BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 2755 |
By: Branch |
Higher Education |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties contend that due to the institution's regional accreditation, students at Western Governors University Texas (WGU) are not eligible for certain financial aid opportunities that are available to students at Texas colleges and universities accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. C.S.H.B. 2755 seeks to provide eligible students at WGU Texas or similar online nonprofit universities with certain student financial assistance grants on a trial basis.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in SECTIONS 1 and 2 of this bill.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2755 amends the Education Code to add temporary provisions, set to expire January 1, 2016, to require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule to provide student financial assistance grants during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 academic years for students enrolled at WGU Texas, or a similar nonprofit, tax-exempt, regionally accredited college or university operating in accordance with a memorandum of understanding with the state under an executive order issued by the governor and offering competency-based, exclusively online or other distance education and for students enrolled in a degree program approved by the coordinating board for purposes of the bill's provisions. The bill requires the coordinating board by rule, in consultation with certain financial aid representatives, to conduct a study regarding, and prepare proposed draft legislation for, the creation of a similar state-funded student financial assistance program and, not later than October 1, 2014, to submit to each standing committee of the legislature with primary jurisdiction of higher education a report of the results of the study together with the proposed draft legislation.
C.S.H.B. 2755 requires the coordinating board rules to prescribe eligibility requirements for an award of a grant, including certain specified requirements, and caps the amount of a grant awarded to a student for an academic year at the lesser of the following: the maximum amount of a tuition equalization grant paid in behalf of any student during any one fiscal year or the amount of the difference between the tuition charged to the student by the college or university in which the student is enrolled for that academic year and the average tuition charged to a similarly situated student by a general academic teaching institution for that academic year, as determined by the coordinating board.
C.S.H.B. 2755 requires the coordinating board to adopt any rules necessary under the bill's provisions and begin awarding grants under the bill's provisions as soon as practicable after the bill takes effect and authorizes the coordinating board to adopt the initial rules in the manner provided by law for emergency rules.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2013.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 2755 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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