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.