| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the Texas Armed Services Scholarship Program. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 61.9772(a), Education Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) To receive an initial scholarship under this |
|
|
subchapter, a student must: |
|
|
(1) be enrolled [as a freshman] in a public or private |
|
|
institution of higher education in this state; |
|
|
(2) enroll in and be a member in good standing of a |
|
|
Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program while enrolled in a |
|
|
public or private institution of higher education in this state; |
|
|
(3) be appointed to receive a scholarship by the |
|
|
governor, the lieutenant governor, a state senator, or a state |
|
|
representative; and |
|
|
(4) enter into an agreement with the board under |
|
|
Section 61.9773. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 61.9773(a), Education Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) To receive a scholarship under this subchapter, a |
|
|
student must enter into an agreement with the board as provided by |
|
|
this section. The agreement must require the student to: |
|
|
(1) complete four years of ROTC training; |
|
|
(2) graduate not later than six [five] years after the |
|
|
date the student first enrolls in a public or private institution of |
|
|
higher education in this state; |
|
|
(3) after graduation, enter into: |
|
|
(A) a four-year commitment to be a member of the |
|
|
Texas Army National Guard, Texas [or] Air [Force] National Guard, |
|
|
Texas State Guard, United States Coast Guard, or United States |
|
|
Merchant Marine; or |
|
|
(B) a contract to serve as a commissioned officer |
|
|
in any branch of the armed services of the United States; |
|
|
(4) meet the physical examination requirements and all |
|
|
other prescreening requirements of the Texas Army National Guard, |
|
|
Texas [or] Air [Force] National Guard, Texas State Guard, United |
|
|
States Coast Guard, or United States Merchant Marine or the branch |
|
|
of the armed services with which the student enters into a contract; |
|
|
and |
|
|
(5) agree to repay the scholarship if the student: |
|
|
(A) fails to maintain satisfactory academic |
|
|
progress; |
|
|
(B) withdraws from the scholarship program; or |
|
|
(C) fails to fulfill a commitment or contract |
|
|
described by Subdivision (3). |
|
|
SECTION 3. Sections 61.9774 and 61.9775, Education Code, |
|
|
are amended to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 61.9774. RULES. [(a)] The board shall adopt rules as |
|
|
necessary for the administration of this subchapter, including |
|
|
rules regarding the eligibility criteria and the selection of |
|
|
scholarship recipients. |
|
|
[(b)
The board by rule shall provide that any amount paid to
|
|
|
a student by a branch of the armed services of the United States
|
|
|
during an academic year for which the student receives a
|
|
|
scholarship under this subchapter because the student is under a
|
|
|
contract with that branch shall be deducted from the amount of the
|
|
|
scholarship awarded to the student for that academic year.] |
|
|
Sec. 61.9775. LIMITATIONS [LIMITATION] ON SCHOLARSHIP. (a) |
|
|
A person may not receive a scholarship under this subchapter after |
|
|
earning a cumulative total of 150 credit hours or after being |
|
|
awarded a baccalaureate degree, whichever occurs first. |
|
|
(b) A scholarship awarded to a student under this subchapter |
|
|
shall be reduced for an academic year by the amount by which the |
|
|
full amount of the scholarship plus the total amount to be paid to |
|
|
the student for being under contract with one of the branches of the |
|
|
armed services of the United States exceeds the student's total |
|
|
cost of attendance for that academic year at the public or private |
|
|
institution of higher education in which the student is enrolled. |
|
|
SECTION 4. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board |
|
|
shall adopt rules for the administration of Subchapter FF, Chapter |
|
|
61, Education Code, as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable |
|
|
after this Act takes effect. For that purpose, the coordinating |
|
|
board may adopt the rules in the manner provided by law for |
|
|
emergency rules. |
|
|
SECTION 5. 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, 2011. |