HBA-BSM H.B. 2386 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2386 By: Wilson Higher Education 4/8/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, there is an increase in the number of college graduates in Texas applying for admittance into graduate and professional degree programs, but there are no provisions in place to attract the applicants who are graduating with bachelor's degrees at the top of their class to these programs. House Bill 2386 requires that applicants who graduate with a bachelor's degree in the top 10 percent of their graduating class be automatically admitted to the graduate or professional degree program they apply to at an institution of higher education. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 2386 amends the Education Code to require each institution of higher education (institution) that offers a graduate or professional degree program to admit an applicant for to the degree program if the applicant graduates with a bachelor's degree in the top 10 percent of the applicant's graduating class. The bill requires an institution to hold a lottery to award spaces to eligible applicants if the number of entitled applicants exceeds the number of spaces available for a program. The bill also authorizes an applicant not selected for admission in a lottery to delay admission to the institution until space is available. Each institution is required to adopt policies relating to the admission of students no later than January 1, 2002. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. The Act applies beginning with admissions for the fall term or semester in 2002.