The Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) is a statewide program designed to ensure that all students attending public colleges and universities have the basic reading, mathematics, and writing skills necessary to perform effectively at the college level. All entering first-time freshmen are required to take the TASP test, which has a basic skills focus and a "rising junior" component, and to complete remedial course work if they do not pass all sections of the test. Students cannot obtain a baccalaureate degree nor graduate from a community college without passing the TASP. Two major groups are exempt from the testing requirement: anyone who had taken at least one college-level course prior to August 31, 1989, and those enrolled in a vocational-technical program requiring less than nine hours of general education. Though the TASP test was developed by National Evaluation Systems of Massachusetts, Texas's 49 community college districts secured several major concessions with respect to the TASP test and related policies, including the development of two test forms, the reduction of test costs, and a refocusing of the test on basic skills rather than on "rising junior" assessment. The benefits of TASP include its diagnostic emphasis, the large number of people involved in test development, and mandatory remediation. Remaining problems include the state's failure to adequately reimburse the colleges for remedial education and possible bias against minority students. (JMC)