BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 1066

By: Zaffirini

Higher Education

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties contend that the deadlines associated with the Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (T-STEM) Challenge Scholarship program are overly burdensome, which may put institutions of higher education in danger of losing program eligibility. S.B. 1066 seeks to address this problem.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 1066 amends the Education Code to change the continuing eligibility requirement for an institution of higher education to participate in the Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (T-STEM) Challenge Scholarship program from the institution demonstrating to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board that at least 70 percent of the institution's T‑STEM Challenge Scholarship graduates, within three months after graduation, are employed by a business in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field or enrolled in upper-division courses leading to a baccalaureate degree in a STEM field to the institution demonstrating to the coordinating board that that same percentage of the institution's T-STEM Challenge Scholarship recipients, within 12 months of receipt of the scholarship, are employed or are enrolled in courses leading to a certificate, associate, or baccalaureate degree in a STEM field.

S.B. 1066 changes the year in which an institution of higher education is to begin demonstrating the continuing eligibility requirement from the second year following implementation of the scholarship program to the third year following such implementation and specifies that the frequency of such demonstration is each year. The bill requires the coordinating board to award scholarships under the T-STEM Challenge Scholarship program, as amended by the bill, beginning with the 2015–2016 academic year.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2015.