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Amend SB 286 on third reading by adding the following
appropriately numbered SECTION and renumbering the other SECTIONS
of the bill accordingly:
SECTION 1. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter F to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F. DOCTORAL INCENTIVE LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM
Sec. 56.091. ESTABLISHMENT; ADMINISTRATION. (a) The Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board shall establish and administer
the doctoral incentive loan repayment program as provided by this
subchapter and shall adopt rules as necessary to administer the
program.
(b) The purpose of the doctoral incentive loan repayment
program is to provide education loan repayment assistance to
individuals from groups that are underrepresented among the faculty
and administration of public and independent institutions of higher
education in this state to increase the number of individuals from
those underrepresented groups among the faculty and administration
of public and independent institutions of higher education in this
state.
(c) For purposes of this subchapter, an individual is from a
group that is underrepresented among the faculty and administration
of public and independent institutions of higher education in this
state if:
(1) the individual was from a low socioeconomic
background while pursuing the individual's undergraduate
education; or
(2) when the individual graduated from high school the
individual resided in an area from which a disproportionately low
number of high school graduates enrolled in postsecondary
educational institutions.
Sec. 56.092. ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible for loan repayment
assistance under the doctoral incentive loan repayment program, an
individual must:
(1) be employed as a full-time faculty or
administration member in a public or independent institution of
higher education in this state for at least one year;
(2) be a Texas resident;
(3) be from a group that is underrepresented among the
faculty and administration of public and independent institutions
of higher education in this state;
(4) have qualified for student financial aid based on
financial need while enrolled in a graduate-level degree program;
and
(5) comply with any other requirements adopted by the
coordinating board for the effective administration of the program.
Sec. 56.093. ELIGIBLE LOANS. The coordinating board may
provide repayment assistance under the doctoral incentive loan
repayment program for the payment of any education loan received by
an eligible individual through any lender.
Sec. 56.094. LOAN REPAYMENT ASSISTANCE. (a) The
coordinating board may provide assistance in the repayment of an
eligible loan to an eligible individual in the amounts and under the
terms the coordinating board considers appropriate to further the
purposes of the doctoral incentive loan repayment program and the
best interests of this state.
(b) An individual may receive loan repayment assistance
under the doctoral incentive loan repayment program in a total
amount not to exceed $100,000.
Sec. 56.095. FUNDING; LIMITATION ON FUNDING. (a) The
doctoral incentive loan repayment program may be funded only from a
source provided by this section. The total amount of loan repayment
assistance paid under the program may not exceed the amount of money
available for the program under this section.
(b) Each institution of higher education shall set aside a
portion of the tuition collected from each student enrolled in a
doctoral degree program, other than a law or health professional
degree program, equal to $2 for each semester credit hour for which
the student is enrolled. The amount set aside shall be transferred
to the comptroller to be maintained in the state treasury for the
sole purpose of repayment of student loans of individuals employed
as faculty and administrators at institutions of higher education
in this state as provided by this subchapter. The money may be used
only to provide loan repayment under this subchapter and to cover
the costs of administering this subchapter.
(c) The coordinating board may solicit and accept gifts and
grants from any public or private source for the purposes of the
doctoral incentive loan repayment program.
Sec. 56.096. INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION (a) The board shall
provide loan repayments under this subchapter beginning with the
2004-2005 academic year.
(b) The board shall adopt the initial rules for awarding loan
repayment under this subchapter as soon as practicable after this
subchapter becomes law. The board may adopt those initial rules in
the manner provided by law for emergency rules
(c) This section expires January 1, 2006.