By: Berman (Senate Sponsor - Shapiro) H.B. No. 2109
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 16, 2005;
May 17, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 20, 2005, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 20, 2005, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Early High School Graduation Scholarship program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter K, Chapter 56, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 56.2011 to read as follows:
Sec. 56.2011. DEFINITION. In this subchapter,
"coordinating board" means the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board.
SECTION 2. Section 56.202, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 56.202. PURPOSE. (a) The Early High School Graduation
Scholarship program is created to increase efficiency in the
Foundation School Program and to provide assistance for tuition or
tuition and mandatory fees, as provided by Section 56.204, to an
eligible person to enable that person to attend a [Texas] public or
private institution of higher education in this state.
(b) A portion of the savings to the Foundation School
Program that occur as a result of the program is dedicated to state
credits for tuition or tuition and mandatory fees, as applicable,
provided to an eligible person under the program.
SECTION 3. Section 56.203, Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 365 and 1317, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2003, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
Sec. 56.203. ELIGIBLE PERSON. (a) To be eligible for an
award through the Early High School Graduation Scholarship program,
a person must:
(1) [have the written approval of at least one of the
person's parents or a person standing in parental relation to the
person, if the person graduated from high school in not more than 41
consecutive months;
[(2)] have [successfully completed the recommended or
advanced high school program established under Section 28.025 and]
graduated from [a Texas public] high school:
(A) in not more than 41 consecutive months and
successfully completed the recommended or advanced high school
program established under Section 28.025, if the person graduated
on or after September 1, 2005;
(B) in not more than 45 consecutive months, [or,
if the person graduated] with at least 30 hours of college credit,
and successfully completed the recommended or advanced high school
program established under Section 28.025, if the person graduated
on or after September 1, 2005 [in not more than 45 consecutive
months]; or
(C) in not more than 36 consecutive months after
successfully completing the requirements for a high school diploma,
if the person graduated before September 1, 2005, regardless of
whether the person successfully completed the recommended or
advanced high school program established under Section 28.025;
(2) [(3)] have attended high school exclusively in one
or more public high schools in this state [only]; and
(3) [(4)] be a Texas resident as defined by
coordinating board [Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board]
rule.
(b) The [A person's] eligibility for the Early High School
Graduation Scholarship program of a person described by Subsection
(a)(1)(A) or (B) ends on the sixth anniversary of the date that the
person first becomes eligible to participate in the program, unless
the person is provided additional time to participate in the
program under Subsection (c).
(c) The coordinating board shall adopt rules to provide a
person described by Subsection (a)(1)(A) or (B) who is otherwise
eligible to participate in the Early High School Graduation
Scholarship program additional time to use a state credit for
tuition and mandatory fees under the program. The rules must
require a person seeking an extension under this subsection to show
hardship or other good cause that prevents the person from
enrolling in or continuing enrollment in an eligible institution
during the period provided by Subsection (b). For purposes of this
subsection, hardship or other good cause includes a severe illness
or other debilitating condition, [or] responsibility for the care
of a sick, injured, or needy person, or active duty or other service
in the United States armed forces.
(d) A person who does not satisfy the curriculum
requirements for the recommended or advanced high school program as
required to establish eligibility under Subsection (a)(1)(A) or (B)
[of Subsection (a)(2)] is considered to have satisfied those
requirements if the high school from which the person graduated
indicates on the person's transcript that the person was unable to
complete the appropriate curriculum within the time prescribed by
that subsection solely because of a reason beyond the person's
control, such as [necessary courses were unavailable to the person
at the appropriate times in the person's high school career as a
result of course scheduling,] lack of enrollment capacity[,] or a
shortage of qualified teachers [another cause not within the
person's control].
SECTION 4. The heading to Section 56.204, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 56.204. ENTITLEMENT[; MATCHING CREDIT].
SECTION 5. Section 56.204(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) An eligible person under the Early High School
Graduation Scholarship program is entitled to a state credit to
apply toward tuition or [pay] tuition and mandatory fees, as
applicable, at a public or private institution of higher education
in this state in the following amounts:
(1) $2,000 to apply toward tuition and mandatory fees
if the person successfully completed the recommended or advanced
high school program established under Section 28.025 and graduated
from high school on or after September 1, 2005, in 36 consecutive
months or less and an additional $1,000 to apply toward tuition and
mandatory fees if the person graduated with at least 15 hours of
college credit;
(2) $500 to apply toward tuition and mandatory fees if
the person successfully completed the recommended or advanced high
school program established under Section 28.025 and graduated from
high school on or after September 1, 2005, in more than 36
consecutive months but not more than 41 consecutive months and an
additional $1,000 to apply toward tuition and mandatory fees if the
person graduated with at least 30 hours of college credit; [or]
(3) $1,000 to apply toward tuition and mandatory fees
if the person successfully completed the recommended or advanced
high school program established under Section 28.025 and graduated
from high school on or after September 1, 2005, in more than 41
consecutive months but not more than 45 consecutive months with at
least 30 hours of college credit; or
(4) $1,000 to apply only toward tuition if the person
graduated before September 1, 2005, after successfully completing
the requirements for a high school diploma in not more than 36
consecutive months.
SECTION 6. Section 56.205, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 56.205. ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE. As soon as
practicable after the coordinating board confirms with the high
school from which a person graduated that the person is eligible for
an award through the Early High School Graduation Scholarship
program, the [The] coordinating board shall provide a certificate
for state credits for tuition or tuition and mandatory fees, as
applicable, to the [an] eligible person.
SECTION 7. Sections 56.206(a), (c), and (d), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) On enrollment of an eligible person in an eligible
institution of higher education, the institution shall apply to the
person's charges for tuition or tuition and mandatory fees, as
applicable, for the enrollment period an amount equal to the lesser
of:
(1) the amount of the state credit available to the
person; or
(2) the person's actual tuition or tuition and
mandatory fees, as applicable.
(c) For each student using a state credit for tuition or
tuition and mandatory fees under this subchapter, the institution
of higher education shall report to the coordinating board the
following information:
(1) the student's name;
(2) the school district from which the student
graduated from high school; [and]
(3) the amount of the state credit applied; and
(4) whether the state credit was applied toward
tuition or tuition and mandatory fees.
(d) Subject to Section 56.203(b), an eligible person may use
the state credit for enrollment in an eligible institution of
higher education during any semester or summer session, except the
[person's] initial use of the credit by a person who qualifies for
an award under Section 56.203(a)(1)(A) or (B) may not be for
enrollment during any term of a summer session immediately
following the person's graduation from high school.
SECTION 8. Section 56.207(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) On receipt of a report from the coordinating board under
Subsection (a), the commissioner of education shall transfer to the
coordinating board, from funds appropriated for the Foundation
School Program, an amount sufficient to pay each eligible
institution of higher education the amount of state credit for
tuition or tuition and mandatory fees, as applicable, that is
applied by the institution during the period covered by the report.
SECTION 9. Section 56.2075(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The commissioner of education shall distribute money
from the foundation school fund in an amount sufficient to pay each
school district under Subsection (a).
SECTION 10. As soon as practicable after this Act takes
effect, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall revise
rules adopted under Section 56.209(a), Education Code, as necessary
to conform to changes made by this Act to Subchapter K, Chapter 56,
Education Code. For that purpose, the coordinating board may adopt
the revisions to those rules in the manner provided by law for
emergency rules. This section expires September 1, 2006.
SECTION 11. 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, 2005.
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