83R7205 AED-F

By: N. Gonzalez of El Paso H.B. No. 2322

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to an emergency loan program at a public institution of higher education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 56.033(a), (b), (d), and (e), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The governing board of each institution of higher education, including the Texas State Technical College System, shall cause to be set aside:

(1) not less than 15 percent nor more than 25 [20] percent out of each resident student's tuition charge under Section 54.051 as provided by the General Appropriations Act for the applicable academic year;

(2) not less than three percent nor more than eight percent out of each nonresident student's tuition charge under Section 54.051;

(3) not less than six percent nor more than 25 [20] percent out of each resident student's hourly tuition charge exclusive of out-of-district charges, and $1.50 out of each nonresident student's hourly tuition charge, for academic courses at a public community or junior college; and

(4) not less than six percent nor more than 25 [20] percent of hourly tuition charges exclusive of out-of-district charges for vocational-technical courses at a public community or junior college.

(b) Of the funds set aside under this section by an institution, not less than 85 [90] percent shall be used for Texas Public Educational Grants and not more than 15 [10] percent shall be used for emergency loans under Subchapter D [of this chapter].

(d) Interest earned from the funds set aside for Texas Public Educational Grants may be spent [only] for grants to students as provided by this subchapter and for emergency loans to students as provided by Subchapter D.

(e) To supplement money set aside under Subsection (a), the governing board of an institution of higher education may use money received by the institution from the fee for issuance of collegiate license plates under Section 504.615, Transportation Code, for awarding Texas Public Educational Grants and for providing emergency loans under Subchapter D. The board may use the money to award grants and provide emergency loans to both resident and nonresident students, except that the board shall give priority to grants or loans for resident students. [Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the board may not use the money for emergency loans under Subchapter D.]

SECTION 2. Section 56.051, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 56.051. EMERGENCY LOANS. Each institution of higher education shall [may] establish an emergency loan program under which students are loaned money to pay tuition, fees, costs of on-campus housing, and the costs of textbooks.

SECTION 3. Section 56.053(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The governing board of each institution shall adopt rules providing for the terms of the loan, subject to the following:

(1) the loan must be repaid over a period not to exceed 180 [90] days for a loan made for a regular semester or long summer session or over a proportionately shorter period for loans made for a six-week summer session;

(2) the loan must be evidenced by a written or electronic agreement providing for one of the following:

(A) interest on the loan at a rate of not more than five percent per year; or

(B) an origination fee of not more than 1.25 percent of the amount of the loan; and

(3) the loan amount per student may not exceed an amount equal to the tuition, mandatory fees, and cost of textbooks for the courses in which the student is actually enrolling.

SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 56.056 to read as follows:

Sec. 56.056. NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF EMERGENCY LOAN. (a) Each institution of higher education shall provide notice of the emergency loan program to each student in a prominently printed statement that appears on or is included with the student's tuition bill or billing statement for the payment of the student's tuition.

(b) If for any semester or other academic term the institution does not provide the student with a printed tuition bill or tuition billing statement, the institution shall include the notice required by Subsection (a) for that semester or other term in a statement prominently displayed in an e-mail sent to the student. The notice may be included in any other e-mail sent to the student in connection with the student's tuition charges for that semester or other term.

(c) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule shall prescribe minimum standards for the manner, form, and content of the notice required by this section.

SECTION 5. (a) The change in law made by this Act to Section 56.033, Education Code, applies beginning with tuition charged for the 2013 fall semester.

(b) The changes in law made by this Act to Subchapter D, Chapter 56, Education Code, apply beginning with the emergency loan program for the 2014 spring semester.

(c) Not later than September 1, 2013, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt the rules required by Section 56.056, Education Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 6. 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, 2013.