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House Bill 700 |
House Author: Giddings et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-15 |
Senate Sponsor: Seliger |
House Bill 700 repeals and amends Education Code provisions related to the Texas B-On-time student loan program and establishes that the Texas B-On-time student loan account is continued in effect as an account in the general revenue fund for certain academic years. The bill prohibits the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, beginning with the 2015 fall semester, from awarding an initial loan under the program but allows the coordinating board, for a semester or term occurring before the 2020 fall semester, to award a subsequent loan to an eligible student who received an initial loan before the 2015–2016 academic year.
The bill provides for the repayment of bonds issued to fund such loans, sets out the sources of funding for the student loan account, and limits use of money in the account to paying the costs of the coordinating board related to such loans awarded. The bill abolishes the account on September 1, 2020, and limits appropriation of any money remaining in the account to eligible institutions at which the program was underutilized, as described by the bill. Any appropriation must be made in accordance with a formula adopted by the coordinating board that the coordinating board determines fairly allocates the appropriated amount to such institutions.
Beginning with the 2015 fall semester, the bill's repeal of tuition set-asides for the program applies and the bill reduces the amount of tuition the governing board of each institution of higher education is required to set aside to provide financial assistance to resident undergraduate students enrolled in the institution. Among other provisions, the bill revises the conditions under which a student is eligible for a rebate of a portion of the student's undergraduate tuition.