Bill Text: TX HB1193 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the eligibility requirements for automatic admission of undergraduate students to four-year public institutions of higher education and to certain scholarship and reporting and notice requirements relating to automatic admission.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-01 - Referred to Higher Education [HB1193 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB1193-Introduced.html

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82R4733 KSD-D
By: Woolley H.B. No. 1193

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility requirements for automatic admission of
undergraduate students to four-year public institutions of higher
education and to certain scholarship and reporting and notice
requirements relating to automatic admission.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.803, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (a-1) and adding Subsections (a-7) and
(a-8) 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 core curriculum 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 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;
(2) the applicant:
(A) successfully completed:
(i) at a public high school, the curriculum
requirements established under Section 28.025 for the recommended
or advanced 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 recommended or advanced 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
54.058(d) for the term or semester to which admitted.
(a-1) Beginning with admissions for the 2011-2012 academic
year, The University of Texas at Austin is not required to offer
admission to applicants who qualify for automatic admission under
Subsection (a) in excess of the number required to fill 75 percent
of the university's enrollment capacity designated for first-time
resident undergraduate students in an academic year. If the number
of applicants who qualify for automatic admission to The University
of Texas at Austin under Subsection (a) for an academic year exceeds
75 percent of the university's enrollment capacity designated for
first-time resident undergraduate students for that academic year,
the university may elect to offer admission to those applicants as
provided by this subsection and not as otherwise required by
Subsection (a). If the university elects to offer admission under
this subsection, the university shall offer admission to those
applicants by percentile rank according to high school graduating
class standing based on core curriculum grade point average,
beginning with the top percentile rank, until the applicants
qualified under Subsection (a) 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. After the applicants qualified for automatic
admission under Subsection (a) 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, the university shall 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.
(a-7) For purposes of this section, a student's core
curriculum grade point average is determined by computing a
student's grade point average only for those nonelective courses
required by State Board of Education rules for a student's high
school graduation under the high school program applicable to the
student under Section 28.025 or, at a high school to which Section
28.025 does not apply, the comparable nonelective courses required
for a student's graduation. The State Board of Education may adopt
rules for determining whether a particular course is included in
the core curriculum for purposes of this subsection.
(a-8) Each school district shall compute a student's core
curriculum grade point average and graduating class standing
according to core curriculum grade point average for purposes of
this section.
SECTION 2. Section 51.804, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.804. ADDITIONAL AUTOMATIC ADMISSIONS: SELECTED
INSTITUTIONS. For each academic year, the governing board of each
general academic teaching institution shall determine whether to
adopt an admissions policy under which an applicant to the
institution as a first-time freshman student, other than an
applicant eligible for admission under Section 51.803, shall be
admitted to the institution if the applicant:
(1) graduated from a public or private high school in
this state accredited by a generally recognized accrediting
organization with a core curriculum grade point average, as
determined under Section 51.803(a-7), in the top 25 percent of the
applicant's high school graduating class; and
(2) satisfies the requirements of:
(A) Section 51.803(a)(2)(A) or 51.803(b), as
applicable to the student, or Section 51.803 (a)(2)(B); and
(B) Sections 51.803(c)(2) and 51.803(d).
SECTION 3. Section 28.026(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The board of trustees of a school district shall require
each high school in the district to post appropriate signs in each
counselor's office, in each principal's office, and in each
administrative building indicating the substance of Section 51.803
regarding automatic college admission. To assist in the
dissemination of this information, the school district shall:
(1) require that each high school counselor and class
advisor be provided a detailed explanation of the substance of
Section 51.803;
(2) provide each district student, at the time the
student first registers for one or more classes required for high
school graduation, with a written notification of the substance of
Section 51.803;
(3) require that each high school counselor and senior
class advisor explain to eligible students the substance of Section
51.803; and
(4) not later than the 14th day after the last day of
classes for the fall semester or an equivalent date in the case of a
school operated on a year-round system under Section 25.084,
provide each eligible senior student under Section 51.803 and each
student enrolled in the junior year of high school who has a core
curriculum grade point average, as determined under Section
51.803(a-7), in the top 10 percent of the student's high school
class, and the student's parent or guardian, with a written
notification of the student's eligibility with a detailed
explanation in plain language of the substance of Section 51.803.
SECTION 4. Section 33.007(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) At the beginning of grades 10 and 11, a school counselor
certified under the rules of the State Board for Educator
Certification shall explain the requirements of automatic
admission to a general academic teaching institution under Section
51.803 to each student enrolled in a high school or at the high
school level in an open-enrollment charter school who has a core
curriculum grade point average, as determined under Section
51.803(a-7), in the top 25 percent of the student's high school
class.
SECTION 5. The heading to Subchapter R, Chapter 56,
Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER R. SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS GRADUATING WITH CORE
CURRICULUM GRADE POINT AVERAGE IN TOP 10 PERCENT OF HIGH SCHOOL
CLASS
SECTION 6. Sections 56.481 and 56.484, Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 56.481. PURPOSE. The purpose of this program is to
encourage attendance at public institutions of higher education in
this state by outstanding high school students who graduated with a
core curriculum grade point average, as determined under Section
51.803(a-7), in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.
Sec. 56.484. INITIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR SCHOLARSHIP. To be
eligible for a scholarship under this subchapter, a student must:
(1) have graduated from a public or accredited private
high school in this state with a core curriculum grade point
average, as determined under Section 51.803(a-7), in the [while
ranked in the] top 10 percent of the student's graduating class,
subject to Section 56.487(b);
(2) have completed the recommended or advanced high
school curriculum established under Section 28.025 or its
equivalent;
(3) have applied for admission as a first-time
freshman student for the 2010-2011 academic year or a subsequent
academic year to an institution of higher education that has
elected to offer admissions for that academic year to applicants as
provided by Section 51.803(a-1);
(4) enroll as a first-time freshman student in an
institution of higher education not later than the 16th month after
the date of the student's high school graduation;
(5) have been awarded a TEXAS grant under Subchapter M
for the same semester or other academic term for which the
scholarship will be awarded;
(6) be a Texas resident under Section 54.052; and
(7) comply with any other eligibility requirements
established by coordinating board rule.
SECTION 7. Section 56.487(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The coordinating board may permit a student to establish
initial eligibility based on the student's core curriculum grade
point average class rank at the end of the student's seventh
semester in high school. The board may revoke an initial
scholarship awarded to a student who subsequently loses eligibility
based on the student's core curriculum grade point average class
rank on graduation from high school. For purposes of this
subsection, a student's core curriculum grade point average is
determined under Section 51.803(a-7).
SECTION 8. Section 61.0902(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Not later than the next November 1 following the
completion of an academic year, each general academic teaching
institution shall provide to the board one or more reports
containing data related to:
(1) the qualifications of the entering freshman class
for the academic year covered by the report, including:
(A) the average Texas Academic Skills Program
Test scores of the class;
(B) the average scores of the class on each
generally recognized test or assessment used in college and
university undergraduate admissions, including the Scholastic
Assessment Test and the American College Test;
(C) the range of scores of the class from the 25th
to the 75th percentile on each generally recognized test or
assessment used in college and university undergraduate
admissions, including the Scholastic Assessment Test and the
American College Test;
(D) the overall grade point average of the class
for the academic year covered by the report;
(E) the number of students in the class who
graduated with a core curriculum grade point average, as determined
under Section 51.803(a-7), in the top 10 percent of the student's
high school graduating class; and
(F) enrollment percentages by ethnicity; and
(2) student performance and institution efficiency,
including:
(A) the retention rate of full-time students
after the completion of one academic year at the institution;
(B) the percentage of full-time degree-seeking
undergraduate students who earn a baccalaureate degree before the
sixth anniversary of the date of the student's first enrollment at
the institution;
(C) the percentage of lower-division semester
credit hours taught by tenured or tenure-track faculty;
(D) the percentage of undergraduate classes with
fewer than 20 students;
(E) the percentage of undergraduate classes with
more than 50 students;
(F) the student-to-faculty ratio for
undergraduate students;
(G) the percentage of students receiving
financial aid;
(H) the average cost of tuition and fees for an
undergraduate student enrolled for 12 semester credit hours;
(I) the average cost of on-campus room and board
for an academic year, excluding summer sessions;
(J) the number of disciplines in which master's
degrees are offered;
(K) the number of disciplines in which doctoral
degrees are offered;
(L) a description of any departments, schools, or
certificate or degree programs of the institution that have a
statewide or national reputation for excellence; and
(M) statistics regarding job placement rates for
students awarded certificates or degrees by the institution.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
51.803 and 51.804, Education Code, apply beginning with admissions
to a general academic teaching institution for the 2015-2016
academic year. Admissions to a general academic teaching
institution for an academic period preceding that academic year are
covered 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. The changes in law made by this Act to
Subchapter R, Chapter 56, Education Code, apply beginning with
scholarships awarded for the 2015-2016 academic year.
Scholarships awarded under that subchapter for an academic year
preceding that academic year 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 11. This Act takes effect January 1, 2013.