Bill Text: TX HB2517 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of the Texas Promise Scholarship Program for certain students at two-year public institutions of higher education.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-16 - Referred to Higher Education [HB2517 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB2517-Introduced.html
84R5618 KJE-D | ||
By: Hernandez | H.B. No. 2517 |
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relating to the establishment of the Texas Promise Scholarship | ||
Program for certain students at two-year public institutions of | ||
higher education. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subchapter T to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER T. TEXAS PROMISE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM | ||
Sec. 56.521. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: | ||
(1) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher | ||
Education Coordinating Board. | ||
(2) "Eligible institution" means: | ||
(A) a public junior college; | ||
(B) a public technical institute; or | ||
(C) a public state college. | ||
(3) "Institution of higher education," "public junior | ||
college," "public technical institute," and "public state college" | ||
have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003. | ||
(4) "Program" means the Texas Promise Scholarship | ||
Program established under this subchapter. | ||
Sec. 56.522. PROGRAM PURPOSE. The purpose of the Texas | ||
Promise Scholarship Program is to provide assistance in the payment | ||
of tuition and mandatory fees to enable eligible students to attend | ||
two-year institutions of higher education. | ||
Sec. 56.523. ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM; AWARD OF | ||
SCHOLARSHIP. (a) The coordinating board shall administer the | ||
program and adopt any rules necessary to implement the program or | ||
this subchapter. The coordinating board shall consult with the | ||
student financial aid officers of eligible institutions in | ||
developing the rules. | ||
(b) The coordinating board shall award scholarships to | ||
eligible students under the program. In determining who should | ||
receive a scholarship under the program, the coordinating board | ||
shall give highest priority to awarding scholarships to students | ||
who demonstrate the greatest financial need. | ||
(c) An eligible institution shall provide to a student who | ||
receives a scholarship under the program for a semester or other | ||
academic term a credit in the amount of the scholarship, to be | ||
applied toward the payment of tuition and mandatory fees charged by | ||
the institution for that semester or term. | ||
Sec. 56.524. INITIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR SCHOLARSHIP. (a) To | ||
be eligible initially for a scholarship under the program, a person | ||
must: | ||
(1) be a resident of this state as determined by | ||
coordinating board rules; | ||
(2) meet financial need requirements as defined by the | ||
coordinating board; | ||
(3) be enrolled in an associate degree or certificate | ||
program at an eligible institution; | ||
(4) be enrolled as an entering student for at least | ||
one-half of a full course load for an entering student in the | ||
associate degree or certificate program, as determined by the | ||
coordinating board; | ||
(5) have applied for any available financial aid or | ||
assistance; and | ||
(6) comply with any additional nonacademic | ||
requirement adopted by the coordinating board under this | ||
subchapter. | ||
(b) A person is not eligible to receive a scholarship under | ||
the program if the person has been convicted of a felony or an | ||
offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code (Texas Controlled | ||
Substances Act), 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 the program and has: | ||
(1) received a certificate of discharge by 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 or 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 scholarship under the | ||
program. | ||
(c) A person is not eligible to receive a scholarship under | ||
the program if the person has been granted an associate or | ||
baccalaureate degree. | ||
(d) A person may not receive a scholarship under the program | ||
for more than 75 semester credit hours or the equivalent. | ||
(e) A person's eligibility for a scholarship under the | ||
program ends on the third anniversary of the initial award of a | ||
scholarship under the program to the person and the person's | ||
enrollment in an eligible institution. | ||
Sec. 56.525. CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY AND ACADEMIC | ||
PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS. (a) After initially qualifying for a | ||
scholarship under the program, a person may continue to receive a | ||
scholarship under the program during each semester or term in which | ||
the person is enrolled at an eligible institution only if the | ||
person: | ||
(1) meets financial need requirements as defined by | ||
the coordinating board; | ||
(2) is enrolled in an associate degree or certificate | ||
program at an eligible institution; | ||
(3) is enrolled for at least one-half of a full course | ||
load for a student in an associate degree or certificate program, as | ||
determined by the coordinating board; | ||
(4) makes satisfactory academic progress toward an | ||
associate degree or certificate; and | ||
(5) complies with any additional nonacademic | ||
requirement adopted by the coordinating board. | ||
(b) A person is not eligible to continue to receive a | ||
scholarship under this section if the person has been convicted of a | ||
felony or an offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code | ||
(Texas Controlled Substances Act), 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 by 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 or 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 scholarship under the | ||
program. | ||
(c) If a person fails to meet any of the requirements of | ||
Subsection (a) after the completion of any semester or term, the | ||
person may not receive a scholarship under the program during the | ||
next semester or term in which the person enrolls. A person may | ||
become eligible to receive a scholarship under the program in a | ||
subsequent semester or term if the person: | ||
(1) completes a semester or term during which the | ||
student is not eligible for a scholarship; and | ||
(2) meets all the requirements of Subsection (a). | ||
(d) For the purpose of this section, a person makes | ||
satisfactory academic progress toward an associate degree or | ||
certificate only if: | ||
(1) in the person's first academic year, the person | ||
meets the satisfactory academic progress requirements of the | ||
institution at which the person is enrolled; and | ||
(2) in the subsequent academic year, the person: | ||
(A) completes at least 75 percent of the semester | ||
credit hours attempted in the student's most recent academic year; | ||
and | ||
(B) has earned an overall grade point average of | ||
at least 2.5 on a four-point scale or the equivalent on course work | ||
previously attempted at institutions of higher education. | ||
(e) A person who is eligible to receive a scholarship under | ||
the program continues to remain eligible to receive the scholarship | ||
if the person enrolls in or transfers to another eligible | ||
institution. | ||
(f) The coordinating board shall adopt rules to allow a | ||
person who is otherwise eligible to receive a scholarship under the | ||
program, 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 scholarship under the | ||
program: | ||
(1) while enrolled in a number of semester credit | ||
hours that is less than the number of semester credit hours required | ||
under Subsection (a)(3); or | ||
(2) if the student's grade point average or completion | ||
rate falls below the satisfactory academic progress requirements of | ||
Subsection (d). | ||
Sec. 56.526. SCHOLARSHIP USE. A scholarship awarded under | ||
the program may be applied only to the payment of tuition and | ||
mandatory fees at an eligible institution. | ||
Sec. 56.527. SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT. (a) The amount of a | ||
scholarship awarded to an eligible student under the program for a | ||
semester or other academic term in which the student is enrolled at | ||
an eligible institution is an amount not to exceed the difference | ||
between the amount of tuition and mandatory fees charged to the | ||
student by the institution for that semester or term and the amount | ||
of any other gift aid, including state or federal grants or | ||
scholarships, awarded to the student for that semester or term. | ||
(b) A scholarship may not be awarded under the program to an | ||
eligible student for a semester or other academic term until any | ||
other gift aid for which the student is eligible has been awarded to | ||
the student and the student's unmet financial need has been | ||
established for purposes of determining the appropriate amount of | ||
the student's scholarship under Subsection (a). | ||
(c) The coordinating board shall issue to each eligible | ||
student a certificate indicating the amount of the scholarship | ||
awarded to the student. | ||
Sec. 56.528. NOTIFICATION OF PROGRAM; RESPONSIBILITIES OF | ||
SCHOOL DISTRICTS. (a) The coordinating board, in consultation | ||
with all eligible institutions, shall prepare materials designed to | ||
inform prospective students, their parents, and high school | ||
counselors about the program and eligibility for a scholarship | ||
under the program. The coordinating board shall distribute to each | ||
eligible institution and to each school district a copy of the | ||
materials prepared under this section. | ||
(b) Each school district shall notify its high school | ||
students, those students' teachers and school counselors, and those | ||
students' parents or guardians of the program and the eligibility | ||
requirements of the program. | ||
SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating | ||
Board shall adopt rules to administer Subchapter T, Chapter 56, | ||
Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after | ||
the effective date of this Act. For that purpose, the coordinating | ||
board may adopt the initial rules in the manner provided by law for | ||
emergency rules. | ||
(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall | ||
begin awarding scholarships under Subchapter T, Chapter 56, | ||
Education Code, as added by this Act, for the first academic year | ||
for which money is appropriated for that purpose, except that the | ||
coordinating board may not award scholarships under that subchapter | ||
for an academic year before the 2016-2017 academic year. | ||
SECTION 3. 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, 2015. |