By Moncrief S.B. No. 1311
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1311:
By Cuellar C.S.S.B. No. 1311
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to providing scholarships to students at institutions of
1-3 higher education for certain out-of-state intern programs.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Subchapter L to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER L. TEXAS-WASHINGTON, D.C., INTERN
1-8 SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
1-9 Sec. 56.221. PROGRAM NAME. The student financial assistance
1-10 program authorized by this subchapter is known as the
1-11 Texas-Washington, D.C., Intern Scholarship Program, and a grant
1-12 awarded under this subchapter is known as a Texas-Washington, D.C.,
1-13 Intern Grant.
1-14 Sec. 56.222. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to
1-15 provide a grant of money to enable a qualified person enrolled in
1-16 an institution of higher education to participate in a Washington,
1-17 D.C., internship program.
1-18 Sec. 56.223. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-19 (1) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
1-20 Education Coordinating Board.
1-21 (2) "Grant" means a Texas-Washington, D.C., Intern
1-22 Grant awarded under this subchapter.
1-23 (3) "Institution of higher education" means:
1-24 (A) an institution of higher education as
2-1 defined by Section 61.003; or
2-2 (B) a private or independent institution of
2-3 higher education as defined by Section 61.003.
2-4 Sec. 56.224. ELIGIBLE PERSON. (a) To be eligible for a
2-5 grant, a person must:
2-6 (1) be a Texas resident as defined by coordinating
2-7 board rules;
2-8 (2) enroll for a full course load in an approved
2-9 institution of higher education as determined by coordinating board
2-10 rules;
2-11 (3) be from a low-income or middle-income family and
2-12 establish financial need as defined by coordinating board rules;
2-13 (4) have applied for any available financial
2-14 assistance; and
2-15 (5) have complied with any other administrative
2-16 requirements adopted by the coordinating board under this
2-17 subchapter.
2-18 (b) A person is not eligible to receive a grant if the
2-19 person has been convicted of a felony, a crime involving moral
2-20 turpitude, or an offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code,
2-21 or under the law of any other jurisdiction involving a controlled
2-22 substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, unless
2-23 the person has met the other applicable eligibility requirements
2-24 under this subchapter and has:
2-25 (1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas
2-26 Department of Criminal Justice or the applicable correctional
2-27 facility or completed a period of probation ordered by a court and
3-1 at least two years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or
3-2 completion; or
3-3 (2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense
3-4 expunged from the person's record, or otherwise been released from
3-5 the resulting ineligibility to participate in the scholarship
3-6 program.
3-7 Sec. 56.225. ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY. For each academic
3-8 year, the coordinating board shall provide grants in a number
3-9 determined by the board, considering available funding for the
3-10 year, to be awarded by approved institutions to eligible students.
3-11 The coordinating board shall allocate the grants available to
3-12 approved institutions in proportion to the total enrollment of each
3-13 institution in the preceding academic year. The total amount of
3-14 grants distributed by the coordinating board may not exceed the
3-15 amount available for the Texas-Washington, D.C., Intern Scholarship
3-16 Program from gifts and grants.
3-17 Sec. 56.226. STANDARDS; AWARD OF GRANT. (a) The
3-18 coordinating board shall prescribe standards and procedures for the
3-19 awarding of grants by approved institutions.
3-20 (b) The standards must require an internship to meet at
3-21 least the following standards to qualify for inclusion in the
3-22 program:
3-23 (1) the internship must involve service with a public,
3-24 private, or nonprofit agency in the District of Columbia or
3-25 immediate vicinity and have some relationship to an activity of the
3-26 federal government;
3-27 (2) the internship must require the student's
4-1 attendance or participation at least four days a week;
4-2 (3) the internship must include substantive
4-3 professional work, entry-level or above, providing the student with
4-4 practical experience and consisting of not more than 20 percent
4-5 clerical work;
4-6 (4) the internship must include a component of
4-7 orientation and seminar attendance appropriate to the student's
4-8 duties and degree program; and
4-9 (5) the placement process for the internship must be
4-10 designed to ensure an appropriate placement for each student.
4-11 (c) The standards for selection of students to receive
4-12 grants must include at least the following factors:
4-13 (1) the socioeconomic background of the applicant,
4-14 including the percentage by which the applicant's family is above
4-15 or below any recognized measure of poverty, the applicant's
4-16 household income, and the applicant's parents' level of education;
4-17 (2) the extent to which the applicant has been
4-18 responsible for financing the applicant's own education;
4-19 (3) whether the applicant is the first generation of
4-20 the applicant's family to attend an institution of higher
4-21 education;
4-22 (4) the applicant's responsibilities while attending
4-23 school, including whether the applicant has been employed, whether
4-24 the applicant is a parent or has helped to raise children, or other
4-25 similar factors;
4-26 (5) the region of the state in which the applicant
4-27 resides or resided during high school;
5-1 (6) whether the applicant is or during high school was
5-2 a resident of a rural or urban area or of a central city or
5-3 suburban area;
5-4 (7) the applicant's leadership, employment history,
5-5 and involvement in community activities;
5-6 (8) the applicant's personal statement of the purpose
5-7 of the applicant's proposed internship and the role that internship
5-8 would have on the applicant's education and personal and
5-9 professional development;
5-10 (9) letters of recommendation supporting the
5-11 applicant's application for an internship; and
5-12 (10) the applicant's personal interview.
5-13 (d) Each approved institution shall award the grants
5-14 allocated to the institution according to the standards and
5-15 applicable procedures prescribed by the coordinating board.
5-16 Sec. 56.227. PAYMENT OF GRANT; AMOUNT. On receipt of a copy
5-17 of a student's grant application and certification from the
5-18 applicable institution that the student has been awarded a grant,
5-19 the coordinating board shall distribute the amount of the grant to
5-20 the institution for disbursement to the student. The amount of a
5-21 grant may not exceed the lesser of the student's documented
5-22 financial need.
5-23 Sec. 56.228. TUITION WAIVER; ADMINISTRATIVE FEE. (a) If
5-24 the recipient of a grant registers in a public or private
5-25 institution of higher education other than the institution awarding
5-26 the grant in order to complete the student's Washington, D.C.,
5-27 internship for credit at the institution awarding the grant, the
6-1 institution awarding the grant shall exempt the student from the
6-2 payment of tuition and required fees for the semester or term
6-3 during which the student is enrolled in the other institution.
6-4 (b) The institution may charge a student who is exempt from
6-5 the payment of tuition and fees under this section an
6-6 administrative fee to cover the costs of administering the
6-7 internship.
6-8 Sec. 56.229. ADOPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF RULES. (a) The
6-9 coordinating board shall adopt rules to administer this subchapter.
6-10 (b) The coordinating board shall distribute to each
6-11 institution of higher education copies of all rules adopted under
6-12 this subchapter.
6-13 Sec. 56.230. FUNDING. (a) The coordinating board may
6-14 accept gifts and grants for the purposes of this subchapter.
6-15 (b) Texas-Washington, D.C., Intern Grants are payable only
6-16 from gifts, grants.
6-17 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
6-18 (b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall make
6-19 grants under the Texas-Washington, D.C., Intern Scholarship Program
6-20 beginning when the coordinating board determines sufficient funds
6-21 are available to provide a reasonable number of grants, but not
6-22 earlier than the 1998 spring semester.
6-23 (c) The coordinating board may not approve a private or
6-24 independent institution of higher education to participate in the
6-25 Texas-Washington, D.C., Intern Scholarship Program for an academic
6-26 year before the third academic year after the academic year in
6-27 which the coordinating board begins making grants as provided by
7-1 Subsection (b) of this section.
7-2 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
7-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.