81R910 KSD-D
By: Woolley H.B. No. 156
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eliminating automatic admission to certain public
institutions of higher education based on high school grade point
average.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.0252(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) If the commissioner develops a standard method under
this section, a school district shall use the standard method to
compute a student's high school grade point average[, except that
to the extent of a conflict between that method and the method
adopted under Section 51.807, the student's grade point average
computed in accordance with the method established under Section
51.807 shall be used in determining the student's eligibility for
university admission under Subchapter U, Chapter 51].
SECTION 2. Section 33.007(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) During the first school year a student is enrolled in a
high school or at the high school level in an open-enrollment
charter school, and again during a student's senior year, a
counselor shall provide information about higher education to the
student and the student's parent or guardian. The information must
include information regarding:
(1) the importance of higher education;
(2) the advantages of completing the recommended or
advanced high school program adopted under Section 28.025(a);
(3) the disadvantages of taking courses to prepare for
a high school equivalency examination relative to the benefits of
taking courses leading to a high school diploma;
(4) financial aid eligibility;
(5) instruction on how to apply for federal financial
aid;
(6) the center for financial aid information
established under Section 61.0776;
(7) [the automatic admission of certain students to
general academic teaching institutions as provided by Section
51.803;
[(8)] the eligibility and academic performance
requirements for the TEXAS Grant as provided by Subchapter M,
Chapter 56; and
(8) [(9)] the availability of programs in the district
under which a student may earn college credit, including advanced
placement programs, dual credit programs, joint high school and
college credit programs, and international baccalaureate programs.
SECTION 3. Section 51.4032, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.4032. ANNUAL REPORT OF PARTICIPATION IN HIGHER
EDUCATION. Not later than December 1 of each year and in the form
prescribed by the coordinating board, each general academic
teaching institution and medical and dental unit as defined in
Section 61.003 shall provide to the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board and shall publish on the institution's website a
report describing the composition of the institution's entering
class of students. The report must include a demographic breakdown
of the class, including a breakdown by race, ethnicity, economic
status, and high school class standing. A report submitted by a
general academic teaching institution or medical and dental unit as
defined in Section 61.003 must include [separate demographic
breakdowns of the students admitted under Sections 51.803, 51.804,
and 51.805 and] a description of any plans, policies, or programs
developed or implemented by the institution to recruit and retain
students from underrepresented groups such as racial or ethnic
minority groups.
SECTION 4. The heading to Section 51.805, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 51.805. UNDERGRADUATE [OTHER] ADMISSIONS.
SECTION 5. Sections 51.805(a), (b), and (e), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) [A graduating student who does not qualify for admission
under Section 51.803 or 51.804 may apply to any general academic
teaching institution if the student satisfies the requirements of:
[(1) Section 51.803(a)(2)(A) or 51.803(b), as
applicable to the student, or Section 51.803(a)(2)(B); and
[(2) Sections 51.803(c)(2) and 51.803(d).
[(b) The general academic teaching institution, after
admitting students under Sections 51.803 and 51.804, shall admit
other applicants for admission as undergraduate students.] It is
the intent of the legislature that all institutions of higher
education pursue academic excellence by considering students'
academic achievements in decisions related to admissions.
(b) Because of changing demographic trends, diversity, and
population increases in the state, each general academic teaching
institution shall also consider all of, any of, or a combination of
the following socioeconomic indicators or factors in making
first-time freshman admissions decisions:
(1) the applicant's academic record;
(2) the socioeconomic background of the applicant,
including the percentage by which the applicant's family is above
or below any recognized measure of poverty, the applicant's
household income, and the applicant's parents' level of education;
(3) whether the applicant would be the first
generation of the applicant's family to attend or graduate from an
institution of higher education;
(4) whether the applicant has bilingual proficiency;
(5) the financial status of the applicant's school
district;
(6) the performance level of the applicant's school as
determined by the school accountability criteria used by the Texas
Education Agency;
(7) the applicant's responsibilities while attending
school, including whether the applicant has been employed, whether
the applicant has helped to raise children, or other similar
factors;
(8) the applicant's region of residence;
(9) whether the applicant is a resident of a rural or
urban area or a resident of a central city or suburban area in the
state;
(10) the applicant's performance on standardized
tests;
(11) the applicant's performance on standardized tests
in comparison with that of other students from similar
socioeconomic backgrounds;
(12) whether the applicant attended any school while
the school was under a court-ordered desegregation plan;
(13) the applicant's involvement in community
activities;
(14) the applicant's extracurricular activities;
(15) the applicant's commitment to a particular field
of study;
(16) the applicant's personal interview;
(17) the applicant's admission to a comparable
accredited out-of-state institution; and
(18) any other consideration the institution
considers necessary to accomplish the institution's stated
mission.
(e) This section does not apply to an institution that has
an open enrollment policy[, except that a student may apply to a
general academic teaching institution that has an open enrollment
policy only if the student satisfies the requirements described by
Subsection (a)].
SECTION 6. Section 51.807, Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 941 (H.B. 3826) and 1369 (H.B. 3851), Acts of the 80th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.807. RULEMAKING. [(a) To ensure a uniform standard
for admissions under this subchapter, the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board shall adopt rules establishing a standard method
for computing a student's high school grade point average. The
method established under this subsection:
[(1) must:
[(A) be based on a four-point scale; and
[(B) assign additional weight for each honors
course, advanced placement course, international baccalaureate
course, or dual credit course completed by the student as the board
considers appropriate, taking into consideration the academic
rigor of each course completed by the student; and
[(2) may result in a student having a grade point
average higher than 4.0 on a four-point scale as a result of the
assignment of additional weight for one or more courses completed
by a student under Subdivision (1)(B).
[(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, after
consulting with the Texas Education Agency, by rule shall establish
standards for determining for purposes of this subchapter:
[(1) whether a private high school is accredited by a
generally recognized accrediting organization; and
[(2) whether a person completed a high school
curriculum that is equivalent in content and rigor to the
curriculum requirements established under Section 28.025 for the
recommended or advanced high school program.
[(c)] The board may adopt [other] rules relating to the
operation of admissions programs under this subchapter[, including
rules relating to the identification of eligible students.
[(d) The standard method established under Subsection (a)
for computing a student's high school grade point average applies
to computing the grade point average of a student applying as a
first-time freshman for admission to a general academic teaching
institution beginning with admissions for the 2009 fall semester.
This subsection expires January 1, 2010].
SECTION 7. Section 51.842(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A graduate or professional program of a general academic
teaching institution or medical or dental unit may consider the
following factors in making an admissions or scholarship decision
for admissions into or competitive scholarships for the graduate or
professional program:
(1) an applicant's academic record as a high school
student and undergraduate student;
(2) the socioeconomic background of the applicant
while the applicant attended elementary and secondary school and
was an undergraduate student, including any change in that
background;
(3) whether the applicant would be the first
generation of the applicant's family to attend or graduate from an
undergraduate program or from a graduate or professional program;
(4) whether the applicant has multilingual
proficiency;
(5) the applicant's responsibilities while attending
elementary and secondary school and as an undergraduate student,
including whether the applicant was employed, whether the applicant
helped to raise children, and other similar factors;
(6) to achieve geographic diversity, the applicant's
region of residence at the time of application and, if the applicant
graduated from a public high school in this state within the
preceding 20 years, the region in which the applicant's school
district is located;
(7) the applicant's involvement in community
activities;
(8) the applicant's demonstrated commitment to a
particular field of study;
(9) for admission into a professional program, the
current comparative availability of members of that profession in
the applicant's region of residence while the applicant attended
elementary and secondary school;
[(10) whether the applicant was automatically
admitted to a general academic teaching institution as an
undergraduate student under Section 51.803;] and
(10) [(11)] the applicant's personal interview.
SECTION 8. Sections 28.026, 51.803, 51.804, and 51.8045,
Education Code, are repealed.
SECTION 9. The change in law made by this Act applies
beginning with admissions to a general academic teaching
institution for the 2010-2011 academic year. Admissions 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
prior law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.