By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 27
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of a no interest college loan program
to provide students who maintain a B average and graduate within
four years an incentive to pursue higher education in Texas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter Q to read as follows:
Sec. 61.815. PROGRAM NAME. The student financial
assistance program authorized by this subchapter is known as the
Texas B On-Time Student Loan Program, and an individual scholarship
awarded under this subchapter is knows as a Texas B On-Time Student
Loan.
Sec. 61.8151. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to
provide zero percent loans for eligible students to enable them to
attend Texas institutions of higher education.
Sec. 61.8152. ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY. (a) The Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board shall administer the Texas B
On-Time Student Loan Program.
(b) The coordinating board shall provide a Texas B On-Time
Student loan to an eligible student enrolled in an eligible
institution of higher education in the most efficient manner
possible.
(c) The total amount of Texas B On-Time Student Loans
awarded may not exceed the amount available for the Texas B On-Time
Student Loan Program from appropriations, gifts, grants or other
funds.
(d) During each fiscal year, the coordinating board may use
up to one percent of the funds appropriated for the Texas B On-Time
Student Land Program to cover the costs of administering the
program.
Sec. 61.8153. ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION. An eligible
institution of higher education is:
(1) an institution of higher education as defined by
Se. 61.003(8); or
(2) a private or independent institution of higher
education as defined by Section 61.003(15).
Sec. 61.8154. ELIGIBLE PERSON. (a) To be eligible for a
Texas B On-Time Student Loan, a person must:
(1) be a Texas resident under the rules of the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board;
(2) be enrolled in an undergraduate degree or
certificate program at an eligible institution of higher education;
(3) be a graduate of a Texas public or accredited
private high school who graduated not earlier than the 2002-2003
school year and who graduated with at least a B cumulative grade
point average;
(4) enroll for a full course load as an entering
freshman not later than the sixteenth month after the person's
graduation from a Texas high school; and
(5) comply with any other requirement adopted by the
coordinating board under this subchapter.
(b) A person is not eligible to receive a Texas B On-Time
Student Loan if the person has a baccalaureate degree.
(c) A person's eligibility for a Texas B On-Time Student
Loan ends four years after the person first enrolls in an eligible
institution of higher education.
(d) A person may not receive a Texas B On-Time Student Loan
for more than 150 semester credit hours or the equivalent.
Sec. 61.8155. REQUIREMENTS FOR MAINTAINING ELIGIBILITY.
(a) A person may receive a Texas B On-Time Student Loan during each
semester in which the person enrolls if the person makes steady
academic progress toward an undergraduate degree or certificate and
maintains at least a B cumulative grade point average.
Sec. 61.8156. LOAN DISBURSEMENT. (a) A person receiving a
Texas B On-Time Student Loan may use the loan proceeds for any usual
and customary education-related expense incurred by the student,
including tuition and fees, books, and room and board.
(b) An institution may not require a scholarship recipient
to use the proceeds to pay tuition and fees.
Sec. 61.8157. LOAN AMOUNT. (a) The amount of a Texas B
On-Time Student Loan for a student enrolled at a public institution
of higher education is an amount equal to the tuition and fees,
excluding incidental fees, charged to the student.
(b) The amount of a Texas B On-Time Student Loan for a
student enrolled at a private or independent institution of higher
education shall be an amount equal to the average tuition and fees,
excluding incidental fees, charged to a student.
(c) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
award annually loans based on the amount from appropriations,
gifts, grants or other funds and the number of eligible persons.
Sec. 61.8158. LOAN PAYMENT. (a) The Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board shall establish policies and
procedures for distributing the loan funds in the most efficient
manner possible.
Sec. 61.8159. FUTURE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Beginning in the fall semester of 2003, in order to be eligible
for a Texas B On-Time Student Loan, a student must graduate from a
Texas high school with a diploma designated as college preparatory
by the Texas Education Agency.
(b) The Texas Education Agency, in consultation with the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, public schools and
institutions of higher education, shall determine the curriculum
needed to lead to a college preparatory diploma. The Texas
Education Agency may designate multiple diploma categories as
college preparatory.
(c) Each high school in Texas shall ensure that the diploma
designation is either noted on each student's official transcript
or included in the documentation required to certify a students'
eligibility for the loan.
Sec. 61.81510. ADOPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF RULES.
(a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt
rules necessary to administer this subchapter.
(b) The coordinating board shall distribute to each
eligible institution of higher education and to each school
district a copy of all rules adopted under this subchapter.
(c) Each school district shall notify its students to ensure
the students' awareness of this loan program and the eligibility
requirements.
Sec. 61.81511. FUNDING. (a) The coordinating board may
accept gifts and grants from any public or private source for the
purposes of this subchapter.
SECTION 2. (a) The Texas B On-Time Student Loan shall
first be awarded for the fall semester 2003.
(b) The coordinating board shall adopt rules for awarding
loans under this subchapter not later than July 25, 2003.
SECTION 3. 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.