| (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 types of organizations that offer financial aid, such
as 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 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.
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