Bill Text: TX SB27 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Relating to the Texas B-On-time student loan program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2013-05-21 - Placed on General State Calendar [SB27 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-SB27-Engrossed.html
By: Zaffirini | S.B. No. 27 |
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relating to the Texas B-On-time student loan program. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subdivisions (2) and (3), Section 56.451, | ||
Education Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(2) "Eligible institution" means: | ||
(A) a general academic teaching institution, | ||
other than a public state college [ |
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(B) a medical and dental unit that offers | ||
baccalaureate degrees; or | ||
(C) a private or independent institution of | ||
higher education that offers baccalaureate degree programs. | ||
(3) "General academic teaching institution," "medical | ||
and dental unit," "private or independent institution of higher | ||
education," and "public state [ |
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SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 56.452, Education Code, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) The purpose of this subchapter is to provide no-interest | ||
loans to eligible students to enable those students to earn | ||
baccalaureate degrees at [ |
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independent institutions of higher education in this state. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 56.455, Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 56.455. INITIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR LOAN. To be eligible | ||
initially for a Texas B-On-time loan, a person must: | ||
(1) be a resident of this state under Section 54.052 or | ||
be entitled, as a child of a member of the armed forces of the United | ||
States, to pay tuition at the rate provided for residents of this | ||
state under Section 54.241; | ||
(2) meet one of the following academic requirements: | ||
(A) be a graduate of a public or private high | ||
school in this state who graduated not earlier than the 2002-2003 | ||
school year under the recommended or advanced high school program | ||
established under Section 28.025(a) or its equivalent; | ||
(B) be a graduate of a high school operated by the | ||
United States Department of Defense who: | ||
(i) graduated from that school not earlier | ||
than the 2002-2003 school year; and | ||
(ii) at the time of graduation from that | ||
school was a dependent child of a member of the armed forces of the | ||
United States; or | ||
(C) have received an associate degree from an | ||
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independent institution of higher education not earlier than May 1, | ||
2005; | ||
(3) be enrolled for a full course load for an | ||
undergraduate student, as determined by the coordinating board, in | ||
a baccalaureate [ |
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at an eligible institution; | ||
(4) be eligible for federal financial aid, except that | ||
a person is not required to meet any financial need requirement | ||
applicable to a particular federal financial aid program; and | ||
(5) comply with any additional nonacademic | ||
requirement adopted by the coordinating board under this | ||
subchapter. | ||
SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 56.456, Education Code, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) After initially qualifying for a Texas B-On-time loan, a | ||
person may continue to receive a Texas B-On-time loan for each | ||
semester or term in which the person is enrolled at an eligible | ||
institution only if the person: | ||
(1) is enrolled for a full course load for an | ||
undergraduate student, as determined by the coordinating board, in | ||
a baccalaureate [ |
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at an eligible institution; | ||
(2) is eligible for federal financial aid, except that | ||
a person is not required to meet any financial need requirement | ||
applicable to a particular federal financial aid program; | ||
(3) makes satisfactory academic progress toward a | ||
degree [ |
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the person is enrolled, if the person is enrolled in the person's | ||
first academic year at the institution; | ||
(4) completed at least 75 percent of the semester | ||
credit hours attempted by the person in the most recent academic | ||
year and has a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5 on a | ||
four-point scale or the equivalent on all coursework previously | ||
attempted at institutions of higher education or private or | ||
independent institutions of higher education, if the person is | ||
enrolled in any academic year after the person's first academic | ||
year; and | ||
(5) complies with any additional nonacademic | ||
requirement adopted by the coordinating board. | ||
SECTION 5. Subsections (a), (b), and (f), Section 56.459, | ||
Education Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) The amount of a Texas B-On-time loan for a semester or | ||
term for a student enrolled full-time at an eligible institution | ||
other than an institution covered by Subsection (b) may not exceed | ||
the[ |
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to be [ |
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that a resident student enrolled full-time in a baccalaureate [ |
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term at general academic teaching institutions. | ||
(b) The amount of a Texas B-On-time loan for a student | ||
enrolled full-time at a private or independent institution of | ||
higher education may not exceed the [ |
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coordinating board to be [ |
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tuition and required fees that a resident student enrolled | ||
full-time in a baccalaureate [ |
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would be charged for that semester or term at general academic | ||
teaching institutions. | ||
(f) If in any academic year the amount of money in the Texas | ||
B-On-time student loan account, other than money appropriated to | ||
the account exclusively for loans at eligible institutions that are | ||
private or independent institutions of higher education, is | ||
insufficient to provide the loans in the maximum amount specified | ||
by this section to all eligible persons at eligible institutions | ||
that are institutions of higher education [ |
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that available money and shall allocate that amount to those | ||
eligible institutions in proportion to the amount of tuition set | ||
aside by [ |
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the preceding academic year [ |
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prescribed by the coordinating board for purposes of this | ||
subsection, each eligible institution that is a private or | ||
independent institution of higher education is entitled to receive | ||
an allocation only from the general revenue appropriations made for | ||
that academic year to eligible private or independent institutions | ||
of higher education for the purposes of this subchapter. Each | ||
institution shall use the money allocated to award Texas B-On-time | ||
loans to eligible students enrolled at the institution selected | ||
according to financial need. | ||
SECTION 6. Sections 56.461 and 56.462, Education Code, are | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 56.461. LOAN PAYMENT DEFERRED. The repayment of a | ||
Texas B-On-time loan received by a student under this subchapter is | ||
deferred as long as the student remains continuously enrolled in a | ||
baccalaureate [ |
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at an eligible institution. | ||
Sec. 56.462. LOAN FORGIVENESS. A student who receives a | ||
Texas B-On-time loan shall be forgiven the amount of the student's | ||
loan if the student is awarded a baccalaureate [ |
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grade point average of at least 3.0 on a four-point scale or the | ||
equivalent: | ||
(1) within: | ||
(A) four calendar years after the date the | ||
student initially enrolled in an [ |
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education or private or independent institution of higher education | ||
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other than a degree in engineering, architecture, or any other | ||
program determined by the coordinating board to require more than | ||
four years to complete; or | ||
(B) five calendar years after the date the | ||
student initially enrolled in an [ |
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education or private or independent institution of higher education | ||
[ |
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[ |
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[ |
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engineering, architecture, or any other program determined by the | ||
coordinating board to require more than four years to complete; [ |
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[ |
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(2) with a total number of semester credit hours, | ||
including transfer credit hours and excluding hours earned | ||
exclusively by examination, hours earned for a course for which the | ||
student received credit toward the student's high school academic | ||
requirements, and hours earned for developmental coursework that an | ||
institution of higher education required the student to take under | ||
Section 51.3062 or under the former provisions of Section 51.306, | ||
that is not more than six hours more than the minimum number of | ||
semester credit hours required to complete the [ |
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degree. | ||
SECTION 7. Subsection (d), Section 56.456, and Subsections | ||
(c) and (d), Section 56.459, Education Code, are repealed. | ||
SECTION 8. (a) The change in law made by this Act in | ||
amending Subchapter Q, Chapter 56, Education Code, applies | ||
beginning with Texas B-On-time loans awarded for the 2014-2015 | ||
academic year. | ||
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this section, a | ||
student who first receives a Texas B-On-time loan for a semester or | ||
other academic term before the 2014 fall semester may continue to | ||
receive Texas B-On-time loans under Subchapter Q, Chapter 56, | ||
Education Code, as that subchapter existed immediately before the | ||
effective date of this Act, as long as the student remains eligible | ||
for a Texas B-On-time loan under the former law, and is entitled to | ||
obtain forgiveness of the loans as permitted by Section 56.462, | ||
Education Code, as that section existed immediately before the | ||
effective date of this Act. The Texas Higher Education | ||
Coordinating Board shall adopt rules to administer this subsection | ||
and shall notify each student who receives a Texas B-On-time loan in | ||
the 2013-2014 academic year of the provisions of this subsection. | ||
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |