By: Menéndez S.B. No. 1776
(Guillen)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the exemption from the assessment requirements of the
Texas Success Initiative for students who successfully complete
certain college preparatory courses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.3062(q-2), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(q-2) A student who successfully completes a college
preparatory course under Section 28.014 is exempt from the
requirements of this section with respect to the content area of the
course. The exemption is effective for the two-year period
following the date the student graduates from high school, and the
student must enroll in the student's first college-level course in
the exempted content area in the student's first year of enrollment
in an institution of higher education. If the student earns less
than a C in the student's first college-level course in the exempted
content area, the institution shall advise the student of
non-course-based options for becoming college ready, such as
tutoring or accelerated learning. [The commissioner of higher
education by rule shall establish the period for which an exemption
under this subsection is valid.] The exemption applies only at the
institution of higher education that partners with the school
district in which the student is enrolled to provide the course,
except that the commissioner by rule may determine the manner in
which the exemption may be applied to institutions of higher
education other than the partnering institution. The Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board shall collect and analyze data
regarding the effectiveness of college preparatory courses as
measured by students' successful completion of the first
college-level course in the exempted content area. The board shall
report its findings to all partnering institutions of higher
education and independent school districts of each college
preparatory course evaluated, as well as the governor, lieutenant
governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and the members
of the House and Senate Committees on Higher Education.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies
beginning with the assessment of entering undergraduate students at
public institutions of higher education for the 2015 fall semester.
The assessment of an entering undergraduate student for an academic
term before that semester is covered by the law in effect before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.