HBA-KDB, LJP H.B. 1641 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1641
By: Rangel
Higher Education
2/25/2001
Introduced


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

After Hopwood v. Texas, in which the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled that race and ethnicity had been used illegally in admissions
decisions at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law, the number of
minority applicants to the state's graduate and professional schools
decreased dramatically.  The number of African American and Hispanic
students in these programs may not accurately reflect the population of
these minorities in Texas.  House Bill 1641 provides that a graduate or
professional program must consider factors relating to an applicant's
background in making an admissions or competitive scholarship decision for
a graduate or professional program. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board in SECTION 1 (Section 51.823, Education Code) and SECTION 2 of this
bill. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1641 amends the Education Code to provide that a graduate or
professional program of a general academic teaching institution or medical
or dental unit (institution) must consider certain prescribed factors
relating to an applicant's background in making an admissions or
scholarship decision for admissions into or competitive scholarships  for
the graduate or professional program. 

 The bill  requires  the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB)
and each institution to adopt rules or policies relating to the admission
of students and the awarding of scholarships. 

The bill provides that an applicant's performance on a standardized test
may be used in the admissions or competitive scholarship process only to
compare the applicant's test score with those of other applicants from
similar socioeconomic backgrounds.  If an applicant's performance is used
for that purpose, it must be considered together with other compensatory
criteria and may not account for more than 25 percent of the weight
assigned to factors considered in the admissions or competitive scholarship
process. 

The bill requires each institution to publish a description of the factors
to be considered by the institution or unit in making admission and
competitive scholarship decisions in the appropriate catalog, and to make
the information available to the public and to applicants for graduate and
professional programs.  For the 2002 fall semester, the required
information must be available not later than December 1, 2001.  For
admissions and competitive scholarship for any following semester, the
required information must be available not later than one year before the
date the applications for admissions and competitive scholarships are first
considered for a graduate or professional program. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

The 91st day after adjournment.  The Act applies beginning with the
admissions and competitive scholarships for the academic year 2002-2003.