By West S.B. No. 1535
76R7241 JSA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the creation of the Texas Rising Star Scholarship
1-3 Program for deserving public junior college students.
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. TEXAS RISING STAR SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
1-8 Sec. 56.301. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "eligible
1-9 institution" means a public junior college as defined by Section
1-10 61.003.
1-11 Sec. 56.302. PROGRAM NAME; PURPOSE. (a) The student
1-12 financial assistance program authorized by this subchapter is known
1-13 as the Texas Rising Star Scholarship Program, and an individual
1-14 scholarship awarded under this subchapter is known as a rising star
1-15 scholarship.
1-16 (b) The purpose of this subchapter is to provide a grant of
1-17 money to enable qualified students to attend public junior colleges
1-18 in this state.
1-19 Sec. 56.303. ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM. The governing board
1-20 of each eligible institution administers the program for its
1-21 students and determines to which of its students a rising star
1-22 scholarship is awarded.
1-23 Sec. 56.304. ELIGIBLE PERSON. (a) To be eligible initially
1-24 for a rising star scholarship, a person must:
2-1 (1) be a resident of this state as determined by
2-2 coordinating board rules;
2-3 (2) have graduated from a public high school in this
2-4 state not earlier than the 1998-1999 school year with an overall
2-5 grade point average of at least 2.5 on a four-point scale or the
2-6 equivalent;
2-7 (3) meet financial need requirements as determined by
2-8 the governing board of the eligible institution;
2-9 (4) be enrolled in a degree or certificate program at
2-10 an eligible institution;
2-11 (5) enroll for at least one-half of a full course load
2-12 as an entering freshman in a degree or certificate program; and
2-13 (6) comply with any other requirement adopted by the
2-14 governing board of the eligible institution.
2-15 (b) A person is not eligible to receive a rising star
2-16 scholarship if the person has been granted a baccalaureate degree.
2-17 (c) A person may not receive a rising star scholarship for
2-18 more than 75 semester credit hours or the equivalent.
2-19 Sec. 56.305. ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS. (a) After
2-20 initially qualifying for a Texas rising star scholarship, a person
2-21 may continue to receive a Texas rising star scholarship during each
2-22 semester or term in which the person is enrolled at an eligible
2-23 institution only if the person makes satisfactory academic progress
2-24 toward a degree or certificate as determined by the governing board
2-25 of the eligible institution.
2-26 (b) If a person fails to meet the requirements of Subsection
2-27 (a) after the completion of any semester or term, a person may not
3-1 receive a scholarship under this subchapter during the next
3-2 semester or term in which the person enrolls. A person may become
3-3 eligible to receive a scholarship in a subsequent semester or term
3-4 if the person:
3-5 (1) completes a semester or term during which the
3-6 student is not eligible for a scholarship; and
3-7 (2) meets the requirements of Subsection (a).
3-8 Sec. 56.306. SCHOLARSHIP USE. (a) A person receiving a
3-9 rising star scholarship may use the money for any usual and
3-10 customary education-related expense incurred by the student,
3-11 including payment of the student's tuition and fees, books, room
3-12 and board, and transportation.
3-13 (b) An eligible institution may not require a person to use
3-14 the money to pay tuition and fees.
3-15 Sec. 56.307. SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT. (a) The amount of a
3-16 rising star scholarship is determined by the governing board of the
3-17 eligible institution.
3-18 (b) The amount of a rising star scholarship may be reduced
3-19 by any gift aid the person receives from another source.
3-20 Sec. 56.308. FUNDING. (a) The Texas Rising Star
3-21 Scholarship Program is funded by a combination of local funds and
3-22 state appropriations as provided by this section.
3-23 (b) An eligible institution may solicit and accept gifts,
3-24 grants, and donations from any public or private source to provide
3-25 rising star scholarships for its students and may use any other
3-26 available funds of the institution for that purpose.
3-27 (c) In the manner prescribed by the comptroller, the
4-1 governing board of an eligible institution may apply for matching
4-2 state funds, if state funds are appropriated to the program for a
4-3 state fiscal year. In its application, the governing board shall
4-4 state the total amount of funds the institution will use to provide
4-5 rising star scholarships to its students in that fiscal year from
4-6 gifts, grants, and donations. From the state funds appropriated to
4-7 the program for that fiscal year, the comptroller shall transfer to
4-8 each eligible institution an amount equal to one-half of the amount
4-9 that the institution will use to provide scholarships in that
4-10 fiscal year from gifts, grants, and donations. If the amount of
4-11 state funds appropriated to the program for that fiscal year is
4-12 insufficient to provide each eligible institution applying for
4-13 state funds the full amount, the comptroller shall transfer to each
4-14 eligible institution the institution's pro rata share of the
4-15 available state funds.
4-16 (d) An eligible institution may use state funds received
4-17 under this section for a fiscal year only to the extent the
4-18 institution awards at least twice that amount in rising star
4-19 scholarships in the same fiscal year from gifts, grants, and
4-20 donations. The comptroller shall establish procedures for the
4-21 administration of this section, including procedures to ensure that
4-22 state funds appropriated for the program are used exclusively to
4-23 provide rising star scholarships in accordance with this subchapter
4-24 and to recover funds not used in accordance with this subchapter.
4-25 SECTION 2. (a) This Act applies beginning with the
4-26 2000-2001 state fiscal year.
4-27 (b) The comptroller shall establish procedures for the
5-1 administration of Section 56.308, Education Code, as added by this
5-2 Act, not later than January 1, 2000.
5-3 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-8 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-9 passage, and it is so enacted.