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Bill

HB 4234

Relating to a requirement that a student's postsecondary transcript include the average or median grade awarded in each class.

89th Legislature (2025) Introduced by Sheryl Cole and 7 co-sponsors

Texas bill requires postsecondary institutions to display average or median class grades on student transcripts for performance context.

Referred to Education K-16
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Bill Summary · HB 4234

Legislative bill overview

HB 4234 mandates that Texas postsecondary institutions include the average or median grade awarded in each class on students' transcripts. This would provide context for individual grades by showing how a student's performance compared to their classmates in the same course.

Why is this important

Grade inflation is a documented concern in higher education, making it difficult for employers, graduate programs, and other institutions to interpret transcript grades meaningfully. Adding class-level grade statistics would help external evaluators understand whether a B+ represents top performance or below-average work relative to peers in that specific course.

Potential points of contention

  • Administrative burden and cost: Institutions must develop systems to calculate, verify, and display aggregate grade data while protecting FERPA privacy requirements
  • Misinterpretation risk: Students with lower grades might face stigma if comparative data is misunderstood by employers or programs unfamiliar with course difficulty variations
  • Grade variation by discipline: STEM courses typically have different grade distributions than humanities courses, potentially creating unfair comparisons across fields of study

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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