By:  Barrientos                                       S.B. No. 1761
         99S0580/1                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to scholarships for educationally and economically
 1-2     disadvantaged students.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
 1-5     Subchapter M to read as follows:
 1-6           SUBCHAPTER M.  EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS
 1-7           Sec. 56.251.  FUNDING.  The governing board of an institution
 1-8     of higher education shall impose a fee of $2 to be added to the
 1-9     admission charge for any football or basketball intercollegiate
1-10     athletic event held on the campus or on other property under the
1-11     control of the institution to fund a scholarship program as
1-12     provided by this subchapter.
1-13           Sec. 56.252.  SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS.  (a)  The governing board
1-14     of an institution of higher education collecting a fee under
1-15     Section 56.251 shall establish and administer an educational
1-16     assistance scholarship program to provide scholarships to
1-17     educationally and economically disadvantaged students enrolled at
1-18     the institution.
1-19           (b)  The institution of higher education shall award
1-20     scholarships in a number and at an amount determined by the
1-21     governing board based on available funding.
1-22           Sec. 56.253.  AWARD OF GRANT.  An institution of higher
1-23     education shall award scholarships under this subchapter based on
1-24     the following criteria:
 2-1                 (1)  the applicant's academic record;
 2-2                 (2)  the socioeconomic background of the applicant,
 2-3     including the percentage by which the applicant's family is above
 2-4     or below any recognized measure of poverty, the applicant's
 2-5     household income, and the applicant's parents' level of education;
 2-6                 (3)  whether the applicant is the first generation of
 2-7     the applicant's family to attend or graduate from an institution of
 2-8     higher education;
 2-9                 (4)  whether the applicant has bilingual proficiency;
2-10                 (5)  the financial status of the school district in
2-11     which the applicant attended high school;
2-12                 (6)  the performance level of the high school the
2-13     applicant attended as determined by the school accountability
2-14     criteria used by the Texas Education Agency;
2-15                 (7)  the applicant's responsibilities while attending
2-16     school, including whether the applicant has been employed, whether
2-17     the applicant has helped to raise children, or other similar
2-18     factors;
2-19                 (8)  the applicant's region of residence;
2-20                 (9)  whether the applicant is a resident of a rural or
2-21     urban area or a resident of a central city or suburban area in the
2-22     state;
2-23                 (10)  the applicant's performance on standardized
2-24     tests;
2-25                 (11)  the applicant's performance on standardized tests
2-26     in comparison with that of other students from similar
 3-1     socioeconomic backgrounds;
 3-2                 (12)  whether the applicant attended any school while
 3-3     the school was under a court-ordered desegregation plan;
 3-4                 (13)  the applicant's involvement in community
 3-5     activities;
 3-6                 (14)  the applicant's extracurricular activities;
 3-7                 (15)  the applicant's commitment to a particular field
 3-8     of study;
 3-9                 (16)  the applicant's personal interview; and
3-10                 (17)  any other consideration the institution considers
3-11     necessary to accomplish the institution's stated mission.
3-12           Sec. 56.254.  ADOPTION OF RULES.  The Texas Higher Education
3-13     Coordinating Board shall adopt rules relating to the administration
3-14     of an educational assistance scholarship program under this
3-15     subchapter.
3-16           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
3-17     applies only to a ticket sale or other admission charge to an
3-18     intercollegiate athletic event if the ticket sale is made or the
3-19     admission charge is collected on or after the effective date of
3-20     this Act.
3-21           (b)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
3-22     adopt rules relating to the administration of an educational
3-23     assistance scholarship program under Subchapter M, Chapter 56,
3-24     Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1,
3-25     2000.
3-26           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 4-1     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 4-2     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 4-3     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 4-4     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.