Sec. 28.0253.  TEXAS FIRST EARLY HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION PROGRAM.  (a)  In this section:
(1)  "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
(2)  "Eligible institution" means an institution of higher education.
(3)  "Institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by Section 61.003.
(4)  "Program" means the Texas First Early High School Completion Program established under this section.
(b)  The agency, in coordination with the coordinating board, shall establish the Texas First Early High School Completion Program to allow public high school students who demonstrate early readiness for college to graduate early from high school.  The purpose of the program, in conjunction with the Texas First Scholarship Program established under Subchapter K-1, Chapter 56, is to promote efficiency in the state public education system and incentivize the enrollment of high performing students at eligible institutions.
(c)  The coordinating board, in consultation with the agency and eligible institutions, shall by rule establish standards for use in the program regarding:
(1)  the specific competencies that demonstrate a student's mastery of each subject area for which the coordinating board and the commissioner have adopted college readiness standards;
(2)  the specific competencies that demonstrate a student's mastery of a language other than English; and
(3)  acceptable assessments or other means by which a student may demonstrate the student's early readiness for college with respect to each subject area and the language described by Subdivision (2), subject to Subsection (d).
(d)  The assessments or other means the coordinating board establishes under Subsection (c)(3) must be equivalent to the assessments or other means eligible institutions commonly use to place students at the institutions in courses that may be credited toward a degree requirement.
(e)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school shall allow a student to graduate and receive a high school diploma under the program if, using the standards established under Subsection (c), the student demonstrates mastery of and early readiness for college in each of the subject areas described by that subsection and in a language other than English, notwithstanding any other local or state requirements.
(f)  A student who earns a high school diploma through the program is considered to have earned a distinguished level of achievement under the foundation high school program adopted under Section 28.025.  The student is not guaranteed admission to any institution of higher education or to any academic program at an institution of higher education solely on the basis of having received the diploma through the program.  The student may apply for admission to an institution of higher education for the first semester or other academic term after the semester or other academic term in which the student earns a diploma through the program.
(g)  On a student's initial enrollment in high school in a grade level below grade 12 in a school district or open-enrollment charter school, the district or school shall provide to the student and the student's parent or guardian information regarding:
(1)  the requirements to earn a high school diploma under the program; and
(2)  the Texas First Scholarship Program established under Subchapter K-1, Chapter 56.
(h)  The agency and the coordinating board shall jointly prepare and post on their respective Internet websites a publication that includes the information required to be provided under Subsection (g) in a form that enables a school district or open-enrollment charter school to reproduce the publication for distribution under that subsection.
Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 895 (H.B. 3), Sec. 32, eff. June 19, 2009.
Amended by: 
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 211 (H.B. 5), Sec. 17(a), eff. June 10, 2013.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 962 (S.B. 1888), Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2021.
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 265 (S.B. 2294), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2023.
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 265 (S.B. 2294), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2023.
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 378 (H.B. 8), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2023.
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 378 (H.B. 8), Sec. 6, eff. September 1, 2023.