SB 899 — Education: High School Class Rankings & Guaranteed Admission to Public Four‑Year Institutions
Status & Key Dates
- Introduced: January 24, 2025
- Hearing: February 19, 2025, 2:00 p.m.
- Effective date (if enacted): July 1, 2025
- Implementation (rankings): begin with students entering grade 12 in 2025–2026
- Guaranteed admission eligibility begins in the 2026–2027 academic year
Purpose
SB 899 requires Maryland high schools to compute specified class rankings and creates a limited “guaranteed admission” pathway to public senior (four‑year) institutions for students who meet set academic and application criteria. The intent is to standardize a top‑percentile recognition and allow qualifying students assured access to public four‑year campuses (subject to conditions).
Major provisions
- Class ranking requirement
- Beginning with the cohort entering grade 12 in 2025–2026, each high school with a class of at least 15 students must rank students based solely on cumulative GPA at the end of grade 11.
- Rankings must identify students in the top 5% and top 10% of their class.
- For classes with fewer than 20 students, only the highest‑ranked student is designated as the top 5% and the second highest as the top 10%.
- Students who rank in the top 10% must be notified after rankings are completed.
- Top 5%/10% designations must be recorded on the student’s high school transcript.
- These percentage designations are to be used only for determining eligibility for guaranteed admission; local systems may use other methods for other purposes.
- Guaranteed admission to public senior institutions
- Each public senior institution (defined under §10–101: USM constituent institutions, UMCES, Morgan State, St. Mary’s College) must establish a process to accept eligible students under a guaranteed‑admission policy.
- Beginning in 2026–2027, a student is eligible if they:
- Complete or are expected to complete the institution’s prerequisite courses;
- Apply by the institution’s required deadline during grade 12 (or final year of home instruction) and indicate they qualify for guaranteed admission; and
- Satisfy one of:
- Ranked in top 10% of their class (per the new ranking method); or
- Are a National Merit Scholarship finalist (or equivalent designation); or
- For home‑educated students: score at or above the 90th percentile on a nationally accepted college entrance exam.
- University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) has stricter criteria: applicants must apply by UMCP’s early application deadline and must be in the top 5% OR (for home‑educated applicants) score at or above the 98th percentile (National Merit finalist also qualifies).
- Students applying to multiple institutions under this provision must designate one institution as their choice for guaranteed admission.
- Institutions may verify eligibility and may revoke offers for specified reasons (e.g., failure to complete prerequisite coursework, misrepresentation).
Limits and clarifications
- The bill does not guarantee admission to a particular program, major, or placement within a campus — only admission to the institution.
- Local boards and schools retain flexibility to compute rankings differently for other purposes.
Fiscal and operational impacts
- Fiscal Note (Department of Legislative Services): Likely minimal statewide fiscal effect if institutions implement policies to minimize impact. However, enrollment shifts could materially affect revenues/expenditures for individual campuses if many students accept or forgo attendance because of the policy.
- Local school systems: generally minimal and absorbable costs, though some districts may incur one‑time programming costs (FY2026) to modify data systems and transcript formats to compute and mark top‑percentile designations.
- Institutions will need processes to accept, verify, and potentially revoke guaranteed offers.
Who is affected
- Maryland public and nonpublic high schools (must compute and report rankings as specified)
- Public four‑year institutions (must adopt acceptance processes for guaranteed admits)
- Students in the top 5%/10% of their class, National Merit finalists, and eligible home‑educated students
- Families making college application decisions; potential downstream effects on campus enrollments and program admissions
Sponsor/Source notes
- Primary Maryland sponsor listed in the bill text and fiscal note: Senator Augustine. (Multiple document excerpts included in materials reference other jurisdictions; summary above follows the Maryland bill text and fiscal note.)
