HBA-SEP H.B. 2109 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2109 By: Farrar Higher Education 7/16/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior to the 77th Legislature, state law required each undergraduate student entering an institution of higher education who did not achieve certain scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills test, American College Test, or Scholastic Assessment Test to take the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) test to assess whether the student's skill level was adequate to perform effectively in an undergraduate degree program. There are exemptions from TASP for students enrolled in distance learning outside the state, deaf students, students who have graduated with a baccalaureate degree, and students who are enrolled in a certificate program of one year or less. A student who graduates from high school with a higher grade point average might not need to take a diagnostic test to indicate whether the student's skill level is adequate to perform effectively in an undergraduate degree program. House Bill 2109 exempts from the TASP test requirement a person who graduates from a public high school or accredited private high school in any state with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale or the equivalent and has completed certain curriculum requirements if that person enrolls in an institution of higher education on or before the second anniversary of the date the student graduated from high school. 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 51.306, Education Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS House Bill 2109 amends the Education Code to exempt from the Texas Academic Skills Program test a person who has graduated from a public high school or accredited private high school in any state with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale or the equivalent and who has completed certain curriculum requirements. The exemption is effective only if that person enrolls in an institution of higher education on or before the second anniversary of the date the person graduated from high school. The bill requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule to establish standards for determining whether a private school is accredited and whether a person completed a high school curriculum at an accredited private high school or at a high school outside of this state that is equivalent or similar to this state's curriculum requirements. EFFECTIVE DATE June 15, 2001.