1-1     By:  West                                             S.B. No. 1535
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Education; May 14, 1999,
 1-4     reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1535                    By:  West
 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-8                                   AN ACT
 1-9     relating to the creation of the Texas Rising Star Scholarship
1-10     Program for deserving junior college and technical institute
1-11     students.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-14     Subchapter N to read as follows:
1-15            SUBCHAPTER N.  TEXAS RISING STAR SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
1-16           Sec. 56.351.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:
1-17                 (1)  "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
1-18     Education Coordinating Board.
1-19                 (2)  "Eligible institution" means:
1-20                       (A)  a public junior college or public technical
1-21     institute as defined by Section 61.003; or
1-22                       (B)  a private or independent institution of
1-23     higher education as defined by Section 61.003 that is accredited as
1-24     a junior college.
1-25           Sec. 56.352.  PROGRAM NAME; PURPOSE.  (a)  The student
1-26     financial assistance program authorized by this subchapter is known
1-27     as the Texas Rising Star Scholarship Program, and an individual
1-28     scholarship awarded under this subchapter is known as a rising star
1-29     scholarship.
1-30           (b)  The purpose of this subchapter is to provide a grant of
1-31     money to enable qualified students to attend junior colleges and
1-32     public technical institutes in this state.
1-33           Sec. 56.353.  ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM.  (a)  The
1-34     coordinating board shall administer the Texas Rising Star
1-35     Scholarship Program and shall adopt any rules necessary to
1-36     implement the program or this subchapter.
1-37           (b)  The coordinating board shall adopt rules to determine
1-38     which eligible persons receive rising star scholarships and to
1-39     provide scholarships in the most efficient manner possible.
1-40           (c)  The total amount of rising star scholarships awarded in
1-41     a state fiscal year may not exceed the amount available for the
1-42     program from appropriations, gifts, grants, or other funds.
1-43           (d)  In determining who should receive a scholarship, the
1-44     coordinating board shall give highest priority to awarding
1-45     scholarships to students who demonstrate the greatest financial
1-46     need.
1-47           Sec. 56.354.  ELIGIBLE PERSON.  (a)  To be eligible initially
1-48     for a rising star scholarship, a person must:
1-49                 (1)  be a resident of this state as determined by
1-50     coordinating board rules;
1-51                 (2)  have graduated from a public high school in this
1-52     state with an overall grade point average of at least 2.0 on a
1-53     four-point scale or the equivalent;
1-54                 (3)  meet financial need requirements as determined by
1-55     the governing board of the eligible institution;
1-56                 (4)  be enrolled in a degree or certificate program at
1-57     an eligible institution;
1-58                 (5)  enroll for at least one-half of a full course load
1-59     as an entering freshman in a degree or certificate program; and
1-60                 (6)  comply with any other requirement adopted by the
1-61     governing board of the eligible institution.
1-62           (b)  A person is not eligible to receive a rising star
1-63     scholarship if the person has been granted a baccalaureate degree.
1-64           (c)  A person may not receive a rising star scholarship for
 2-1     more than 75 semester credit hours or the equivalent.
 2-2           Sec. 56.355.  ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS.  (a)  After
 2-3     initially qualifying for a rising star scholarship, a person may
 2-4     receive a rising star scholarship during a subsequent academic year
 2-5     in which the person is enrolled at an eligible institution only if
 2-6     the person makes satisfactory academic progress toward a degree or
 2-7     certificate as determined by the governing board of the eligible
 2-8     institution.
 2-9           (b)  If a person fails to meet the requirements of Subsection
2-10     (a) after the completion of any academic year, the person may not
2-11     receive a scholarship under this subchapter during the next
2-12     semester or term in which the person enrolls.  A person may become
2-13     eligible to receive a scholarship in a subsequent semester or term
2-14     if the person:
2-15                 (1)  completes a semester or term during which the
2-16     student is not eligible for a scholarship; and
2-17                 (2)  meets the requirements of Subsection (a).
2-18           Sec. 56.356.  SCHOLARSHIP PERIOD AND USE.  (a)  A rising star
2-19     scholarship is awarded to an eligible person for an academic year,
2-20     except that, for a person who regains eligibility for a scholarship
2-21     under Section 56.355(b) after the beginning of an academic year,
2-22     the coordinating board may grant the person a scholarship for the
2-23     remainder of the academic year.
2-24           (b)  A person receiving a rising star scholarship may use the
2-25     money for any usual and customary education-related expense
2-26     incurred by the person, including payment of the person's tuition
2-27     and fees, books, room and board, and transportation.
2-28           (c)  The coordinating board or an eligible institution may
2-29     not require a person to use the money to pay tuition and fees.
2-30           Sec. 56.357.  SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT.  (a)  The amount of a
2-31     rising star scholarship is determined by the coordinating board.
2-32           (b)  The amount of a rising star scholarship may be reduced
2-33     by any gift aid the person receives from another source.
2-34           Sec. 56.358. FUNDING.  (a)  The Texas Rising Star Scholarship
2-35     Program is funded by a combination of local funds and state
2-36     appropriations as provided by this section.
2-37           (b)  An eligible institution may solicit and accept gifts,
2-38     grants, and donations from any public or private source to provide
2-39     rising star scholarships for its students and may use any other
2-40     available funds of the institution for that purpose.
2-41           (c)  In the manner prescribed by the coordinating board, the
2-42     governing board of an eligible institution may apply to participate
2-43     in the Texas Rising Star Scholarship Program if state funds are
2-44     appropriated to the program for a state fiscal year.  In its
2-45     application, the governing board shall state the total amount of
2-46     funds from gifts, grants, and donations the institution will use to
2-47     provide rising star scholarships to its students in that fiscal
2-48     year.  From the state funds appropriated to the program for that
2-49     fiscal year, the coordinating board shall set aside for
2-50     scholarships at each eligible institution an amount equal to
2-51     one-half of the amount that the institution will use to provide
2-52     rising star scholarships in that fiscal year from gifts, grants,
2-53     and donations.  If the amount of state funds appropriated to the
2-54     program for that fiscal year is insufficient to provide each
2-55     eligible institution applying to participate in the program the
2-56     full amount of matching state funds, the coordinating board shall
2-57     set aside for each eligible institution a share of the available
2-58     state funds in proportion to the amount the institution indicates
2-59     it will use to provide rising star scholarships in that fiscal year
2-60     from gifts, grants, and donations.
2-61           (d)  State funds set aside for scholarships at an eligible
2-62     institution under this section for a fiscal year may be used to
2-63     provide those scholarships only to the extent the institution
2-64     provides at least twice that amount for rising star scholarships in
2-65     the same fiscal year from gifts, grants, and donations.  The
2-66     coordinating board shall establish procedures for the
2-67     administration of this section, including procedures to ensure that
2-68     state funds appropriated for the program are used exclusively to
2-69     provide rising star scholarships in accordance with this
 3-1     subchapter.
 3-2           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act applies beginning with the
 3-3     2000-2001 state fiscal year.
 3-4           (b)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
 3-5     establish procedures for the administration of Subchapter N,
 3-6     Chapter 56, Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than
 3-7     January 1, 2000.
 3-8           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-9     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-10     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-11     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-12     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-13     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-14     passage, and it is so enacted.
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