Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland Senate Bill SB899 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW .
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	sb0899
6	6
7	7	SENATE BILL 899
8	8	F2, F1 5lr2392
9	9
10	10	By: Senator Augustine
11	11	Introduced and read first time: January 28, 2025
12	12	Assigned to: Education, Energy, and the Environment
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Education – High School Class Rankings and Guaranteed Admissions to Public 2
19	19	Senior Institutions of Higher Education 3
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of requiring certain high schools to prepare, in a certain manner, a class 4
22	22	ranking of each high school student who completes a certain grade level to establish 5
23	23	rankings for use in a certain guaranteed admissions process to certain public senior 6
24	24	institutions of higher education in the State; requiring, beginning in a certain 7
25	25	academic year, public senior institutions of higher education to establish a certain 8
26	26	process for accepting high school students who apply for admission under a 9
27	27	guaranteed admission policy; and generally relating to admissions to public senior 10
28	28	institutions of higher education in the State. 11
29	29
30	30	BY renumbering 12
31	31	Article – Education 13
32	32	Section 7–205.2, 7–205.3, and 7–205.4 14
33	33	to be Section 7–205.3, 7–205.4, and 7–205.5, respectively 15
34	34	Annotated Code of Maryland 16
35	35	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 17
36	36
37	37	BY adding to 18
38	38	Article – Education 19
39	39	Section 7–205.2 and 15–101.1 20
40	40	Annotated Code of Maryland 21
41	41	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 22
42	42
43	43	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 23
44	44	Article – Education 24
45	45	Section 10–101(a) and (m) 25
46	46	Annotated Code of Maryland 26
47	47	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 27
48	48	2 SENATE BILL 899
49	49
50	50
51	51	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 1
52	52	Article – Education 2
53	53	Section 15–101(a) 3
54	54	Annotated Code of Maryland 4
55	55	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 5
56	56
57	57	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENER AL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 6
58	58	That Section(s) 7–205.2, 7–205.3, and 7–205.4 of Article – Education of the Annotated Code 7
59	59	of Maryland be renumbered to be Section(s) 7–205.3, 7–205.4, and 7–205.5, respectively. 8
60	60
61	61	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the Laws of Maryland read 9
62	62	as follows: 10
63	63
64	64	Article – Education 11
65	65
66	66	7–205.2. 12
67	67
68	68	(A) (1) IN THIS SECTION THE FOLLOWING WORDS HAVE THE MEANINGS 13
69	69	INDICATED. 14
70	70
71	71	(2) “CLASS” MEANS A COHORT OF STUDENTS IN THE SAME GRADE 15
72	72	LEVEL. 16
73	73
74	74	(3) “HIGH SCHOOL” MEANS A PUBLIC OR NONPUBLIC SCHOOL IN THE 17
75	75	STATE THAT OFFERS A PROGRAM OF INSTRUC TION FOR AT LEAST GRADES 11 AND 18
76	76	12, INCLUDING A VIRTUAL SCHOOL ESTABLISHED U NDER SUBTITLE 14 OF THIS 19
77	77	TITLE. 20
78	78
79	79	(4) “PUBLIC SENIOR INSTITU TION OF HIGHER EDUCA TION” HAS THE 21
80	80	MEANING STATED IN § 10–101 OF THIS ARTICLE. 22
81	81
82	82	(B) THIS SECTION APPLIES ONLY TO STUDENTS ENROLLED IN A HIGH 23
83	83	SCHOOL. 24
84	84
85	85	(C) BEGINNING WITH THE STUDENTS ENTERING GR ADE 12 FOR THE 25
86	86	2025–2026 SCHOOL YEAR , EACH HIGH SCHOOL SHAL L PREPARE A CLASS RA NKING 26
87	87	OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE SCHOOL IN ACCORDANCE WITH T HIS SECTION. 27
88	88
89	89	(D) (1) IF A HIGH SCHOOL CLAS S HAS AT LEAST 15 STUDENTS, ON 28
90	90	COMPLETION OF GRADE 11, EACH STUDENT IN THE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS SHALL BE 29
91	91	RANKED ON THE BASIS OF ACAD EMIC ACHIEVEMENT USI NG A STUDENT’S OVERALL 30
92	92	CUMULATIVE GRADE POI NT AVERAGE AS THE SO LE CRITERION FOR THE RANKING. 31
93	93	SENATE BILL 899 3
94	94
95	95
96	96	(2) SUBJECT TO PARAGRAPH (3) OF THIS SUBSECTION, EACH HIGH 1
97	97	SCHOOL CLASS RANKING SHALL IDENTIFY THE STUDENT S WHO RANK IN THE TO P 5% 2
98	98	AND 10% OF THEIR HIGH SCHOOL CLASS. 3
99	99
100	100	(3) IF A HIGH SCHOOL CLASS MEETS THE REQUIREMEN TS TO BE 4
101	101	RANKED UNDER PARAGRA PH (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION BUT HAS FEWER THAN 20 5
102	102	STUDENTS: 6
103	103
104	104	(I) THE HIGHEST RANKED ST UDENT SHALL BE DESIG NATED AS 7
105	105	BEING THE ONLY STUDE NT IN THE TOP 5% OF THEIR HIGH SCHOOL CLASS; AND 8
106	106
107	107	(II) THE SECOND HIGHEST RA NKED STUDENT SHALL B E 9
108	108	DESIGNATED AS BEING THE ONLY STUDENT IN THE TOP 10% OF THEIR HIGH SCHOOL 10
109	109	CLASS. 11
110	110
111	111	(E) (1) ON COMPLETION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS RANKING 12
112	112	REQUIRED UNDER SUBSECTION (D) OF THIS SECTION, EACH STUDENT WHO RANKS 13
113	113	IN THE TOP 10% OF THEIR HIGH SCHOOL CLASS SHALL BE NOTIFIED BY THE HIGH 14
114	114	SCHOOL OF THE STUDENT ’S CLASS RANK. 15
115	115
116	116	(2) A HIGH SCHOOL CLASS RANK ING IN THE TOP 5% OR 10% AS 16
117	117	DETERMINED UNDER THI S SECTION SHALL BE: 17
118	118
119	119	(I) DESIGNATED ON A STUDENT’S HIGH SCHOOL TRANSC RIPT, 18
120	120	AS APPLICABLE; AND 19
121	121
122	122	(II) USED TO ESTABLISH ELIGIBI LITY FOR GUARANTEED 20
123	123	ADMISSIONS TO A PUBLIC SENIOR INSTITUTION OF HIGHE R EDUCATION UNDER § 21
124	124	15–101.1 OF THIS ARTICLE. 22
125	125
126	126	(F) THE PERCENT AGE DESIGNATIONS FOR A HIGH SCHOOL CLASS RA NKING 23
127	127	UNDER SUBSECTION (D)(3) OF THIS SECTION: 24
128	128
129	129	(1) SHALL BE USED ONLY TO ESTABLISH ELIGIBI LITY FOR 25
130	130	GUARANTEED ADMISSION S TO A PUBLIC SENIOR INSTITUTION OF HIGHE R 26
131	131	EDUCATION UNDER § 15–101.1 OF THIS ARTICLE; AND 27
132	132
133	133	(2) DO NOT PRECLUDE A COU NTY BOARD OR HIGH SCHOOL FROM 28
134	134	USING AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR CALCULATI NG THE NUMBER OF STU DENTS IN 29
135	135	THE TOP 5% AND 10% OF THEIR HIGH SCHOOL CLASS FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE. 30
136	136
137	137	10–101. 31
138	138
139	139	(a) In this division the following words have the meanings indicated. 32 4 SENATE BILL 899
140	140
141	141
142	142
143	143	(m) “Public senior higher education institution” means: 1
144	144
145	145	(1) The constituent institutions of the University System of Maryland and 2
146	146	the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; 3
147	147
148	148	(2) Morgan State University; and 4
149	149
150	150	(3) St. Mary’s College of Maryland. 5
151	151
152	152	15–101. 6
153	153
154	154	(a) (1) [Each] SUBJECT TO PARAGRAPH (2) OF THIS SUBSECTION , EACH 7
155	155	public institution of higher education shall accept for admission any graduate of an 8
156	156	approved public high school: 9
157	157
158	158	[(1)] (I) Who is certified by his high school principal, based on standards 10
159	159	of the State Board of Education, as qualified to pursue a course of study at the institution; 11
160	160	or 12
161	161
162	162	[(2)] (II) Who meets the admission standards of the institution. 13
163	163
164	164	(2) EACH PUBLIC SENIOR IN STITUTION OF HIG HER EDUCATION 14
165	165	SHALL ACCEPT FOR ADM ISSION ANY INDIVIDUAL WHO QUALIFIES FOR GUARAN TEED 15
166	166	ADMISSION UNDER § 15–101.1 OF THIS SUBTITLE. 16
167	167
168	168	15–101.1. 17
169	169
170	170	(A) IN THIS SECTION , “HIGH SCHOOL ” HAS THE MEANING STAT ED IN § 18
171	171	7–205.2 OF THIS ARTICLE. 19
172	172
173	173	(B) EACH PUBLIC SENIOR INSTITUTION OF HIGHE R EDUCATION SHALL 20
174	174	ESTABLISH A PRO CESS FOR ACCEPTING ELIGIBLE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO 21
175	175	APPLY FOR ADMISSION TO THE INSTITUTION UNDER A GUARANTEED ADMISSION 22
176	176	POLICY IN ACCORDANCE WITH T HIS SECTION. 23
177	177
178	178	(C) SUBJECT TO SUBSECTION (D) OF THIS SECTION , BEGINNING IN THE 24
179	179	2026–2027 ACADEMIC YEAR , A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT IS ELIGIBLE FOR 25
180	180	GUARANTEED ADMISSION TO A PUBLIC SENIOR H IGHER EDUCATION INST ITUTION IF 26
181	181	THE STUDENT : 27
182	182
183	183	(1) HAS COMPLETED OR IS E XPECTED TO COMPLETE ALL OF THE 28
184	184	PREREQUISITE COURSES THAT ARE REQ UIRED BY THE INSTITU TION TO WHICH THE 29
185	185	STUDENT APPLIES ; 30
186	186	SENATE BILL 899 5
187	187
188	188
189	189	(2) APPLIES FOR ADMISSION TO AN INSTITUTION: 1
190	190
191	191	(I) BY THE REQUIRED APPLICATION DEADLINE ESTABLISHED 2
192	192	BY THE INSTITUTION; 3
193	193
194	194	(II) DURING GRADE 12 OF HIGH SCHOOL OR THE FINAL YEAR OF 4
195	195	HOME INSTRUCTION ; AND 5
196	196
197	197	(III) SUBJECT TO SUBSECTION (E) OF THIS SECTION, INDICATES 6
198	198	ON THE APPLICATION THAT THE STUDENT QUALIFIES FOR GUARANTEED 7
199	199	ADMISSION; AND 8
200	200
201	201	(3) SATISFIES ONE OF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: 9
202	202
203	203	(I) IS RANKED IN THE TOP 10% OF THE STUDENT’S HIGH 10
204	204	SCHOOL CLASS IN ACCO RDANCE WITH § 7–205.2 OF THIS ARTICLE; 11
205	205
206	206	(II) IS DESIGNATED A S A FINALIST IN THE NATIONAL MERIT 12
207	207	SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM ADMINISTERED BY THE NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP 13
208	208	CORPORATION OR HAS AC HIEVED AN EQUIVALENT DESIGNATION UNDER A 14
209	209	SUCCESSOR PROGRAM OR BY A SUCCESSOR ORGAN IZATION; OR 15
210	210
211	211	(III) 1. PARTICIPATES IN A HOM E INSTRUCTION PROGRAM ; 16
212	212	AND 17
213	213
214	214	2. HAS ATTAINED A SCORE ON A NATIONALLY ACCE PTED 18
215	215	COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXA MINATION THAT PLACES THE INDIVIDUAL ’S SCORE IN AT 19
216	216	LEAST THE 90TH PERCENTILE FOR THE EXAMINATION CYCLE. 20
217	217
218	218	(D) A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR GUARANTEED 21
219	219	ADMISSION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK CAMPUS ONLY IF 22
220	220	THE STUDENT: 23
221	221
222	222	(1) APPLIES FOR ADMISSION BY THE EARLY APPLICA TION DEADLINE 24
223	223	ESTABLISHED BY THE I NSTITUTION; 25
224	224
225	225	(2) SATISFIES ONE OF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: 26
226	226
227	227	(I) IS RANKED IN THE TOP 5% OF THE STUDENT’S HIGH SCHOOL 27
228	228	CLASS IN ACCORDANCE WITH § 7–205.2 OF THIS ARTICLE; 28
229	229
230	230	(II) IS DESIGNATED AS A FI NALIST IN THE NATIONAL MERIT 29
231	231	SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM ADMINISTERED BY THE NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP 30 6 SENATE BILL 899
232	232
233	233
234	234	CORPORATION OR HAS ACHIEVED AN EQUI VALENT DESIGNATION U NDER A 1
235	235	SUCCESSOR PROGRAM OR BY A SUCCESSOR ORGAN IZATION; OR 2
236	236
237	237	(III) 1. PARTICIPATES IN A HOM E INSTRUCTION PROGRA M; 3
238	238	AND 4
239	239
240	240	2. HAS ATTAINED A SCORE ON A NATIONALLY ACCE PTED 5
241	241	COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXA MINATION THAT PLACES THE STUDENT’S SCORE IN AT 6
242	242	LEAST THE 98TH PERCENTILE FOR TH E EXAMINATION CYCLE ; AND 7
243	243
244	244	(3) MEETS THE OTHER REQUIREMENTS ESTABLISHED UNDER 8
245	245	SUBSECTION (C) OF THIS SECTION FOR GUARANTEED ADMIS SION. 9
246	246
247	247	(E) IF A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT ELIGIBLE FOR GUARANT EED ADMISSION 10
248	248	UNDER THIS SECTION APPLIES TO MORE THAN ONE PUB LIC SENIOR INSTITUTI ON OF 11
249	249	HIGHER EDUCATION , THE STUDENT SHALL DESIGNATE THE ONE INSTITUTION TO 12
250	250	WHICH THE STUDENT DESIRES GUARANTEED A DMISSION. 13
251	251
252	252	(F) A PUBLIC SENIOR INSTITUTI ON OF HIGHER EDUCATI ON MAY: 14
253	253
254	254	(1) VERIFY ANY INFORMATIO N REQUIRED BY THE IN STITUTION AND 15
255	255	PROVIDED BY A HIGH SCHOOL STUDEN T INDICATING ELIGIBI LITY FOR GUARANTEED 16
256	256	ADMISSION UNDER THIS SECTION; AND 17
257	257
258	258	(2) REVOKE A STUDENT’S OFFER OF ADMISSION AT THE INSTITUTION 18
259	259	UNDER THE GUARANTEED ADMISSION POLICY UNDER THIS SECTION I F THE 19
260	260	STUDENT: 20
261	261
262	262	(I) IS NOT AWARDED A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA BEFOR E THE 21
263	263	STUDENT’S ANTICIPATED MATRICUL ATION DATE; 22
264	264
265	265	(II) ENGAGES IN ACADEMIC M ISCONDUCT; 23
266	266
267	267	(III) AFTER THE STUDENT’S APPLICATION IS SUBMITTED , 24
268	268	EXPERIENCES SIGNIFIC ANTLY DECLINING GRADES SUCH THAT, UNDER THE 25
269	269	INSTITUTION’S STANDARD APPLICATION P ROCESS, WOULD JUSTIFY THE 26
270	270	INSTITUTION REVOKING AN OFFER FOR ADMISSION; OR 27
271	271
272	272	(IV) MISREPRESENTED ANY INFORMATION ON THE STUDENT’S 28
273	273	APPLICATION REGARDING THE ELIGIB ILITY OF THE STUDENT FOR GUARANTEED 29
274	274	ADMISSION, INCLUDING CLASS RANK, COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXA MINATION SCORE , 30
275	275	OR STATUS AS A FINAL IST IN THE NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 31
276	276	SENATE BILL 899 7
277	277
278	278
279	279	(G) THE PROVISIONS IN THI S SECTION DO NOT GUARANTEE A HIGH SCHOOL 1
280	280	STUDENT ELIGIBLE FOR GUARANT EED ADMISSION PLACEMENT IN A NY SPECIFIC 2
281	281	PROGRAM OFFERED BY THE PUBLIC SENIOR IN STITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION 3
282	282	OR TO ANY SPECIFIC C OLLEGE, SCHOOL, OR FUNCTIONAL EQUIVA LENT WITHIN THE 4
283	283	INSTITUTION TO WHICH THE STUDENT APPLIES. 5
284	284
285	285	SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 6
286	286	1, 2025. 7