87R7726 KJE-F

By: Rogers H.B. No. 2765

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the creation of a rural dual credit grant program by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 61.0765 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.0765. RURAL DUAL CREDIT GRANT PROGRAM. (a) The board shall establish a grant program under which the board awards grants to eligible public junior colleges to provide financial assistance to educationally disadvantaged high school students for all or part of the cost of enrolling in dual credit courses at the college.

(b) A public junior college is eligible to receive a grant under the grant program if the college is in the small or medium public junior college peer group, as identified by the board.

(c) A public junior college that receives a grant under the grant program must:

(1) use the grant funds to provide financial assistance to eligible students for all or part of the cost of tuition and required fees for dual credit courses at the college;

(2) work with high schools that partner with the college to provide dual credit courses and elect to participate in the grant program to:

(A) inform eligible students regarding the grant program and how those courses relate to postsecondary education and career paths; and

(B) assist eligible students in applying to enroll in those courses; and

(3) collect and report to the board data on:

(A) participation rates of eligible students in the grant program;

(B) outreach efforts regarding the grant program; and

(C) the percentage of eligible students receiving financial assistance under the grant program who graduate from high school:

(i) in the top 10 percent of the student's high school class; or

(ii) with a workforce certificate or credential.

(d) A student is eligible to receive financial assistance from a public junior college under the grant program if the student:

(1) is educationally disadvantaged;

(2) is enrolled in a participating public or private high school, including a home school, in the service area of the college; and

(3) has completed less than 60 semester credit hours at an institution of higher education.

(e) Funds provided to an eligible student under the grant program must be used for the cost of tuition or required fees for dual credit courses at the public junior college.

(f) A public or private high school, including a home school, that partners with a public junior college to provide dual credit courses and elects to participate in the grant program must provide to students in grade nine or the equivalent information regarding dual credit opportunities and the funding available for dual credit courses under the grant program.

SECTION 2. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall establish the grant program under Section 61.0765, Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable following the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2021.