HB 75 - SB 150
FISCAL NOTE
Fiscal Review Committee
Tennessee General Assembly
February 7, 2025
Fiscal Analyst: Laura Moore | Email: laura.moore@capitol.tn.gov | Phone: 615-741-2564
HB 75 - SB 150
SUMMARY OF BILL: Authorizes a student’s Classic Learning Test (CLT) score to be used
as part of admission eligibility requirements to a public institution of higher education. Authorizes
CLT scores to be used to meet eligibility requirements for certain HOPE scholarships and grants
funded by the state lottery.
Requires the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC) to include information concerning
testing dates for the CLT when informing students about lottery scholarship opportunities.
Authorizes TSAC to establish scores on the CLT that are the concordant equivalent to scores
achieved by students on the ACT or SAT.
FISCAL IMPACT:
NOT SIGNIFICANT
Assumptions:
• Under the system established in Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-7-101(a) and (b), the specific
admissions requirements for institutions of higher education vary from one institution to
another. The proposed legislation does not require any such institution to accept a
student’s score on the CLT for purposes of admission.
• It is not known how many such institutions may choose to incorporate CLT scores into
their admission requirements or when they may do so.
• It is assumed that any additional expenditures required to revise admission eligibility
requirements to include CLT scores will be absorbed within the existing resources of those
institutions. Any fiscal impact to the state’s public institutions of higher education is
therefore estimated to be not significant.
• Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-4-902(1), to be eligible for certain scholarships or grants
funded by the state lottery, students must meet a specific grade point average, ACT or SAT
score, or cumulative grade point average.
• Adding CLT scores concordant and equivalent to scores achieved by students on the ACT
or SAT to the eligibility requirements as a means of obtaining a state lottery scholarship or
grant is not estimated to increase the number of financial aid recipients or the amount of
financial aid awarded.
• Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-4-912(a), receipt of a Tennessee HOPE scholarship is
contingent upon admission to an eligible postsecondary institution. Academically qualifying
for a Tennessee HOPE scholarship does not guarantee admission to an eligible
postsecondary institution.
HB 75 - SB 150 2
• To receive a regular high school diploma, all students enrolled in a Tennessee public school
during their eleventh-grade year must take either the ACT or SAT.
• Districts may choose to administer the ACT or the SAT to all eleventh-grade students
during a school day at no cost to the students. Districts can offer the SAT in place of the
ACT or offer students the option of choosing either the ACT or the SAT. Students who
wish to take both must take one at their own expense.
• Public high school students in Tennessee have the opportunity to take the ACT two times
for free during normal school hours.
• It is assumed that any student electing to take a CLT will be required to pay the costs from
their personal resources; any local costs to administer CLT examinations are not significant.
• The addition of the CLT is not estimated to reduce the number of ACT or SAT tests
administered; therefore, there will not be a significant reduction in cost to the Department
of Education or state or local government relevant to such testing.
• TSAC can include information concerning testing dates for the CLT and establish scores on
the CLT that are the concordant equivalent to scores on the ACT or SAT within existing
resources.
CERTIFICATION:
The information contained herein is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
Bojan Savic, Executive Director