---
type: "Bill"
title: "Higher Education - Public Senior Higher Education Institutions - Direct Admission Program and Study"
description: "Higher Education - Public Senior Higher Education Institutions - Direct Admission Program and Study"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 324"
citation: "Maryland SB 324 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Augustine"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 17
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-01-22"
last_action: "2026-05-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d94ab0f0-1d79-41b4-a8de-d7898d7b0ab1"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0324?ys=2026RS"
source_hash: "7811e4a9d71abbbce889a07894f008ae4c8f6a5c47999ec52109a2e0c8578571"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-md"]
---

# Maryland SB 324 (2026) — Higher Education - Public Senior Higher Education Institutions - Direct Admission Program and Study

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Chapter - Higher Education - Public Senior Higher Education Institutions - Direct Admission Program and Study** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Chapters_noln/CH_613_sb0324t.pdf)
2. **First - Higher Education - Public Senior Higher Education Institutions - Direct Admission Program** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/sb/sb0324f.pdf)
3. **Third - Higher Education - Public Senior Higher Education Institutions - Direct Admission Program and Study** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/sb/sb0324t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **41–0** (pass) · upper
- On Third Reading — **136–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Augustine — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-22** First Reading Education, Energy, and the Environment `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-29** Hearing 2/10 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-03-18** Favorable with Amendments Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-19** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-19** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2026-03-20** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-03-21** Referred Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-26** Hearing 4/07 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-04-07** Hearing canceled
- **2026-04-07** Hearing 4/07 at 1:15 p.m.
- **2026-04-07** Hearing canceled
- **2026-04-07** Hearing 4/07 at 1:30 p.m.
- **2026-04-09** Favorable Report by Appropriations `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-09** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-13** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-04-13** Returned Passed
- **2026-05-26** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 613 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d94ab0f0-1d79-41b4-a8de-d7898d7b0ab1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).