By Ellis S.B. No. 37 76R1978 JSA-D A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to providing scholarships to students at institutions of 1-3 higher education who meet certain academic, citizenship, financial 1-4 need, and other 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 M to read as follows: 1-8 SUBCHAPTER M. TEXAS HOPE TUITION SCHOLARSHIP 1-9 PROGRAM 1-10 Sec. 56.301. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "coordinating 1-11 board" means the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. 1-12 Sec. 56.302. PROGRAM NAME; PURPOSE. (a) The student 1-13 financial assistance program authorized by this subchapter is known 1-14 as the Texas Hope Tuition Scholarship Program, and an individual 1-15 grant awarded under this subchapter is known as a Texas hope 1-16 tuition grant. 1-17 (b) The purpose of the program is to provide a grant of 1-18 money for tuition and required fees to enable a qualified person to 1-19 attend an institution of higher education if the person maintains 1-20 good academic performance, acts as a good citizen, and provides 1-21 public service or agrees to teach in a primary or secondary school 1-22 in this state in a community or teaching field with a critical 1-23 shortage of teachers. 1-24 Sec. 56.303. TYPES OF GRANTS. There are two types of hope 2-1 tuition grants, the hope tuition grant for public service and the 2-2 Teach for Texas hope tuition grant. 2-3 Sec. 56.304. ELIGIBLE PERSON. (a) To be eligible for a 2-4 Texas hope tuition grant, a person must: 2-5 (1) be a Texas resident as defined by coordinating 2-6 board rules; 2-7 (2) enroll as a full-time or part-time student in an 2-8 institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003 or 2-9 approved under 61.222; 2-10 (3) be from a low-income or middle-income family and 2-11 establish financial need as defined by coordinating board rules; 2-12 (4) have: 2-13 (A) graduated from a secondary school with a 2-14 cumulative grade average that is equal to or greater than the 2-15 equivalent of 80 on a scale of 100; or 2-16 (B) completed a program of instruction at the 2-17 secondary school level in a home-school setting or received 2-18 credentials equivalent to a high school degree, and have 2-19 demonstrated academic excellence in any manner determined by the 2-20 coordinating board, such as through scores obtained on standardized 2-21 tests; 2-22 (5) meet the applicable requirements of Section 56.305 2-23 or 56.306; 2-24 (6) have applied for any available financial 2-25 assistance; and 2-26 (7) have complied with any other administrative 2-27 requirements adopted by the coordinating board under this 3-1 subchapter. 3-2 (b) A person is not eligible to receive a Texas hope tuition 3-3 grant while enrolled in an undergraduate program if the person has 3-4 been granted a baccalaureate degree. 3-5 (c) A person is not eligible to receive a Texas hope tuition 3-6 grant if the person has been convicted of a felony, a crime 3-7 involving moral turpitude, or an offense under Chapter 481, Health 3-8 and Safety Code (Texas Controlled Substances Act), or under the law 3-9 of any other jurisdiction involving a controlled substance as 3-10 defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, unless the person 3-11 has met the other applicable eligibility requirements under this 3-12 subchapter and has: 3-13 (1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas 3-14 Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or 3-15 completed a period of probation ordered by a court, and at least 3-16 two years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion; 3-17 or 3-18 (2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense 3-19 expunged from the person's record, or otherwise been released from 3-20 the resulting ineligibility to receive a Texas hope tuition grant. 3-21 Sec. 56.305. REQUIREMENTS FOR HOPE TUITION GRANT FOR PUBLIC 3-22 SERVICE. (a) A hope tuition grant for public service is available 3-23 only to a person enrolled in an undergraduate degree or certificate 3-24 program. A person may not receive a tuition grant for public 3-25 service for more than 140 semester hours or the equivalent. 3-26 (b) To receive a hope tuition grant for public service, a 3-27 person must agree to perform public service as provided by 4-1 coordinating board rule as a volunteer to a nonprofit charitable 4-2 organization or governmental entity approved by the board in a 4-3 number of hours that equals or exceeds an average of five hours for 4-4 each full week of the term or semester. The person must enter into 4-5 an agreement to perform the required public service at the 4-6 beginning of each term or semester covered by the grant. 4-7 (c) A person is exempt from the public service requirement 4-8 in any semester in which the student: 4-9 (1) is employed for compensation for an average of at 4-10 least 10 hours per week; 4-11 (2) must perform family obligations inconsistent with 4-12 the performance of the public service requirement, as determined by 4-13 the coordinating board; or 4-14 (3) is subject to any other circumstances such that 4-15 performance of the public service requirement would unreasonably 4-16 interfere with the student's educational opportunity, as determined 4-17 by the coordinating board. 4-18 (d) To continue receiving hope tuition grants for public 4-19 service, a person must: 4-20 (1) maintain a grade-point average of at least 3.0 on 4-21 a four-point scale or the equivalent, with one semester probation 4-22 if the student fails to do so; 4-23 (2) submit a certificate of completion for all prior 4-24 public service the person agreed to perform; and 4-25 (3) submit a new financial aid application each 4-26 semester. 4-27 Sec. 56.306. REQUIREMENTS FOR TEACH FOR TEXAS HOPE TUITION 5-1 GRANT. (a) A Teach for Texas hope tuition grant is available only 5-2 to a person who: 5-3 (1) is enrolled in a baccalaureate or master's degree 5-4 program in a teaching field certified by the coordinating board as 5-5 experiencing a critical shortage of teachers in this state in the 5-6 year in which the person begins the degree program; or 5-7 (2) agrees to teach in a public school in this state 5-8 in a community, which is not required to be specifically designated 5-9 at the time the person receives the grant, certified by the 5-10 coordinating board as experiencing a critical shortage of teachers 5-11 in any year in which the person receives a grant or in any 5-12 subsequent year in which the person fulfills the teaching 5-13 obligation. 5-14 (b) To receive a Teach for Texas hope tuition grant, a 5-15 person must agree to teach full-time at the preschool, primary, or 5-16 secondary level in a public school in this state in the person's 5-17 chosen critical field or in a community experiencing a critical 5-18 teacher shortage, as applicable, for one academic year for each 60 5-19 semester hours or the equivalent, or each fraction of 60 semester 5-20 hours or the equivalent, for which the person receives a tuition 5-21 grant. 5-22 (c) The person must fulfill the teaching obligation of this 5-23 section within the applicable period specified by this subsection 5-24 after the person completes the degree program and any related 5-25 courses required for teacher certification, unless the coordinating 5-26 board grants the person additional time to complete the teaching 5-27 obligation. The period within which the person must complete the 6-1 teaching obligation is a number of years equal to the number of 6-2 academic years that the person is required to teach, plus one 6-3 additional year. The coordinating board shall grant a person 6-4 additional time to complete the teaching obligation equal to a 6-5 period during which the person demonstrates to the board that the 6-6 person is: 6-7 (1) enrolled full-time in a degree or certificate 6-8 program at a public or private institution of higher education in 6-9 or outside of this state; 6-10 (2) serving on active duty as a member of the armed 6-11 services of the United States; 6-12 (3) temporarily disabled so that the person is unable 6-13 to teach; 6-14 (4) temporarily unable to secure employment to satisfy 6-15 the teaching obligation because the person is responsible for the 6-16 care of: 6-17 (A) a child under 12 years of age; or 6-18 (B) the person's disabled spouse or parent; 6-19 (5) seeking and unable to secure employment to satisfy 6-20 the teaching obligation for a single period not to exceed 12 6-21 months; or 6-22 (6) subject to any other hardship or special 6-23 circumstances the board determines to be just cause to provide the 6-24 person with additional time to satisfy the teaching obligation. 6-25 (d) The coordinating board shall cancel a person's teaching 6-26 obligation if the board determines that the person: 6-27 (1) has become permanently disabled so that the person 7-1 is not able to teach; or 7-2 (2) has died. 7-3 Sec. 56.307. ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY. The coordinating 7-4 board shall provide Texas hope tuition grants, in a number to be 7-5 determined by the board after reviewing the money available for 7-6 those grants, to eligible persons enrolled in an institution of 7-7 higher education based on the financial need of each person 7-8 receiving a grant. The total amount of Texas hope tuition grants 7-9 distributed by the board may not exceed the amount available in the 7-10 Texas hope tuition scholarship trust fund. If there are 7-11 insufficient funds available to provide a grant to each eligible 7-12 person, the board shall award the available grants to the eligible 7-13 persons with the greatest financial need. 7-14 Sec. 56.308. PAYMENT OF GRANT; AMOUNT. (a) On receipt of a 7-15 person's Texas hope tuition grant application, an enrollment report 7-16 from the institution of higher education enrolling the person 7-17 providing the coordinating board with the information the board 7-18 requires to determine the person's eligibility, and a certification 7-19 of the amount of financial need from the institution of higher 7-20 education, the board shall determine whether the person is eligible 7-21 for a grant and, if the person is selected to receive a grant, 7-22 shall distribute the amount of the grant for the person to the 7-23 institution of higher education. 7-24 (b) The amount of a Texas hope tuition grant may not exceed 7-25 the average amount of tuition and required fees the student would 7-26 be charged at a public senior institution of higher education, 7-27 except that the amount of a Teach for Texas hope tuition grant may 8-1 be in a greater amount, not to exceed two times the average amount 8-2 of tuition and required fees the student would be charged at a 8-3 public senior institution of higher education, according to the 8-4 financial need of the student as determined by coordinating board 8-5 rules. When added to other gift aid, the amount of a grant may not 8-6 exceed the financial need of the student. A Texas hope tuition 8-7 grant may not be applied to tuition or fees covered by a Pell grant 8-8 or other federally funded or state-funded grant. 8-9 Sec. 56.309. GRANT CONDITIONAL; REPAYMENT. (a) A Texas 8-10 hope tuition grant is conditioned on the person's maintenance of 8-11 all qualifications provided by this subchapter and performance of 8-12 the applicable public service or teaching requirements of Section 8-13 56.305 or 56.306. The grant is considered a loan until the 8-14 conditions of the grant are met. 8-15 (b) The coordinating board shall require a person who 8-16 receives a grant under this subchapter to sign a promissory note 8-17 acknowledging the conditional nature of the grant and promising to 8-18 repay the amount of the grant plus applicable interest and 8-19 reasonable collection costs if the person does not satisfy the 8-20 applicable conditions. The board shall determine the terms of the 8-21 promissory note. To the extent practicable, the terms must be the 8-22 same as those applicable to state or federally guaranteed student 8-23 loans made at the same time. All amounts collected in repayment of 8-24 a grant, including interest, but excluding collection costs paid by 8-25 the board to another person to collect or assist in collecting the 8-26 amount, shall be deposited to the credit of the Texas hope tuition 8-27 scholarship trust fund. 9-1 (c) The amount required to be repaid by a person who fails 9-2 to complete the teaching obligations of the person's grant shall be 9-3 determined in proportion to the portion of the teaching obligation 9-4 that the person has satisfied. 9-5 (d) A person receiving a Teach for Texas hope tuition grant 9-6 is considered to have failed to satisfy the conditions of the 9-7 grant, and the grant automatically becomes a loan, if the person 9-8 fails to remain enrolled in or to make steady progress in the 9-9 degree program for which the grant was made without good cause as 9-10 determined by the coordinating board. 9-11 Sec. 56.310. ADOPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF RULES. (a) The 9-12 coordinating board shall adopt rules to administer this subchapter. 9-13 (b) The coordinating board shall distribute to each 9-14 institution of higher education and to each school district copies 9-15 of all rules adopted under this subchapter. 9-16 Sec. 56.311. FUNDING. (a) The Texas Hope Tuition 9-17 Scholarship Program is funded from the Texas hope tuition 9-18 scholarship trust fund. The trust fund is established outside the 9-19 treasury but is held in trust by the comptroller. Money in the 9-20 trust fund may be spent without appropriation and only to fund the 9-21 program. Interest and income from the assets of the trust fund 9-22 shall be credited to and deposited in the trust fund. 9-23 (b) In each state fiscal year the coordinating board may 9-24 spend from the trust fund to cover the costs of administering the 9-25 program an amount not to exceed 2.5 percent of the total amount of 9-26 money deposited into the fund in that fiscal year. 9-27 (c) The coordinating board may accept gifts and grants from 10-1 any public or private source for the purposes of this subchapter. 10-2 (d) The legislature may appropriate money to the Texas hope 10-3 tuition scholarship trust fund. 10-4 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999. 10-5 (b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall make 10-6 grants under the Texas Hope Tuition Scholarship Program beginning 10-7 with the 2000 fall semester. 10-8 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 10-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 10-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 10-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 10-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.