By Rangel H.B. No. 572
75R3475 JSA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to providing tuition and fee scholarships funded from
1-3 state lottery revenue and other sources to students at institutions
1-4 of higher education who meet certain academic, citizenship, and
1-5 other requirements.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 56, Education Code, is
1-8 amended to read as follows:
1-9 SUBCHAPTER G. TEXAS HOPE TUITION SCHOLARSHIP
1-10 [ASSISTANCE GRANT] PROGRAM
1-11 Sec. 56.101. PROGRAM NAME. The student financial assistance
1-12 program authorized by this subchapter is known as the Texas Hope
1-13 Tuition Scholarship Program [tuition assistance grant program], and
1-14 an individual grant awarded under this subchapter is known as a
1-15 Texas hope tuition [assistance] grant.
1-16 Sec. 56.102. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to
1-17 provide [an eligible person] a grant of money for tuition and
1-18 required fees to enable a qualified [that] person to attend an
1-19 institution of higher education if the person maintains good
1-20 academic performance, acts as a good citizen, and provides public
1-21 service or agrees to teach in a primary or secondary school in this
1-22 state in a community or teaching field with a critical shortage of
1-23 teachers.
1-24 Sec. 56.1025. TYPES OF GRANTS. There are two types of hope
2-1 tuition grants, the hope tuition grant for public service and the
2-2 Teach for Texas hope tuition grant.
2-3 Sec. 56.103. ELIGIBLE PERSON. (a) To be eligible for a
2-4 Texas hope tuition [assistance] grant, a person must:
2-5 (1) be a Texas resident as defined by coordinating
2-6 board rules;
2-7 (2) enroll for a full course load in an institution of
2-8 higher education as defined by Section 61.003 or 61.222 [of this
2-9 code];
2-10 (3) be from a low-income or middle-income family and
2-11 establish financial need as defined by coordinating board rules;
2-12 (4) [within the two years preceding the person's grant
2-13 application,] have graduated from a secondary school with a
2-14 cumulative grade average that is equal to or greater than the
2-15 equivalent of 80 on a scale of 100;
2-16 (5) meet the applicable requirements of Section
2-17 56.1031 or 56.1032;
2-18 (6) have applied for any available financial
2-19 assistance; and
2-20 (7) [(6)] have complied with any other administrative
2-21 requirements adopted by the coordinating board under this
2-22 subchapter.
2-23 (b) A person is not eligible to receive a Texas hope tuition
2-24 [assistance] grant while enrolled in an undergraduate program if
2-25 the person [:]
2-26 [(1)] has been granted a baccalaureate degree[; or].
2-27 (c) A person is not eligible to receive a Texas hope tuition
3-1 grant if the person [(2)] has been convicted of a felony, [or] a
3-2 crime involving moral turpitude, or an offense under Chapter 481,
3-3 Health and Safety Code (Texas Controlled Substances Act), or under
3-4 the law of any other jurisdiction involving a controlled substance
3-5 as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, unless the
3-6 person has met the other applicable eligibility requirements under
3-7 [Subsection (a) of] this subchapter [section] and has:
3-8 (1) [(A)] received a certificate of discharge by the
3-9 Texas Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
3-10 completed a period of probation ordered by a court, and at least
3-11 two years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion;
3-12 or
3-13 (2) [(B)] been pardoned, had the record of the offense
3-14 expunged from the person's record, or otherwise been released from
3-15 the resulting ineligibility to participate in the Texas tuition
3-16 assistance grant program.
3-17 Sec. 56.1031. REQUIREMENTS FOR HOPE TUITION GRANT FOR PUBLIC
3-18 SERVICE. (a) A hope tuition grant for public service is available
3-19 only to a person enrolled in an undergraduate degree or certificate
3-20 program. A person may not receive a tuition grant for public
3-21 service for more than 140 semester hours or the equivalent.
3-22 (b) To receive a hope tuition grant for public service, a
3-23 person must perform public service during the term or semester for
3-24 which the grant is made as a volunteer to a nonprofit charitable
3-25 organization or governmental entity in a number of hours that
3-26 equals or exceeds an average of five hours for each full week of
3-27 the term or semester. The person must enter into an agreement to
4-1 perform the required public service at the beginning of each term
4-2 or semester covered by the grant.
4-3 Sec. 56.1032. REQUIREMENTS FOR TEACH FOR TEXAS HOPE TUITION
4-4 GRANT. (a) A Teach for Texas hope tuition grant is available only
4-5 to a person enrolled in a baccalaureate or master's degree program
4-6 in a community or teaching field certified by the board as
4-7 experiencing a critical shortage of teachers in this state in the
4-8 year in which the person begins the degree program.
4-9 (b) To receive a Teach for Texas hope tuition grant, a
4-10 person must agree to teach full-time at the preschool, primary, or
4-11 secondary level in a public school in this state in the person's
4-12 chosen critical field for one academic year for each 60 semester
4-13 hours or the equivalent, or each fraction of 60 semester hours or
4-14 the equivalent, for which the person receives a tuition grant.
4-15 (c) The person must fulfill the teaching obligation of this
4-16 section within the applicable period specified by this subsection
4-17 after the person completes the degree program and any related
4-18 courses required for teacher certification, unless the coordinating
4-19 board grants the person additional time to complete the teaching
4-20 obligation. The period within which the person must complete the
4-21 teaching obligation is a number of years equal to the number of
4-22 academic years that the person is required to teach, plus one
4-23 additional year. The coordinating board shall grant a person
4-24 additional time to complete the teaching obligation equal to a
4-25 period during which the person demonstrates to the coordinating
4-26 board that the person is:
4-27 (1) enrolled full-time in a degree or certificate
5-1 program at a public or private institution of higher education in
5-2 or outside of this state;
5-3 (2) serving on active duty as a member of the armed
5-4 services of the United States;
5-5 (3) temporarily disabled so that the person is unable
5-6 to teach;
5-7 (4) temporarily unable to secure employment to satisfy
5-8 the teaching obligation because the person is responsible for the
5-9 care of:
5-10 (A) a child under 12 years of age; or
5-11 (B) the person's disabled spouse or parent;
5-12 (5) seeking and unable to secure employment to satisfy
5-13 the teaching obligation for a single period not to exceed 12
5-14 months; or
5-15 (6) subject to any other hardship or special
5-16 circumstances the coordinating board determines to be just cause to
5-17 provide the person with additional time to satisfy the teaching
5-18 obligation.
5-19 (d) The coordinating board shall cancel a person's teaching
5-20 obligation if the coordinating board determines that the person:
5-21 (1) has become permanently disabled so that the person
5-22 is not able to teach; or
5-23 (2) has died.
5-24 Sec. 56.104. ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY. The coordinating
5-25 board shall provide a Texas hope tuition [assistance] grant to an
5-26 eligible person enrolled in an institution of higher education
5-27 based on the financial need of that person. The total amount of
6-1 Texas hope tuition [assistance] grants distributed by the
6-2 coordinating board may not exceed the amount available in the hope
6-3 tuition scholarship trust fund [appropriated for the Texas tuition
6-4 assistance grant program].
6-5 Sec. 56.105. PAYMENT OF GRANT; AMOUNT. (a) On receipt of a
6-6 person's Texas hope tuition [assistance] grant application, an
6-7 enrollment report from the institution of higher education
6-8 enrolling the person providing the coordinating board with the
6-9 information the board requires to determine the person's
6-10 eligibility, and a certification of the amount of financial need
6-11 from the institution of higher education, the coordinating board
6-12 shall determine whether the person is eligible for a grant and
6-13 shall distribute the amount of the grant for an eligible [the]
6-14 person to the institution of higher education.
6-15 (b) The amount of a Texas hope tuition [assistance] grant
6-16 may not exceed the amount of tuition and required fees the student
6-17 would be charged at a public senior institution of higher education
6-18 and, when added to other gift aid, may not exceed the financial
6-19 need of the student.
6-20 Sec. 56.1055. GRANT CONDITIONAL; REPAYMENT. (a) A Texas
6-21 hope tuition grant is conditioned on the person's maintenance of
6-22 all qualifications provided by this subchapter and performance of
6-23 the applicable public service or teaching requirements of Section
6-24 56.1031 or 56.1032. The grant is considered a loan until the
6-25 conditions of the grant are met.
6-26 (b) The coordinating board shall require a person who
6-27 receives a grant under this subchapter to sign a promissory note
7-1 acknowledging the conditional nature of the grant and promising to
7-2 repay the amount of the grant plus applicable interest and
7-3 reasonable collection costs if the person does not satisfy the
7-4 applicable conditions. The coordinating board shall determine the
7-5 terms of the promissory note. To the extent practicable, the terms
7-6 must be the same as those applicable to state or federally
7-7 guaranteed student loans made at the same time. All amounts
7-8 collected in repayment of a grant, including interest, but
7-9 excluding collection costs paid by the coordinating board to
7-10 another person to collect or assist in collecting the amount, shall
7-11 be deposited to the credit of the Texas hope tuition scholarship
7-12 trust fund.
7-13 (c) The amount required to be repaid by a person who fails
7-14 to complete the teaching obligations of the person's grant shall be
7-15 determined in proportion to the portion of the teaching obligation
7-16 that the person has satisfied.
7-17 (d) A person receiving a Teach for Texas hope tuition grant
7-18 is considered to have failed to satisfy the conditions of the
7-19 grant, and the grant automatically becomes a loan, if the person
7-20 fails to remain enrolled in or to make steady progress in the
7-21 degree program for which the grant was made without good cause as
7-22 determined by the coordinating board.
7-23 Sec. 56.106. [LIMITATIONS ON GRANT. A person entitled to a
7-24 Texas tuition assistance grant loses that person's right to future
7-25 payments of money from the grant program if the person:]
7-26 [(1) does not make steady academic progress toward a
7-27 baccalaureate degree as determined under coordinating board rules;]
8-1 [(2) does not maintain full-time enrollment standing
8-2 for at least two semesters in any academic year;]
8-3 [(3) has a grade average that is in the lower 50
8-4 percent of the total grade averages of all full-time students
8-5 enrolled in the same college or other department in the institution
8-6 of higher education; or]
8-7 [(4) is convicted of a felony or a crime involving
8-8 moral turpitude, unless the person has met eligibility requirements
8-9 as defined in Section 56.103(a) of this code and has:]
8-10 [(A) received a certificate of discharge by the
8-11 Texas Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
8-12 has completed a period of probation ordered by a court, and at
8-13 least two years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or
8-14 completion; or]
8-15 [(B) been pardoned or otherwise released from
8-16 the resulting ineligibility to participate in the Texas tuition
8-17 assistance grant program.]
8-18 [Sec. 56.107.] ADOPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF RULES. (a) The
8-19 coordinating board shall adopt rules to administer this subchapter.
8-20 (b) The coordinating board shall distribute to each
8-21 institution of higher education and to each school district copies
8-22 of all rules adopted under this subchapter.
8-23 Sec. 56.107 [56.108]. FUNDING. (a) The Texas Hope Tuition
8-24 Scholarship Program is funded from the Texas hope tuition
8-25 scholarship trust fund. The trust fund is established outside the
8-26 treasury but is held in trust by the comptroller of public
8-27 accounts. Money in the trust fund may be spent without
9-1 appropriation and only to fund the program. Interest and income
9-2 from the assets of the trust fund shall be credited to and
9-3 deposited in the trust fund.
9-4 (b) In each state fiscal year the coordinating board may
9-5 spend from the trust fund to cover the costs of administering the
9-6 program an amount not to exceed 2.5 percent of the total amount of
9-7 money deposited into the fund in that fiscal year.
9-8 (c) The coordinating board may accept gifts and grants from
9-9 any public or private source for the purposes of this subchapter.
9-10 (d) The legislature may appropriate money to the Texas
9-11 tuition scholarship trust fund [(b) Texas tuition assistance grants
9-12 are payable from gifts, grants, and funds appropriated by the
9-13 legislature].
9-14 SECTION 2. Section 466.355(b), Government Code, is amended
9-15 to read as follows:
9-16 (b) Money in the state lottery account may be used only for
9-17 the following purposes and shall be distributed as follows:
9-18 (1) the payment of prizes to the holders of winning
9-19 tickets;
9-20 (2) the payment of costs incurred in the operation and
9-21 administration of the lottery, including any fees received by a
9-22 lottery operator, provided that the costs incurred in a fiscal
9-23 biennium may not exceed an amount equal to 15 percent of the gross
9-24 revenue accruing from the sale of tickets in that biennium;
9-25 (3) the establishment of a pooled bond fund, lottery
9-26 prize reserve fund, unclaimed prize fund, and prize payment
9-27 account; and
10-1 (4) the balance, after creation of a reserve
10-2 sufficient to pay the amounts needed or estimated to be needed
10-3 under Subdivisions (1) through (3), to be transferred on or before
10-4 the 15th day of each month as follows:
10-5 (A) five percent of the balance to the Texas
10-6 hope tuition scholarship trust fund established by Subchapter G,
10-7 Chapter 56, Education Code; and
10-8 (B) the remainder to the unobligated portion of
10-9 the general revenue fund [, on or before the 15th day of each
10-10 month].
10-11 SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
10-12 (b) State lottery proceeds shall be transferred to the Texas
10-13 hope tuition scholarship trust fund as provided by Section
10-14 466.355(b), Government Code, as amended by this Act, beginning with
10-15 the month in which this Act takes effect.
10-16 (c) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall make
10-17 grants under the Texas Hope Tuition Scholarship Program beginning
10-18 with the 1998 fall semester.
10-19 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
10-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
10-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
10-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
10-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.