By Ellis S.B. No. 98
76R272 JSA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to providing scholarships for students at institutions of
1-3 higher education who meet certain academic and other requirements.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Subchapter M to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER M. LONE STAR SCHOLARS PROGRAM
1-8 Sec. 56.301. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-9 (1) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
1-10 Education Coordinating Board.
1-11 (2) "Public junior college" and "public technical
1-12 institute" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.
1-13 Sec. 56.302. PROGRAM NAME; PURPOSE. (a) The student
1-14 financial assistance program authorized by this subchapter is
1-15 known as the Lone Star Scholars Program, and an individual
1-16 scholarship awarded under this subchapter is known as a lone star
1-17 scholarship.
1-18 (b) The purpose of the program is to provide a grant of
1-19 money in an amount that would cover the average cost of tuition,
1-20 required fees, and textbooks for a student at a public institution
1-21 of higher education to assist a qualified person to attend a public
1-22 or private institution of higher education as long as the person
1-23 maintains good academic performance.
1-24 Sec. 56.303. ELIGIBILITY. (a) To be eligible for a lone
2-1 star scholarship, a person must:
2-2 (1) be a Texas resident as defined by coordinating
2-3 board rules;
2-4 (2) enroll as a full-time or part-time student in an
2-5 institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003 or
2-6 approved under Section 61.222;
2-7 (3) have attended a public or private high school in
2-8 this state:
2-9 (A) for at least one academic year; or
2-10 (B) while the person's parent was serving on
2-11 active duty as a member of the armed services of the United States
2-12 stationed in this state;
2-13 (4) meet the applicable requirements of Section
2-14 54.304;
2-15 (5) have applied for any other available financial
2-16 assistance, including federal grants and other student financial
2-17 aid, as required by the coordinating board; and
2-18 (6) comply with any other administrative requirements
2-19 adopted by the coordinating board under this subchapter.
2-20 (b) A person is not eligible to receive a lone star
2-21 scholarship if the person has been granted a baccalaureate degree.
2-22 (c) A person is not eligible to receive a lone star
2-23 scholarship if the person has been convicted of a felony, a crime
2-24 involving moral turpitude, or an offense under Chapter 481, Health
2-25 and Safety Code (Texas Controlled Substances Act), or under the law
2-26 of any other jurisdiction involving a controlled substance as
2-27 defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, unless the person
3-1 has met the other applicable eligibility requirements under this
3-2 subchapter and has:
3-3 (1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas
3-4 Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
3-5 completed a period of probation ordered by a court, and at least
3-6 two years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion;
3-7 or
3-8 (2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense
3-9 expunged from the person's record, or otherwise been released from
3-10 the resulting disabilities of the conviction.
3-11 (d) A person eligible for a lone star scholarship under
3-12 Subsection (a)(3)(A) may receive a lone star scholarship for a
3-13 number of semesters, not to exceed eight, equal to two times the
3-14 number of academic years the person attended high school in this
3-15 state for at least one-half of the academic year. A person
3-16 eligible for a lone star scholarship under Subsection (a)(3)(B) may
3-17 receive a lone star scholarship for not more than eight semesters.
3-18 A person eligible under both Subsections (a)(3)(A) and (B) may not
3-19 receive a lone star scholarship for more than eight semesters. For
3-20 purposes of this subsection, a term or session of less than nine
3-21 weeks is considered one-half of a semester. A term or session of
3-22 nine weeks or more is considered one semester.
3-23 Sec. 56.304. ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS. (a) To
3-24 receive a lone star scholarship in the first semester a person
3-25 attends an institution described by Section 56.303(a)(2), the
3-26 person must have graduated from high school with a cumulative
3-27 grade-point average in the person's final four semesters of at
4-1 least 3.0 on a four-point scale or the equivalent. To receive a
4-2 lone star scholarship in any subsequent semester, the person must
4-3 maintain a cumulative grade-point average for all college-level
4-4 academic courses previously attempted of at least 3.0 on a
4-5 four-point scale or the equivalent.
4-6 (b) A person who becomes ineligible to receive a lone star
4-7 scholarship because the person's grade-point average for
4-8 college-level courses does not meet the standard required by
4-9 Subsection (a) may restore the person's eligibility by raising that
4-10 grade-point average to the standard required by Subsection (a) by
4-11 the end of the next semester the person attends a public or private
4-12 institution of higher education.
4-13 Sec. 56.305. AMOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIP. (a) The amount of a
4-14 lone star scholarship for a term or semester for a person enrolled
4-15 in an institution other than an institution covered by Subsection
4-16 (b) is the amount determined by the coordinating board as the sum
4-17 of:
4-18 (1) the average amount of tuition and required fees a
4-19 student enrolled full-time in a baccalaureate degree program would
4-20 be charged for that term or semester at a public senior institution
4-21 of higher education in this state; and
4-22 (2) the average amount necessary to cover the cost of
4-23 textbooks and similar required materials for the term or semester
4-24 for a student described by Subdivision (1).
4-25 (b) The amount of a lone star scholarship for a term or
4-26 semester for a person enrolled in a public junior college or public
4-27 technical institute or in another institution that offers primarily
5-1 certificates or associate degrees is the amount determined by the
5-2 coordinating board as the sum of:
5-3 (1) the average amount of tuition and required fees a
5-4 student enrolled full-time in an associate degree program would be
5-5 charged for that term or semester at a public junior college; and
5-6 (2) the average amount necessary to cover the cost of
5-7 textbooks and similar required materials for the term or semester
5-8 for a student described by Subdivision (1).
5-9 (c) A lone star scholarship is in addition to any other
5-10 amount of financial aid the applicant receives or is eligible to
5-11 receive from any source. Except as provided by Section 56.306(c),
5-12 an applicant's eligibility for or acceptance of other financial aid
5-13 does not affect the applicant's eligibility to receive a
5-14 scholarship.
5-15 Sec. 56.306. PAYMENT OF SCHOLARSHIP. (a) On receipt of a
5-16 person's lone star scholarship application and an enrollment report
5-17 from the institution of higher education enrolling the person
5-18 providing the coordinating board with the information the board
5-19 requires to determine the person's eligibility, the coordinating
5-20 board shall determine whether the person is eligible for a
5-21 scholarship and, if the person is eligible, shall distribute the
5-22 amount of the scholarship for the person to the institution of
5-23 higher education.
5-24 (b) The total amount of lone star scholarships granted in an
5-25 academic year may not exceed the amount available in the lone star
5-26 scholarship trust fund.
5-27 (c) If in an academic year there are insufficient funds
6-1 available to provide a scholarship to each eligible person, the
6-2 board shall award the available scholarships to the eligible
6-3 persons with the greatest financial need.
6-4 Sec. 56.307. ADOPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF RULES. (a) The
6-5 coordinating board shall adopt rules to administer this subchapter.
6-6 (b) The coordinating board shall distribute to each
6-7 institution of higher education and to each school district copies
6-8 of the rules adopted under this subchapter.
6-9 Sec. 56.308. FUNDING. (a) The Lone Star Scholars Program
6-10 is funded from the lone star scholarship trust fund. The trust
6-11 fund is established outside the treasury but is held in trust by
6-12 the comptroller. Money in the trust fund may be spent without
6-13 appropriation and only to fund the program. Interest and income
6-14 from the assets of the trust fund shall be credited to and
6-15 deposited in the fund.
6-16 (b) In each state fiscal year the coordinating board may
6-17 spend from the trust fund to cover the costs of administering the
6-18 program an amount not to exceed 2.5 percent of the total amount of
6-19 money deposited into the fund in that fiscal year.
6-20 (c) The coordinating board may accept gifts and grants from
6-21 any public or private source for the purposes of this subchapter.
6-22 (d) The legislature may appropriate money to the trust fund.
6-23 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
6-24 (b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
6-25 award scholarships under the Lone Star Scholars Program beginning
6-26 with the 2000 fall semester.
6-27 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
7-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.