By Cuellar H.B. No. 208
76R2196 T
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the establishment of a scholarship program to provide
1-3 Texas high school students with scholarships to Texas institutions
1-4 of higher education.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-7 Subchapter M to read as follows:
1-8 SUBCHAPTER M. TEXAS GATEWAY TO THE FUTURE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.
1-9 Sec. 56.301. PROGRAM NAME. The student financial assistance
1-10 program authorized by this subchapter is known as the Texas Gateway
1-11 to the Future Scholarship Program, and an individual scholarship
1-12 awarded under this subchapter is known as a Texas Gateway
1-13 Scholarship.
1-14 Sec. 56.302. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to
1-15 provide a grant of money to enable qualified students to attend
1-16 Texas institutions of higher education.
1-17 Sec. 56.303. ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY. (a) The Texas
1-18 Higher Education Coordinating Board shall administer the Texas
1-19 Gateway to the Future Scholarship Program.
1-20 (b) The coordinating board shall provide a Texas Gateway
1-21 Scholarship to an eligible student enrolled in an eligible
1-22 institution of higher education in the most efficient manner
1-23 possible.
1-24 (c) The total amount of Texas Gateway Scholarships awarded
2-1 may not exceed the amount available for the Texas Gateway to the
2-2 Future Scholarship Program from appropriations, gifts, grants or
2-3 other funds.
2-4 (d) The coordinating board shall give highest priority in
2-5 the awarding of scholarships to students who demonstrate the
2-6 greatest financial need.
2-7 (e) During each state fiscal year, the coordinating board
2-8 may use up to one percent of the funds appropriated for the Texas
2-9 Gateway to the Future Scholarship Program to cover the costs of
2-10 administering the program.
2-11 Sec. 56.304. ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION. An eligible institution
2-12 of higher education is:
2-13 (1) an institution of higher education as defined by
2-14 Section 61.003(8); or
2-15 (2) a private or independent institution of higher
2-16 education as defined by Section 61.003(15).
2-17 Sec. 56.305. ELIGIBLE PERSON. (a) To be eligible for a
2-18 Texas Gateway Scholarship, a person must:
2-19 (1) be a Texas resident under the rules of the Texas
2-20 Higher Education Coordinating Board;
2-21 (2) be from a low-income or middle-income family and
2-22 meet income or other financial need requirements as defined by
2-23 coordinating board rules;
2-24 (3) have family income of less than $75,000;
2-25 (4) be enrolled in an undergraduate degree or
2-26 certificate program at an eligible institution of higher education;
2-27 (5) enroll for at least one-half of a full course load
3-1 as an entering freshman in an undergraduate degree or certificate
3-2 program not later than the sixteenth month after the person's
3-3 graduation from a Texas high school; and
3-4 (6) comply with any other requirement adopted by the
3-5 coordinating board under this subchapter.
3-6 (b) A person is not eligible to receive a Texas Gateway
3-7 Scholarship if the person has a baccalaureate degree.
3-8 (c) A person may not receive a Texas Gateway Scholarship for
3-9 more than 150 semester credit hours or the equivalent.
3-10 (d) A person's eligibility for a Texas Gateway Scholarship
3-11 ends six years after the person first enrolls in an eligible
3-12 institution of higher education.
3-13 Sec. 56.306. REQUIREMENTS FOR MAINTAINING ELIGIBILITY. (a)
3-14 A person may receive a Texas Gateway Scholarship during each
3-15 semester in which the person enrolls if the person makes steady
3-16 academic progress toward an undergraduate degree or certificate.
3-17 (b) A person who receives an undergraduate certificate or
3-18 associate's degree and who enrolls, not later than the sixth month
3-19 after the receipt of the certificate or degree, in a program
3-20 leading to a higher-level undergraduate degree continues to be
3-21 eligible for a scholarship.
3-22 Sec. 56.307. SCHOLARSHIP DISBURSEMENT. (a) A person
3-23 receiving a Texas Gateway Scholarship may use the scholarship
3-24 proceeds for any usual and customary education-related expense
3-25 incurred by the student, including tuition and fees, books, and
3-26 room and board.
3-27 (b) The person shall designate on the scholarship
4-1 application whether the scholarship shall be used for tuition and
4-2 fees or whether the scholarship proceeds should be disbursed to the
4-3 student.
4-4 (c) A person receiving a scholarship in subsequent semesters
4-5 shall inform the institution of any change in the disbursement
4-6 instructions.
4-7 (d) An institution may not require a scholarship recipient
4-8 to use the proceeds to pay tuition and fees.
4-9 Sec. 56.308. SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT. (a) The amount of a Texas
4-10 Gateway Scholarship for a student enrolled at a public institution
4-11 of higher education is an amount equal to the tuition and fees,
4-12 excluding incidental fees, charged to the student.
4-13 (b) The amount of a Texas Gateway Scholarship for a student
4-14 enrolled at a private or independent institution of higher
4-15 education shall be an amount equal to the average tuition and fees,
4-16 excluding incidental fees, charged to a student at a public senior
4-17 institution of higher education.
4-18 (c) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
4-19 award annually scholarships based on the amount from
4-20 appropriations, gifts, grants, or other funds and the number of
4-21 eligible persons. Persons demonstrating the greatest financial
4-22 need shall be given first priority for scholarships in the event
4-23 that there are not sufficient appropriated funds to provide
4-24 scholarships to all eligible persons.
4-25 (d) The amount of the scholarship may not be reduced by any
4-26 gift aid for which the person is eligible. The total amount of a
4-27 person's Texas Gateway Scholarship plus any gift aid received may
5-1 not exceed the total cost of attendance at an institution of higher
5-2 education.
5-3 Sec. 56.309. SCHOLARSHIP PAYMENT. The Texas Higher Education
5-4 Coordinating Board shall establish policies and procedures for
5-5 distributing the scholarship funds in the most efficient manner
5-6 possible.
5-7 Sec. 56.310. FUTURE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS. (a) Beginning
5-8 in fall semester of 2003, in order to be eligible for a Texas
5-9 Gateway Scholarship, a student must graduate from a Texas high
5-10 school with a diploma designated as college preparatory by the
5-11 Texas Education Agency.
5-12 (b) The Texas Education Agency, in consultation with the
5-13 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, public schools, and
5-14 institutions of higher education, shall determine the curriculum
5-15 needed to lead to a college preparatory diploma. The education
5-16 agency may designate multiple diploma categories as college
5-17 preparatory.
5-18 (c) Each high school in Texas shall ensure that the diploma
5-19 designation is either noted on each student's official transcript
5-20 or included in the documentation required to certify a student's
5-21 eligibility for the scholarship.
5-22 Sec. 56.311. ADOPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF RULES. (a) The
5-23 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt rules
5-24 necessary to administer this subchapter.
5-25 (b) The coordinating board shall distribute to each eligible
5-26 institution of higher education and to each school district a copy
5-27 of all rules adopted under this subchapter.
6-1 (c) Each school district shall notify its students to ensure
6-2 the students' awareness of the scholarship program and the
6-3 eligibility requirements.
6-4 Sec. 56.312. FUNDING. (a) The Texas Higher Education
6-5 Coordinating Board may accept gifts and grants from any public or
6-6 private source for the purposes of this subchapter.
6-7 SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Gateway Scholarships shall first be
6-8 awarded for the fall semester 1999.
6-9 (b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
6-10 adopt the rules for awarding scholarships under Subchapter M,
6-11 Chapter 56, Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than
6-12 July 25, 1999.
6-13 (c) A Texas Gateway Scholarship may only be awarded to a
6-14 person who graduates during the 1998-1999 academic year or after
6-15 that academic year.
6-16 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
6-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-21 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-22 passage, and it is so enacted.