According to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB), SB 2314 is estimated to have a negative fiscal impact on the state’s General Revenue Fund totaling $5.52 million over the 2026–2027 biennium. The Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) would incur the primary costs, largely driven by the creation, maintenance, and ongoing operation of the new My Texas Future electronic platform​.

One-time costs in fiscal year 2026 are projected to include $625,000 for application development to enhance the user experience and validation features, and an additional $700,000 for technology infrastructure such as user management systems, security upgrades, and cloud-based tools to handle increased website traffic. Ongoing infrastructure costs are projected at $1.65 million annually starting in fiscal year 2026, mainly reflecting higher monthly data center billing associated with platform use.

Personnel costs are another significant component: the THECB anticipates hiring four additional full-time employees to support expanded ApplyTexas Help Desk services, at an annual cost of approximately $457,760 in fiscal year 2026 and $437,760 in each subsequent year. While the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is expected to assist with data sharing, any related costs for TEA are assumed to be absorbable within existing agency resources.

At the local level, school districts and charter schools will be required to provide student data to the Coordinating Board. However, the potential fiscal impact on school districts is noted as indeterminate, meaning costs may vary depending on the district’s current technological capabilities and data-sharing systems.

SB 2314 proposes the creation of My Texas Future, a centralized electronic portal to streamline college admissions for public high school students. While well-intentioned in its effort to promote higher education access and simplify application processes, the bill significantly expands the scope of state government, imposes new and ongoing costs on taxpayers, and raises concerns about privacy, data security, and potential mission creep without sufficient long-term safeguards.

The bill grows state bureaucracy by assigning the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board new and permanent responsibilities, with no automatic Sunset Review mechanism to ensure the program’s necessity or cost-effectiveness. It burdens taxpayers with a projected $5.52 million cost over the first biennium, with recurring expenditures thereafter. Additionally, it creates new unfunded mandates for local school districts and charter schools and risks expanding government management of student data without robust privacy protections.

Suggested Amendments:

• Add a Sunset Review provision to ensure periodic legislative reassessment of My Texas Future.
• Strengthen student data privacy protections, including limits on data use, retention, and third-party access.
• Explicitly limit the platform’s functions to avoid future administrative or programmatic expansion without additional legislative approval.

While the bill’s opt-in model for student participation is a positive step for individual liberty, it does not fully resolve the broader concerns about government overreach and financial sustainability. Given these significant concerns, Texas Policy Research recommends that lawmakers vote NO on SB 2314 unless amended as described above.

• Individual Liberty: The bill requires students to opt in before their data is shared with higher education institutions, rather than automatically enrolling them. This protects individual consent and honors basic privacy rights. However, centralizing student data at the state level introduces long-term risks to individual liberty through potential data breaches, misuse of information, or mission creep ,where future legislatures or agencies expand the program's use without clear new authorization. Privacy remains vulnerable even with opt-in.
• Personal Responsibility: The bill encourages students to actively participate in their college admissions journey by requiring them to make an informed decision about whether to share their academic information for direct admissions consideration. It fosters an environment where students take ownership over their educational futures.
• Free Enterprise: By simplifying the application process and promoting broader visibility of college options, the bill could enhance competition among Texas public universities and colleges. Students would be able to weigh multiple opportunities more easily, theoretically encouraging institutions to better serve student needs to attract applicants. However, this is limited mainly to public sector education markets — private colleges are not a direct focus of the platform.
• Private Property Rights: A student’s educational records (effectively personal intellectual property) are shared through a centralized state system. Even with opt-in protections, once centralized, there is a risk that personal information could be repurposed for other government initiatives or shared more broadly over time without clear new consent. The bill lacks strong enough limitations or clear “data destruction” guarantees after use.
• Limited Government: The bill clearly expands the scope and size of state government by creating a permanent new state-run platform, expanding THECB’s mission, and requiring ongoing funding and staffing increases. Without a Sunset provision, there’s no built-in reassessment process, which is a key tool in maintaining limited government oversight. This is a major area of concern.

• HB 4909 (Same As)