By Truan, et al. S.B. No. 1872
75R9050 T
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the Minority Doctoral Incentive Program.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 56.162, Chapter 56,
1-5 Education Code is amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 56.162. ESTABLISHMENT; ADMINISTRATION. (a) The board
1-7 shall establish and administer the minority doctoral incentive
1-8 program to(:
1-9 [(1)] provide assistance in the repayment of loans for
1-10 [loans to] minority faculty and academic administrators to
1-11 [students who pursue doctorates or pursue master's degrees and
1-12 commit to pursue a doctorate; and]
1-13 [(2)] increase minority representation among the
1-14 faculty and administration of institutions in academic disciplines
1-15 in which there is significant underrepresentation.
1-16 SECTION 2. Section 56.163, Chapter 56, Education Code is
1-17 amended to read as follows:
1-18 Sec. 56.163. ELIGIBILITY. (a) To be eligible to receive
1-19 loan repayment assistance [for a loan] under this subchapter, a
1-20 person must:
1-21 (1) have completed at least one year of employment as
1-22 a full-time faculty member or academic administrator at an
1-23 institution. A faculty member should be teaching in an academic
1-24 discipline in which minorities are significantly underrepresented
2-1 [be accepted for admission to an institution as a full-time
2-2 graduate student in a doctoral program approved by the board or be
2-3 accepted for admission to an institution as a full-time graduate
2-4 student in a master's program approved by the board and demonstrate
2-5 a commitment to pursue a doctoral program approved by the board];
2-6 (2) hold a doctoral degree [be sponsored by a faculty
2-7 member of the program in which the person is enrolled];
2-8 (3) [be nominated by the institution in which the
2-9 person is employed enrolled based on academic achievement, career
2-10 interest, and other factors the institution considers relevant;]
2-11 [(4)] not have defaulted on another student loan; and
2-12 (4) [(5)] have complied with any other requirements
2-13 adopted by the board under this subchapter.
2-14 (b) The board shall adopt criteria for the selection of
2-15 recipients and eligibility requirements under Subsection
2-16 (a)(4)[(5)] of this section to ensure that a recipient whose degree
2-17 was awarded by a Texas institution and who during the time of study
2-18 was a Texas resident [residents], as defined by board rule, is
2-19 [are] first given the opportunity to receive loan repayment
2-20 assistance [loans] under this subchapter.
2-21 SECTION 3. Section 56.169, Chapter 56, Education Code, is
2-22 amended to read as follows:
2-23 Sec. 56.169. LOAN REPAYMENT [SUSPENSION AND FORGIVENESS].
2-24 (a) A full-time minority faculty member or academic administrator
2-25 at an institution [loan recipient] is eligible for the repayment of
2-26 loans for the person's doctoral studies [suspension and forgiveness
2-27 of the recipient's loan if, after the recipient obtains a
3-1 doctorate, the recipient is employed as a full-time faculty member
3-2 or academic administrator at an institution].
3-3 (b) The [In accordance with Subsections (c), (d), and (e) of
3-4 this section, the] board shall determine the maximum amount of loan
3-5 repayment assistance a person may receive [suspend the accrual of
3-6 interest and forgive the repayment of a loan made to an eligible
3-7 recipient].
3-8 (c) [The board shall suspend the accrual of interest and the
3-9 repayment of principal and interest on an eligible recipient's loan
3-10 until the recipient is not employed as a full-time faculty member
3-11 or academic administrator at an institution.]
3-12 [(d)] The board shall repay no more than [forgive the
3-13 repayment of] 20 percent of the unpaid principal balance and [all]
3-14 accrued interest of an eligible recipient's loan for each academic
3-15 year of service by the recipient as a full-time faculty member or
3-16 academic administrator at an institution.
3-17 (d) [(e)] The board shall deliver any repayment made under
3-18 this section in a lump sum payable to the lender and the recipient,
3-19 in accordance with applicable law [A loan to an eligible recipient
3-20 is repayable under the terms of Section 56.166 of this code
3-21 beginning with the first day of the seventh month after the date on
3-22 which the recipient discontinues full-time study and is not
3-23 employed as a full-time faculty member or academic administrator at
3-24 an institution and must be repaid in full not later than the 10th
3-25 anniversary of the date on which the loan becomes repayable].
3-26 SECTION 4. PLEDGES UNDER PRIOR LAW REMAIN IN EFFECT. The
3-27 repeal or amendment of the law by this Act does not affect any
4-1 pledge made by the coordinating board to a student for a loan or
4-2 loan forgiveness made under the program.
4-3 SECTION 5. REPEALER. Sections 56.164, 56.165, 56.166,
4-4 56.167, 56.168, and 56.170, Chapter 56, Education Code are
4-5 repealed.
4-6 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-7 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
4-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.