H.B. No. 3993
AN ACT
relating to the automatic admission of students with a
nontraditional secondary education to certain public institutions
of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.803, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (m) to read as
follows:
(a) 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:
(A) 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; or
(B) completed a nontraditional secondary
education as defined by Section 51.9241;
(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.
(m) In determining the eligibility for admission under this
section of an applicant with a nontraditional secondary education,
as defined by Section 51.9241, that does not include a high school
graduating class ranking, a general academic teaching institution
shall calculate the applicant's class rank in the manner provided
by Section 51.9241(d).
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply
beginning with admissions to a public institution of higher
education for the 2024 fall semester. Admissions to a public
institution of higher education for a term or semester before the
2024 fall semester 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 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, 2023.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3993 was passed by the House on April
26, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 106, Nays 40, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3993 was passed by the Senate on May
16, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 20, Nays 11.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor