Part 2.
TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY
Chapter 61.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Subchapter GG. COMMISSIONER'S RULES CONCERNING COUNSELING PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS
19 TAC §61.1071
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) proposes new §61.1071,
concerning counseling public school students regarding higher education. The
proposed new section incorporates the new requirement that the commissioner
adopt rules regarding the provision of counseling about higher education to
first-year, and then again senior-year, high school students or high school
level open-enrollment charter school students, beginning with the 2002-2003
school year, in accordance with Senate Bill (SB) 158, 77th Texas Legislature,
2001.
TEC, Chapter 33, Service Programs and Extracurricular Activities, Subchapter
A, School Counselors and Counseling Programs, was amended by SB 158, 77th
Texas Legislature, 2001, to add §33.007, Counseling Regarding Higher
Education. This new section includes the requirement that counselors provide
information about higher education to students (and students' parents or guardians)
during the first and senior years of high school enrollment. The information
must include information regarding the importance of higher education; the
advantages of completing the recommended or advanced high school program;
the disadvantages of taking courses to prepare for a high school equivalency
examination relative to the benefits of taking courses leading to a high school
diploma; financial aid eligibility; instruction on how to apply for federal
financial aid; the center for financial aid information established under
TEC, §61.0776; the automatic admission of certain students to general
academic teaching institutions as provided by TEC, §51.803; and the requirements
for the TEXAS Grant program. TEC, §33.007, as added by SB 158, 77th Texas
Legislature, 2001, requires the commissioner to adopt rules regarding the
provision of counseling regarding higher education required by §33.007(b).
Robert Muller, associate commissioner for continuing education and school
improvement, has determined that for the first five-year period the new section
is in effect there will be no significant fiscal implications for state or
local government as a result of enforcing or administering the section. High
schools and open-enrollment charter schools may, as a local option, choose
to incur expenditures related to providing and disseminating the required
information; however, they are not required to do so.
Mr. Muller has determined that for each year of the first five years the
section is in effect the public benefit anticipated as a result of enforcing
the new section will include that a variety of information regarding higher
education will be provided to students (and their parents or guardians) during
the first and senior years of high school. There will not be an effect on
small businesses. There is no anticipated economic cost to persons who are
required to comply with the proposed section.
Comments on the proposal may be submitted to Cristina De La Fuente-Valadez,
Accountability Reporting and Research, 1701 North Congress Avenue, Austin,
Texas 78701, (512) 463-9701. Comments may also be submitted electronically
to
rules@tea.state.tx.us
or faxed to (512)
475-3499. All requests for a public hearing on the proposed new section submitted
under the Administrative Procedure Act must be received by the commissioner
of education not more than 15 calendar days after notice of the proposal has
been published in the
Texas Register
.
The new section is proposed under the Texas Education Code (TEC), §33.007,
as added by Senate Bill 158, 77th Texas Legislature, 2001, which authorizes
the commissioner to adopt rules regarding the provision of counseling regarding
higher education as required by §33.007(b) to high school students or
open-enrollment charter school students other than those for whom the 2001-2002
school year is the first or senior year of high school.
The new section implements the Texas Education Code, §33.007, as added
by Senate Bill 158, 77th Texas Legislature, 2001.
§61.1071.Counseling Public School Students Regarding Higher Education.
(a)
In accordance with Texas Education Code (TEC), §33.007,
a counselor shall provide certain information about higher education to a
student and a student's parent or guardian during the first year the student
is enrolled in a high school or at the high school level in an open-enrollment
charter school and again during the student's senior year.
(b)
The information that counselors provide in accordance with
subsection (a) of this section must include information regarding all of the
following:
(1)
the importance of higher education, which:
(A)
includes workforce education, liberal arts studies, science
education, graduate education, and professional education to provide broad
educational opportunities for all students;
(B)
furthers students' intellectual and academic development;
and
(C)
offers students more career choices and a greater potential
earning power;
(2)
the advantages of completing the recommended high school
curriculum or higher, including, at a minimum, curriculum programs which:
(A)
provide students with opportunities to complete higher-level
course work, particularly in mathematics, science, social studies, and languages
other than English, thereby:
(i)
increasing students' readiness for higher education and
reducing the need for additional preparation for college-level work;
(ii)
preparing students for additional advanced work and research
in both career and educational settings;
(iii)
allowing students, in certain instances, to receive college
credit for their high school course work; and
(iv)
enabling students to be eligible for certain financial
aid programs for which they would otherwise be ineligible (e.g., the TEXAS
grant program);
(B)
enable students to receive an academic achievement record
noting the completion of either the recommended program or higher; and
(C)
provide students who elect to complete the distinguished
achievement program with an opportunity to demonstrate student performance
at the college or career level by demonstrating certain advanced measures
of achievement;
(3)
the advantages of taking courses leading to a high school
diploma relative to the disadvantages of preparing for a high school equivalency
examination, including:
(A)
the progressive relationship between education and income;
and
(B)
the greater possibility for post-secondary opportunities
(including higher education and military service) that are available to students
with a high school diploma;
(4)
financial aid eligibility, including;
(A)
the types of available aid, not limited to need-based aid,
and including grants, scholarships, loans, tuition and/or fee exemptions,
and work-study;
(B)
the variety of organizations that offer financial aid,
including, but not limited to, federal and state government, civic or church
groups, foundations, nonprofit organizations, parents' employers, and institutions
of higher education; and
(C)
the importance of meeting financial aid deadlines;
(5)
instruction on how to apply for financial aid, including
guidance and assistance in:
(A)
determining when is the most appropriate time to complete
financial aid forms; and
(B)
completing and submitting the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA) or any new version of this form as adopted by the U.S.
Department of Education;
(6)
the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Center
for Financial Aid Information, including its toll-free telephone line, its
Internet website address, and the various publications available to students
and their parents;
(7)
the Automatic Admissions policy, which provides certain
students who graduate in the top 10% of their high school class with automatic
admission into Texas public universities; and
(8)
the general eligibility and academic performance requirements
for the TEXAS grant program, which allows students meeting the academic standards
set by their college or university to receive awards for up to 150 credit
hours or for six years or until they receive their bachelor's degree, whichever
occurs first. The specific eligibility and academic performance requirements,
along with certain exemptions to these requirements, are specified in Chapter
22, Subchapter L, of this title (relating to Toward Excellence, Access and
Success (TEXAS) Grant Program). The general requirements include:
(A)
Texas residency;
(B)
financial need;
(C)
registration for the Selective Service or exemption from
this requirement;
(D)
completion of the recommended high school program or higher
or, in the case of a public high school that did not offer all of the courses
necessary to complete the recommended or higher curriculum, a certification
from the district and high school counselor that certifies that the student
completed all courses toward such a curriculum that the high school had to
offer;
(E)
enrollment of at least three-quarters time in an undergraduate
degree or certificate program within 16 months of high school graduation,
unless an allowable exemption is satisfied; and
(F)
no conviction of a felony or crime involving a controlled
substance, unless certain conditions are met.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal
has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal
authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State on April 10, 2002.
TRD-200202224
Cristina De La Fuente-Valadez
Manager, Policy Planning
Texas Education Agency
Earliest possible date of adoption: May 26, 2002
For further information, please call: (512) 463-9701
Subchapter A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Chapter 101.
ASSESSMENT