audio/

Instructions related to public access to the meeting location are available here: https://house.texas.gov/committees/public-access-house-committee-meetings/

Texas residents who wish to electronically submit comments related to

agenda items on this notice without testifying in person can do so until

the hearing is adjourned by visiting:

https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c290

NOTICE OF ASSISTANCE AT PUBLIC MEETINGS

Persons with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who may need assistance, such as a sign language interpreter, are requested to contact Stacey Nicchio at (512) 463-0850, 72 hours prior to the meeting so that appropriate arrangements can be made.