82R2387 KEL-D
 
  By: Branch H.B. No. 10
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to eligibility for a TEXAS grant and to administration of
  the TEXAS grant program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 56.301(2), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
               (2)  "Eligible institution" means:
                     (A)  for a person who graduates from high school
  on or after May 1, 2013, a general academic teaching institution as
  defined by Section 61.003; and
                     (B)  for any other person, an institution of
  higher education that offers one or more undergraduate degree or
  certification programs.
         SECTION 2.  Section 56.303, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read
  as follows:
         (d)  From money appropriated by the legislature for the
  purposes of this subchapter, the coordinating board annually shall
  determine the allocation among eligible institutions of money
  available for TEXAS grants and shall distribute the money
  accordingly. In allocating available grant money among general
  academic teaching institutions, the coordinating board shall
  ensure that each of those institutions' percentage share of the
  total amount of grant money allocated to general academic teaching
  institutions under this subsection for an academic year does not,
  as a result of the number of students who establish eligibility at
  the institution for an initial TEXAS grant under Section
  56.3041(a)(2)(A), change from the institution's percentage share
  of the total amount allocated to those institutions under this
  subsection for the preceding academic year.
         (e)  In determining who should receive a TEXAS grant, the
  coordinating board and the eligible institutions shall give
  [highest] priority to awarding TEXAS grants to students who
  demonstrate the greatest financial need.
         (f)  Beginning with TEXAS grants awarded for the 2013-2014
  academic year, in determining who should receive an initial TEXAS
  grant, each eligible institution, in addition to giving priority as
  provided by Subsection (e), shall give highest priority to students
  who meet the eligibility criteria described by Section
  56.3041(a)(2)(A). If there is money available in excess of the
  amount required to award an initial TEXAS grant to all students
  meeting those criteria, an institution shall make awards to other
  students who meet the eligibility criteria described by Section
  56.304(a)(2)(A), provided that the institution continues to give
  priority to students as provided by Subsection (e).
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code, is
  amended by amending Section 56.3041 and adding Section 56.3042 to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 56.3041.  INITIAL ELIGIBILITY OF PERSON GRADUATING FROM
  HIGH SCHOOL ON OR AFTER MAY 1, 2013. (a)  To be eligible initially
  for a TEXAS grant, a person graduating from high school on or after
  May 1, 2013, must:
               (1)  be a resident of this state as determined by
  coordinating board rules;
               (2)  meet the academic requirements prescribed by
  Paragraph (A), (B), or (C) as follows:
                     (A)  be a graduate of a public or accredited
  private high school in this state who completed the recommended
  high school program established under Section 28.025 or its
  equivalent and have accomplished any two or more of the following:
                           (i)  graduation under the advanced high
  school program established under Section 28.025 or its equivalent,
  successful completion of the course requirements of the
  international baccalaureate diploma program, or earning of 12 or
  more credits in high school through courses described in Sections
  28.009(a)(1), (2), and (3);
                           (ii)  satisfaction of the Texas Success
  Initiative (TSI) college readiness benchmarks prescribed by the
  coordinating board under Section 51.3062(f) on any assessment
  instrument designated by the coordinating board under Section
  51.3062(c) or (e), or qualification for an exemption as described
  by Section 51.3062(p), (q), or (q-1);
                           (iii)  graduation in the top one-third of
  the person's high school graduating class or graduation from high
  school with a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a four-point
  scale or the equivalent; or
                           (iv)  completion for high school credit of
  at least one advanced mathematics course following the successful
  completion of an Algebra II course, as permitted by Section
  28.025(b-3), or at least one advanced career and technical course,
  as permitted by Section 28.025(b-2);
                     (B)  have received an associate degree from a
  public or private institution of higher education; or
                     (C)  if sufficient money is available, meet the
  eligibility criteria described by Section 56.304(a)(2)(A);
               (3)  meet financial need requirements established by
  the coordinating board;
               (4)  be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program at
  an eligible institution;
               (5)  except as provided under rules adopted under
  Subsection (g), be enrolled as:
                     (A)  an entering undergraduate student for at
  least three-fourths of a full course load, as determined by the
  coordinating board, not later than the 16th month after the date the
  person graduates from high school;
                     (B)  an entering undergraduate student who
  entered military service not later than 12 months after graduating
  from high school and who enrolled at an eligible institution not
  later than 12 months after being honorably discharged from military
  service; or
                     (C)  a continuing undergraduate student for at
  least three-fourths of a full course load, as determined by the
  coordinating board, not later than the 12th month after the date the
  person receives an associate degree from a public or private
  institution of higher education;
               (6)  have applied for any available financial aid or
  assistance; and
               (7)  comply with any additional nonacademic
  requirements adopted by the coordinating board under this
  subchapter.
         (b)  A person is not eligible to receive a TEXAS grant if the
  person has been convicted of a felony or an offense under Chapter
  481, Health and Safety Code, or under the law of another
  jurisdiction involving a controlled substance as defined by Chapter
  481, Health and Safety Code, unless the person has met the other
  applicable eligibility requirements under this subchapter and has:
               (1)  received a certificate of discharge from the Texas
  Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
  completed a period of probation ordered by a court and at least two
  years have elapsed from the date of the receipt of completion; or
               (2)  been pardoned, had the record of the offense
  expunged from the person's record, or otherwise been released from
  the resulting ineligibility to receive a grant under this
  subchapter.
         (c)  A person is not eligible to receive a TEXAS grant if the
  person has been granted a baccalaureate degree.
         (d)  A person may not receive a TEXAS grant for more than 150
  semester credit hours or the equivalent.
         (e)  Except as provided under rules adopted under Subsection
  (f), a person's eligibility for a TEXAS grant ends on:
               (1)  the fifth anniversary of the initial award of a
  TEXAS grant to the person if the person is enrolled in a degree or
  certificate program of four years or less; or
               (2)  the sixth anniversary of the initial award of a
  TEXAS grant to the person if the person is enrolled in a degree or
  certificate program of more than four years.
         (f)  The coordinating board shall adopt rules to provide a
  person who is otherwise eligible to receive a TEXAS grant
  additional time during which the person may receive a TEXAS grant in
  the event of a hardship or other good cause shown that prevents the
  person from continuing the person's enrollment during the period
  the person would otherwise have been eligible to receive a TEXAS
  grant, including a showing of:
               (1)  severe illness or other debilitating condition
  experienced by the person; or
               (2)  responsibility of the person for the care of a
  sick, injured, or needy person.
         (g)  The coordinating board shall adopt rules to allow a
  person who is otherwise eligible to receive a TEXAS grant in the
  event of a hardship or for other good cause shown, including a
  showing of a severe illness or other debilitating condition that
  may affect the person's academic performance or that the person is
  responsible for the care of a sick, injured, or needy person and
  that the person's provision of care may affect the person's academic
  performance, to receive a TEXAS grant while enrolled in a number of
  semester credit hours that is less than the number required by
  Subsection (a)(5).  The coordinating board may not allow a person to
  receive a TEXAS grant while enrolled in fewer than six semester
  credit hours or the equivalent.
         Sec. 56.3042.  INITIAL QUALIFICATION [ELIGIBILITY] OF
  PERSON ON TRACK TO MEET ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS [COMPLETE
  RECOMMENDED OR ADVANCED CURRICULUM].  (a)  If at the time an
  eligible institution awards TEXAS grants to initial recipients for
  an academic year an applicant has not completed high school or the
  applicant's final high school transcript is not yet available to
  the institution, the student is considered to have satisfied the
  eligibility requirements of Section 56.304(a)(2)(A) or
  56.3041(a)(2)(A) if the student's available high school transcript
  indicates that at the time the transcript was prepared the student
  was on schedule to graduate from high school and to meet the
  eligibility requirements [complete the recommended or advanced
  high school curriculum or its equivalent], as applicable to the
  student, in time to be eligible for a TEXAS grant for the academic
  year.
         (b)  The coordinating board or the eligible institution may
  require the student to forgo or repay the amount of an initial TEXAS
  grant awarded to the student as described by Subsection (a) if the
  student fails to meet the eligibility requirements of Section
  56.3041(a)(2)(A) [complete the recommended or advanced high school
  curriculum or its equivalent] after the issuance of the available
  high school transcript.
         (c)  A person who is required to forgo or repay the amount of
  an initial TEXAS grant under Subsection (b) may become eligible to
  receive an initial TEXAS grant under Section 56.304 or 56.3041 by
  satisfying the associate degree requirement prescribed by Section
  56.304(a)(2)(B) or 56.3041(a)(2)(B) and the other applicable
  requirements of the [that] section applicable to the person at the
  time the person reapplies for the grant.
         (d)  A person who receives an initial TEXAS grant under
  Subsection (a) and is not required to forgo or repay the amount of
  the grant under Subsection (b) may become eligible to receive a
  subsequent TEXAS grant under Section 56.305 only by satisfying the
  associate degree requirement prescribed by Section 56.304(a)(2)(B)
  or 56.3041(a)(2)(B), as applicable to the person, in addition to
  the requirements of Section 56.305 at the time the person applies
  for the subsequent grant.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2013.