86R12581 SOS-D
By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 1477
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eliminating the requirement that certain top high
school graduates be granted automatic admission to certain
universities and eliminating the scholarship program for those
graduates to attend certain institutions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 51.803, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 51.803. AUTOMATIC ADMISSION: TOP HIGH SCHOOL
GRADUATES; CHILDREN OF FALLEN PUBLIC SAFETY PERSONNEL [ALL
INSTITUTIONS].
SECTION 2. Section 51.803, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-3) to read as
follows:
(a) Each [Subject to Subsection (a-1), each] general
academic teaching institution shall admit an applicant for
admission to the institution as an undergraduate student if the
applicant graduated with a grade point average in the top 10 percent
of the student's high school graduating class in one of the two
school years preceding the academic year for which the applicant is
applying for admission and:
(1) the applicant graduated from a public or private
high school in this state accredited by a generally recognized
accrediting organization or from a high school operated by the
United States Department of Defense;
(2) the applicant:
(A) successfully completed:
(i) at a public high school, the curriculum
requirements established under Section 28.025 for the
distinguished level of achievement under the foundation high school
program; or
(ii) at a high school to which Section
28.025 does not apply, a curriculum that is equivalent in content
and rigor to the distinguished level of achievement under the
foundation high school program; or
(B) satisfied ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks
on the ACT assessment applicable to the applicant or earned on the
SAT assessment a score of at least 1,500 out of 2,400 or the
equivalent; and
(3) if the applicant graduated from a high school
operated by the United States Department of Defense, the applicant
is a Texas resident under Section 54.052 or is entitled to pay
tuition fees at the rate provided for Texas residents under Section
54.241(d) for the term or semester to which admitted.
(a-3) Subsection (a) does not apply to:
(1) The University of Texas at Austin; or
(2) Texas A&M University.
SECTION 3. The following provisions of the Education Code
are repealed:
(1) Sections 51.803(a-1), (a-2), (a-4), (a-5), (a-6),
(j), (k), and (l); and
(2) Subchapter R, Chapter 56.
SECTION 4. Section 51.803, Education Code, as amended by
this Act, applies beginning with admissions to an institution of
higher education for the 2020-2021 academic year. Admissions to an
institution of higher education for an academic year before that
academic year are governed by the law in effect immediately before
the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. The repeal by this Act of Subchapter R, Chapter
56, Education Code, does not affect a student initially awarded a
scholarship under that subchapter for a semester or other academic
term before the effective date of this Act. A student who initially
receives a scholarship for a semester or other academic term before
that date may continue to receive a scholarship under Subchapter R,
Chapter 56, Education Code, as that subchapter existed immediately
before the effective date of this Act, to the extent funds are
available for that purpose, as long as the student remains eligible
for a scholarship under the former law. The Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board shall adopt rules to administer this section and
shall notify each student who receives a scholarship in the
2019-2020 academic year of the provisions of this section.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect January 1, 2020.