Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) Each public
university shall admit first-time undergraduate students for each semester in
accordance with Texas Education Code, §§
51.801 -
51.809.
Only The University of Texas at Austin shall admit students under Texas
Education Code §
51.803(a-1)
- (a-5) and subsection (e) of this section.
(b) All applicants from Texas schools
accredited by a generally recognized accrediting agency and who graduate in the
top 10 percent of their high school class or who graduate in the top 25 percent
of their high school class, to the extent the governing board of a general
academic teaching institution has adopted such an admission policy, shall be
admitted to a general academic teaching institution if the student meets the
following conditions:
(1) The student has met
one of the following:
(A) Successfully
completed the distinguished level of achievement under the Foundation,
Recommended, or Advanced High School Program from a Texas public high school as
outlined under Texas Education Code, §
28.025,
as well as, 19 TAC §§
74.63,
74.64,
74.73,
and
74.74(relating
to the distinguished level of achievement under the Foundation, Recommended
High School Program, or Distinguished Achievement High School Program--Advanced
High School Program);
(B)
Successfully completed a curriculum from a high school in Texas other than a
public high school that is equivalent in content and rigor to the distinguished
level of achievement under the Foundation, the Recommended, or Advanced High
School Program as outlined under subsection (c) of this section;
(C) Satisfied ACT's College Readiness
Benchmarks on the ACT assessment; or
(D) Earned on the SAT assessment:
(i) if the SAT was administered prior to
March 5, 2016, a combined critical reading (formerly "verbal") and mathematics
score of 1070 with a minimum of 500 on the critical reading test and a minimum
of 500 on the mathematics test; or
(ii) if the SAT was administered on or after
March 5, 2016, a minimum score of 480 on the Evidenced-Based Reading and
Writing (EBRW) test and a minimum score of 530 on the mathematics test (no
combined score); and
(2) The student submitted an official high
school transcript or diploma that must, not later than the end of the student's
junior year, indicate whether the student has satisfied the requirements
outlined under paragraph (1)(A) or (B) of this subsection.
(3) For applicants who graduate in the top 10
percent of their high school class and want to be considered for automatic
admission under Texas Education Code, §
51.803,
the student must:
(A) Submit a complete
application defined by the institution before the expiration of the
institution's established deadline; and
(B) Have graduated from high school within
the two years prior to the academic year for which the student is applying for
admission.
(c)
A student is considered to have satisfied the requirements of subsection
(b)(1)(A) or (B) of this section if the student completed all or the portion of
the distinguished level of achievement under the Foundation, Recommended, or
Advanced High School Program of a curriculum equivalent in content and rigor,
as applicable, that was available to the student. A student may be considered
to have completed the distinguished level of achievement under the Foundation,
Recommended, or Advanced High School curriculum if a student was unable to
complete the remainder of the curriculum solely because courses necessary to
complete the remainder were unavailable to the student at the appropriate times
in the student's high school career as a result of course scheduling, lack of
enrollment capacity, or another cause not within the student's control. The
standards for determining whether a student has satisfied the requirements of
this subsection include the following:
(1)
For a student in a Texas public high school, the public high school providing
to a Texas public institution of higher education the Academic Achievement
Record or transcript outlined under subsection (b)(2) of this section must
indicate, in a form and manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Higher
Education, whether the student has completed all or a portion of the
distinguished level of achievement under the Foundation, Recommended, or
Advanced High School Program or of the curriculum equivalent in content and
rigor, as applicable, that was available.
(2) For a student in a Texas private high
school, the private high school providing to a Texas public institution of
higher education the transcript or diploma outlined under subsection (b)(2) of
this section must:
(A) Be accredited by the
Texas Private School Accreditation Commission or other accrediting
organizations recognized by the Texas Education Agency; and
(B) Indicate, in a form and manner prescribed
by the Commissioner of Higher Education, whether the student has completed all
or a portion of the distinguished level of achievement under the Foundation,
Recommended, or Advanced High School Program or of the curriculum equivalent in
content and rigor, as applicable, that was available.
(d) All applicants from high
schools operated by the United States Department of Defense and who graduate in
the top 10 percent of their high school class shall be admitted to a general
academic teaching institution if the student meets the following conditions, or
if subsection (c) of this section applies whether the student has completed the
portion of the distinguished level of achievement under the Foundation,
recommended, or advanced curriculum or of the curriculum equivalent in content
and rigor, as applicable, that was available to the student:
(1) The student graduated from high school
within the two years prior to the academic year for which the student is
applying;
(2) The student is a
Texas resident as defined in Texas Education Code, §
54.052
or is entitled to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided for Texas residents
for the term or semester to which the student is admitted;
(3) The student submitted a complete
application as defined by the institution before the expiration of the
institution's established deadline; and
(4) The student meets the curriculum or the
ACT/SAT test score requirements as outlined under subsection (b)(1) of this
section.
(e) For the
period beginning with the 2011-2012 academic year, The University of Texas at
Austin is not required to admit applicants under this subchapter in excess of
the number needed to fill 75 percent of first-time resident undergraduate
students.
(f) High school rank for
students seeking automatic admission to a general academic teaching institution
on the basis of their class rank is determined and reported as follows:
(1) Most recent available class rank, based
on a point in time no earlier than the end of the 11th grade, shall be used for
admission decision-making.
(2) The
top 10 percent and top 25 percent of a high school class shall not contain more
than 10 percent and top 25 percent, respectively, of the total class
size.
(3) The student's rank shall
be reported by the applicant's high school or school district as a specific
number out of a specific number total class size.
(4) Class rank shall be determined by the
school or school district from which the student graduated or is expected to
graduate.
(g) A general
academic teaching institution may limit the number of students admitted under
this section if the number of applicants eligible and applying for admission to
the institution under this section exceeds by more than 10 percent the average
number of first-time freshmen admitted the previous two academic years. If an
institution chooses to limit the number of students admitted under this
section, it must ensure that:
(1) At least 97
percent of first-time freshmen admitted are in the top 10 percent of their high
school class; and
(2) Clear
guidelines are established for the selection of students based on one or a
specified combination of the following methods:
(A) A lottery in which all students qualified
for automatic admission have an equal chance for selection;
(B) Students are selected on a first-come,
first-admitted basis following receipt of a complete application; or
(C) At least four or more criteria identified
in Texas Education Code, §
51.805 are used
to select students admitted.
(h) The 18 admissions factors outlined in
Texas Education Code, §
51.805(b)
may be considered by a general academic teaching institution when an applicant
is eligible for admission under the "other admissions" provision as described
in Texas Education Code, §
51.805, but only
after the applicant has met the curriculum or the ACT/SAT test score
requirements as outlined under subsection (b)(1) of this section. Applicants
participating in the minimum, recommended, or advanced high school program may
be considered under the "other admissions" provision according to this
subsection.
(i) Each public
institution of higher education shall admit a student as an undergraduate if
the student meets the following conditions:
(1) Is the child of a public servant listed
in Texas Government Code, §
615.003 who was
killed or sustained a fatal injury in the line of duty according to
requirements for verification outlined by the institution; and
(2) Meets the minimum admissions requirements
established for purposes of this subsection by the governing board of the
institution for high school or prior college-level grade point average and
performance on standardized tests.
(j) Each general academic teaching
institution shall annually report to the Board the composition of the entering
class of first-time freshmen students admitted under this section. The report
shall include a demographic breakdown of the class including race, ethnicity,
and economic status. Each general academic teaching institution shall provide
this report to the Board annually on or before a date set by the
Board.
