2025 · Regular session · Senate bill
SB1241
SB1241 replaces the named ACT/SAT score alternatives in two public-college admission provisions with examinations and scores designated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Official caption: Relating to the consideration of college entrance examinations for admission to certain public institutions of higher education and a study by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board regarding those examinations.
Official report lists Senate author(s): Middleton. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.
Bill highlights
Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.
- SB1241 replaces the named ACT/SAT score alternatives in two public-college admission provisions with examinations and scores designated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
- What changes—and what does not: In the automatic-admission provision, completing the specified distinguished-level high school curriculum remains one route to meeting the curriculum/test condition; a board-set score on a board-designated exam becomes the alternative.
- Required study: The coordinating board must study which entrance exams have sufficient rigor and reliability and what scores demonstrate adequate performance for admission to a general academic teaching institution.
What does it do?
SB1241 replaces the named ACT/SAT score alternatives in two public-college admission provisions with examinations and scores designated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Crucially, the admission changes begin with the fall 2028 semester, not immediately. The act itself was signed June 20, 2025, and took effect September 1, 2025. Earlier admissions remain governed by the prior law under this act’s transition clause. Final law, sections 1–2 and 4–5; Official history.
What changes—and what does not: In the automatic-admission provision, completing the specified distinguished-level high school curriculum remains one route to meeting the curriculum/test condition; a board-set score on a board-designated exam becomes the alternative. Class-rank, graduation, residency and other applicable requirements are not erased. For students outside the specified automatic-admission routes, completing the foundation curriculum or its equivalent remains an alternative to the board-designated test route for eligibility to apply. Being eligible to apply is not guaranteed admission. The act does not require every student to take a new test or itself approve any named replacement exam. Final law, sections 1–2; Existing application-versus-admission framework.
Required study: The coordinating board must study which entrance exams have sufficient rigor and reliability and what scores demonstrate adequate performance for admission to a general academic teaching institution. It must report its results and recommendations to the governor, lieutenant governor, House speaker and relevant legislative committee chairs by August 1, 2026. The study section expires September 1, 2027; that expiration is not the start date for the fall-2028 admission changes. The act creates the duty and deadline; this review does not establish that the report was delivered or that later exam-designation rules have been adopted. Final law, section 3.
What changed along the way?
The prior admission language expressly referred to ACT college-readiness benchmarks or an SAT score of 1,500 out of 2,400 or its equivalent. The final act delegates the exam/score selection rather than placing a particular replacement exam in the statute. The introduced bill contemplated fall-2026 admissions; the Senate committee substitute added a study and a temporary requirement to keep the existing exams/scores for the 2026–27 year. Prior automatic-admission text; Prior other-admissions text; Introduced bill; Senate substitute.
Adopted Senate amendment: Middleton’s May 6 amendment removed the test-score alternative from these two eligibility provisions, revised the study, moved admission applicability to fall 2028, and proposed a separate September 1, 2027 effective date for the admission amendments. That intermediate version is not the complete final policy. Senate amendment; Senate-passed text.
Adopted House amendment: Leo Wilson’s May 15 amendment restored the test-score alternative using board-designated examinations and scores and removed the separate 2027 effective-date provision. It retained the study and fall-2028 applicability. The Senate concurred May 22. Both indexed amendments were adopted, but the House amendment superseded the Senate’s removal of the testing alternative. House amendment; Amendment index; All five versions; Final law.
For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.
Official bill versions
Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.
Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?
Future applicants and colleges may have different recognized exam options after the board’s review and rulemaking, while the curriculum routes remain. The study is intended to assess exam quality; the act does not prove that any particular exam is equally rigorous, predict admissions outcomes or promise lower testing costs. Students applying before fall 2028 should not treat this act’s later framework as already applicable. Final law.
All five fiscal-note listings—April 2 introduced, April 21 substitute, May 9 Senate-passed, and May 16 House-passed listed at both amendment and final stages—anticipate no significant state or local fiscal impact, assuming costs can be absorbed using existing resources. They do not quantify family testing costs or admission benefits. The act makes no new appropriation. Introduced note; Substitute note; Senate-passed note; House-passed note; Final-stage listing.
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.
