Regular Session
Government Affairs & Regulatory Compliance Analysis
SB2231 mandates a "Free College Application Week" for all Texas public higher education institutions, requiring a 100% waiver of undergraduate application fees during the second full week of October annually. This statutory requirement overrides institutional fee schedules and necessitates immediate adjustments to revenue forecasting, vendor contracts, and application portal logic beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year.
Sen. Adam Hinojosa·Senate Bill·Regular Session
This legislation has regulatory implications for the following Texas businesses and organizations:
Notable regulatory updates (effective 2025-09-01). Consider how these changes may affect your operations.
Affected business types:
mediumModerate costs expected for implementation.
JD Key Consulting provides government affairs and regulatory strategy services. We help businesses navigate Texas agencies, understand legislative impacts, and advocate for their interests.
JD Key Consulting provides strategic guidance on Texas regulatory compliance and legislative impact for your business.
Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation
Review agreements with application portals (e.g., ApplyTexas, Common App) and third-party payment processors immediately. Ensure contracts do not mandate per-transaction fees for $0 charges, or renegotiate terms to exempt the mandatory waiver week from minimum processing fees.
Admissions departments must prepare for a significant application volume spike in mid-October. Adjust staffing schedules to manage the processing bottleneck that will occur immediately following the waiver period. IT staff must be trained to deploy and revert fee-waiver logic strictly according to the statutory timeframe.
IT systems must log precise submission timestamps (down to the second) to distinguish between billable applications and waived applications. Maintain these logs for THECB audits to prove that all applications submitted between 12:00 AM on the first day and 11:59 PM on the last day received the waiver.
Institutions must remove application fee revenue from October 2025 financial forecasts. This is a direct loss of Institutional Funds. Additionally, budget for potential operational costs if vendors charge for processing "zero-dollar" transactions.
JD Key Consulting specializes in Texas regulatory compliance strategy. Work directly with James Dickey—former Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas—to understand this bill's impact on your operations and develop an actionable compliance plan.
Schedule a ConsultationInformation presented is for general knowledge only and is provided without warranty, express or implied. Consult qualified government affairs professionals and legal counsel before making compliance decisions.
This bill's path through the Texas Legislature
Explore more bills from this author and on related topics
Common questions about SB2231
SB2231 mandates a "Free College Application Week" for all Texas public higher education institutions, requiring a 100% waiver of undergraduate application fees during the second full week of October annually. This statutory requirement overrides institutional fee schedules and necessitates immediate adjustments to revenue forecasting, vendor contracts, and application portal logic beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year.
SB2231 was authored by Texas Senator Adam Hinojosa during the Regular Session.
SB2231 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on May 21, 2025.
SB2231 is enforced by Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB).
The regulatory priority for SB2231 is rated as "moderate". Businesses and organizations should review the legislation to understand potential impacts.
The cost impact of SB2231 is estimated as "medium". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.
SB2231 addresses topics including education, education--higher, education--higher--admission & attendance, education--higher--state coordination and education--higher--student fees.
Key dates for SB2231: Effective date is 2025-09-01. Rulemaking: Adopt rules necessary to implement the Free College Application Week and integrate waiver mechanics into the Apply Texas system. (Prior to October 2025 (Implied)). Consult with legal counsel regarding applicability.
JD Key Consulting is an Austin, Texas-based government affairs firm led by James Dickey, former Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. We specialize in Texas regulatory compliance and legislative strategy for data centers, energy, banking, and manufacturing.
