78R5870 JSA-F
By: Chavez H.B. No. 2977
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a program to provide incentives for certain persons to
earn doctorate degrees and enter the faculty and administration of
institutions of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter F to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F. DOCTORAL INCENTIVE PROGRAM
Sec. 56.091. ESTABLISHMENT; ADMINISTRATION. (a) The Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board shall establish and administer
the doctoral incentive program and shall adopt rules necessary to
administer the program.
(b) The purpose of the program is to:
(1) provide or guarantee education loans to students
from groups that are underrepresented among the faculty and
administration of public and independent institutions of higher
education in this state to assist those students to pursue
doctorate degrees; and
(2) 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 the individual satisfies at least two of the following
criteria:
(1) the individual was from a low socioeconomic
background while the individual attended elementary and secondary
school;
(2) none of the individual's parents, grandparents, or
great-grandparents has been enrolled in a baccalaureate degree
program or earned a baccalaureate degree;
(3) the individual attended high school in an area
with a high school drop-out rate significantly greater than the
state average; or
(4) 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 institutions of higher
education.
Sec. 56.092. ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible for a loan or loan
guarantee under the program, a person must:
(1) be accepted for admission to a public or
independent institution of higher education as a full-time student
in a doctoral program approved by the coordinating board;
(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; and
(4) comply with any other requirements adopted by the
coordinating board for the effective administration of the program.
Sec. 56.093. LOANS AND LOAN GUARANTEES. (a) If an eligible
student selected to participate in the program applies for a loan
from a lending institution, the coordinating board shall provide
the institution a conditional guarantee of the loan.
(b) If an eligible student selected to participate in the
program applies for a loan from the coordinating board, the board
shall provide a loan to the student in an amount determined by the
board.
(c) The coordinating board shall determine the number of
loans and loan guarantees to be awarded under the program and the
amount of the loans and loan guarantees considering the money
available to fund the program.
(d) The coordinating board may adopt qualifications or
limitations for loans for which the board may provide a guarantee
under the program.
(e) A loan provided under the program may not exceed $20,000
a year for each of not more than four years. The coordinating board
shall determine the other terms of the loan.
Sec. 56.094. LOAN SUSPENSION AND FORGIVENESS. (a) The
recipient of a loan awarded by the coordinating board under the
program is eligible for forgiveness of the recipient's loan as
provided by this section if, after the recipient obtains the
doctorate degree, the recipient is employed as a full-time faculty
member or academic administrator at a public or independent
institution of higher education in this state for at least three
consecutive academic years.
(b) The coordinating board shall suspend the repayment of
the loan if the recipient becomes employed as a full-time faculty
member or academic administrator at a public or independent
institution of higher education in this state until the recipient
ceases the employment or completes the number of academic years of
service required by Subsection (a) for forgiveness of the loan. If
the recipient completes that required service, the coordinating
board shall forgive the repayment of 20 percent of the unpaid
principal balance and accrued interest for each year of that
service and for each successive academic year of consecutive
service.
(c) The coordinating board shall adopt rules:
(1) governing loan suspension and forgiveness under
this section; and
(2) requiring the recipient to repay the loan if the
recipient fails to remain enrolled in the doctorate degree program
or to become or remain employed as a full-time faculty member or
academic administrator at a public or independent institution of
higher education in this state.
Sec. 56.095. CONDITIONAL GUARANTEE OF LOAN. (a) For a loan
recipient whose loan from a lending institution is conditionally
guaranteed under this subchapter, the coordinating board shall make
the scheduled loan payments on behalf of the recipient during the
period the coordinating board would be required to suspend
repayment of the loan under Section 56.094 if the loan were made by
the board.
(b) If the loan recipient completes the number of academic
years of service provided by Section 56.094(a) to qualify for loan
forgiveness under that section, the coordinating board shall
continue making the scheduled loan payments for the recipient's
conditionally guaranteed loan until the amount of loan payments
made by the board is equal to 20 percent of the total amount of
scheduled payments on the loan for each year of that service and for
each successive academic year of consecutive service.
(c) If the loan recipient fails to complete the number of
academic years of service provided by Section 56.094(a) to qualify
for loan forgiveness under that section, the coordinating board
shall cease making payments on the loan, and the payments
previously made by the board on the loan become a loan by the board
to the loan recipient. The coordinating board shall establish the
terms of the loan under this subsection at the time the loan
recipient initially receives the conditional loan guarantee under
this subchapter.
Sec. 56.096. FUNDING. (a) The coordinating board may
solicit and accept gifts and grants from any public or private
source for the purposes of the program.
(b) The legislature may appropriate money for the purposes
of this subchapter and may appropriate money to a trust fund with
the treasurer outside the state treasury to be administered by the
coordinating board for the administration of the program.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.