HBA-SEP H.B. 2109 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2109
By: Farrar
Higher Education
3/13/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law requires each undergraduate student entering an institution of
higher education who does 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 is 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 may 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 3.0 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 fifth
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 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale or the equivalent and has completed
certain curriculum requirements.  The exemption is effective only if that
person enrolls in an institution of higher education on or before the fifth
anniversary of the date the person graduated from high school.  The bill
requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board 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 has met this
state's curriculum requirements. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, of if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.