The bill amends the Education Code to establish new guidelines for public institutions of higher education regarding the academic fresh start policy for undergraduate admissions. Specifically, it allows institutions to disregard academic course credits or grades earned by an applicant more than 10 years prior to the semester they wish to enroll, with the stipulation that any credits or grades from the five years preceding that date cannot be disregarded. Institutions that choose to apply this disregard must do so uniformly for all courses within that timeframe and cannot award credit for those disregarded courses. Additionally, each institution is required to adopt and publicly post a policy detailing how they will implement this admissions process.

Furthermore, the bill modifies the existing provisions related to semester credit hours for students enrolled in baccalaureate programs. It clarifies that semester credit hours earned more than 10 years before the start of a new degree program, which are disregarded under the institution's policy, will not count towards determining whether a student has previously earned the required number of credit hours. The changes will take effect for admissions starting in the fall semester of 2025 and for funding recommendations related to these credit hours in the subsequent fiscal biennium.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Education Code 51.931, Education Code 61.0595 (Education Code 61, Education Code 51)
House Committee Report: Education Code 51.931, Education Code 61.0595 (Education Code 61, Education Code 51)