By: Guerra (Senate Sponsor - West) H.B. No. 2537
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2017;
May 10, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 22, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 8, Nays 1; May 22, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring public schools to provide information to
certain students on the availability of financial assistance for
postsecondary education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. 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 each year of a student's
enrollment in high school or at the high school level, a school
counselor shall provide information about postsecondary education
to the student and the student's parent or guardian. The
information must include information regarding:
(1) the importance of postsecondary education;
(2) the advantages of earning an endorsement and a
performance acknowledgment and completing the distinguished level
of achievement under the foundation high school program under
Section 28.025;
(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]
(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;
and
(10) the availability of education and training
vouchers and tuition and fee waivers to attend an institution of
higher education as provided by Section 54.366 for a student who is
or was previously in the conservatorship of the Department of
Family and Protective Services.
SECTION 2. 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, 2017.
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