By Glaze                                              H.B. No. 3162
         76R9236 JSA-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to providing tuition and fee grants to students at public
 1-3     junior colleges and public technical institutes who meet certain
 1-4     academic requirements.
 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 N to read as follows:
 1-8            SUBCHAPTER N.  TEXAS COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE
 1-9                              SCHOLARS PROGRAM
1-10           Sec. 56.351.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:
1-11                 (1)  "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
1-12     Education Coordinating Board.
1-13                 (2)  "Public junior college" and "public technical
1-14     institute" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.
1-15           Sec. 56.352.  PROGRAM NAME; PURPOSE.  (a)  The student
1-16     financial assistance program authorized by this subchapter is known
1-17     as the Texas Community and Technical College Scholars Program.
1-18           (b)  The purpose of the program is to provide a grant of
1-19     money for tuition and required fees to enable a qualified person to
1-20     attend a public junior college or public technical institute if the
1-21     person achieves and maintains excellent academic performance.
1-22           Sec. 56.353.  ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANT.  (a)  To be eligible for
1-23     a grant under this subchapter, a person must:
1-24                 (1)  be a Texas resident as defined by coordinating
 2-1     board rules;
 2-2                 (2)  have graduated not earlier than the 1998-1999
 2-3     school year from a public high school in this state or from a
 2-4     private high school in this state accredited by a generally
 2-5     recognized accrediting organization and have completed all the
 2-6     courses required for high school graduation while attending a high
 2-7     school in this state;
 2-8                 (3)  enroll as a full-time or part-time student in  a
 2-9     degree or certificate program at a public junior college or public
2-10     technical institute not later than the end of the academic year
2-11     that begins after the date the person graduated from high school;
2-12                 (4)  meet the academic excellence requirements of
2-13     Section 56.354;
2-14                 (5)  have applied for any available financial
2-15     assistance; and
2-16                 (6)  have complied with any other administrative
2-17     requirements adopted by the coordinating board under this
2-18     subchapter.
2-19           (b)  A person may not receive a  grant if the person has been
2-20     granted a baccalaureate degree.
2-21           (c)  A person may not receive a  grant for more than 90
2-22     semester credit hours or the equivalent.
2-23           Sec. 56.354.  ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE REQUIREMENTS.  (a)  To
2-24     receive a grant under this subchapter in the person's first
2-25     semester or term at a public junior college or public technical
2-26     institute, a person must have graduated from high school with a
2-27     cumulative grade point average that is equal to or greater than the
 3-1     equivalent of 78 on a scale of 100.
 3-2           (b)  To receive a grant under this subchapter in a subsequent
 3-3     term or  semester, a person must:
 3-4                 (1)  have a cumulative grade point average of at least
 3-5     3.0 on a four-point scale or the equivalent for all courses
 3-6     attempted at public junior colleges and public technical
 3-7     institutes; and
 3-8                 (2)  maintain satisfactory progress in the person's
 3-9     degree or certificate program as determined by the coordinating
3-10     board.
3-11           (c)  If a person fails to meet the requirements of Subsection
3-12     (b) after the completion of any semester or term, the person may
3-13     not receive a grant under this subchapter during the next semester
3-14     or term in which the person enrolls at a public junior college or
3-15     public technical institute.  The person may become eligible to
3-16     receive a grant in a subsequent semester or term if the person
3-17     completes a semester or term during which the student is not
3-18     eligible for a grant and at the end of that semester or term the
3-19     person satisfies the requirements of Subsection (b).
3-20           Sec. 56.355.  ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY.  (a)  The
3-21     coordinating board shall provide a grant to each eligible person
3-22     who first enrolls in a public junior college or public technical
3-23     institute after the 1998-1999 academic year.  The total amount of
3-24     grants awarded by the board may not exceed the amount available in
3-25     the community and technical college scholars trust fund.  If there
3-26     are insufficient funds available to provide a grant to each
3-27     eligible person, the board shall award the available grants to the
 4-1     eligible persons with the greatest financial need.
 4-2           (b)  Each public junior college or public technical institute
 4-3     shall assist the coordinating board in administering the program.
 4-4           Sec. 56.356.  PAYMENT AND AMOUNT OF GRANT.  (a)  On receipt
 4-5     of a person's grant application and a certification of the amount
 4-6     of the person's financial need from the public junior college or
 4-7     public technical institute at which the person is enrolled, the
 4-8     coordinating board shall determine whether the person is eligible
 4-9     for a grant and, if the person is selected to receive a grant,
4-10     shall distribute the amount of the grant for the person to the
4-11     institution or directly to the person as determined by the board.
4-12           (b)  The amount of a grant for a student enrolled full-time
4-13     at a public junior college is the amount determined by the
4-14     coordinating board as the average statewide amount of tuition and
4-15     required fees that a student who is a resident of the junior
4-16     college district and is enrolled full-time in an associate degree
4-17     or certificate program would be charged for that semester or term
4-18     at public junior colleges.
4-19           (c)  The amount of a grant for a student enrolled full-time
4-20     at a public technical institute is the amount determined by the
4-21     coordinating board as the average statewide amount of tuition and
4-22     required fees that a resident student enrolled full-time in an
4-23     associate degree or certificate program would be charged for that
4-24     semester or term at public technical institutes.
4-25           (d)  The amount of a grant for a student enrolled part-time
4-26     at a public junior college or a public technical institute is equal
4-27     to the pro rata share of the average statewide amount of tuition
 5-1     and required fees, as determined by the coordinating board under
 5-2     this section, that is applicable to the type of institution at
 5-3     which the person is enrolled.
 5-4           (e)  The amount of a grant may not be reduced by  any gift
 5-5     aid for which the person is eligible, unless the total amount of a
 5-6     person's grant plus any gift aid received exceeds the total cost of
 5-7     the attendance at the institution.
 5-8           (f)  Not later than January 1 of each year, the coordinating
 5-9     board shall publish the amounts of each grant established by the
5-10     board for each type of institution for the next academic year.
5-11           Sec. 56.357.  ADOPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF RULES.  (a)  The
5-12     coordinating board shall adopt rules to administer this
5-13     subchapter.
5-14           (b)  The coordinating board shall distribute to each public
5-15     junior college, each public technical institute, and each school
5-16     district copies of all rules adopted under this subchapter.
5-17           Sec. 56.358.  FUNDING.  (a)  The program is funded from the
5-18     community and technical college scholars trust fund.  The trust
5-19     fund is with the comptroller and shall be administered by the
5-20     coordinating board as trustee on behalf of students eligible for
5-21     grants under this subchapter.  Money in the trust fund may be spent
5-22     without appropriation and only to fund the program.  Interest and
5-23     income from the assets of the trust fund shall be credited to and
5-24     deposited in the trust fund.
5-25           (b)  The coordinating board may solicit and accept gifts and
5-26     grants from any public or private source for the purposes of this
5-27     subchapter.
 6-1           (c)  The legislature may appropriate money to the community
 6-2     and technical college scholars trust fund.
 6-3           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 6-4           (b)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
 6-5     award grants under the Texas Community and Technical College
 6-6     Scholars Program beginning with the 2000 fall semester.
 6-7           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 6-8     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 6-9     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-10     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-11     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.