TITLE: Relating to eligibility for a TEXAS grant and to administration of the TEXAS grant program.

SUMMARY: Relating to eligibility for a TEXAS grant and to administration of the TEXAS grant program.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to eligibility for a TEXAS grant and to administration of the TEXAS grant program. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the TEXAS Grant College Readiness Reform Act. SECTION 2. Section 56.303, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (d-1), (e), and (f) to read as follows: (d) From money appropriated by the legislature for the purposes of this subchapter, the coordinating board annually shall determine the allocation of money available for TEXAS grants among general academic teaching institutions and other eligible institutions and shall distribute the money accordingly. (d-1) In allocating among general academic teaching institutions money available for initial TEXAS grants for an academic year, the coordinating board shall ensure that each of those institutions' percentage share of the total amount of money for initial grants that is allocated to general academic teaching institutions under this subsection for that year does not, as a result of the number of students who establish eligibility at the institution for an initial grant under Section 56.3041(2)(A), change from the institution's percentage share of the total amount of money for initial grants that is allocated to those institutions under this subsection for the preceding academic year. (e) In determining who should receive a TEXAS grant, the coordinating board and the eligible institutions shall give [highest] priority to awarding TEXAS grants to students who demonstrate the greatest financial need. (f) Beginning with TEXAS grants awarded for the 2013-2014 academic year, in determining who should receive an initial TEXAS grant, each general academic teaching institution, in addition to giving priority as provided by Subsection (e), shall give highest priority to students who meet the eligibility criteria described by Section 56.3041(2)(A). If there is money available in excess of the amount required to award an initial TEXAS grant to all students meeting those criteria, a general academic teaching institution shall make awards to other students who meet the eligibility criteria described by Section 56.304(a)(2)(A), provided that the institution continues to give priority to students as provided by Subsection (e). SECTION 3. Section 56.304(h), Education Code, is amended to read as follows: (h) The coordinating board shall adopt rules to allow a person who is otherwise eligible to receive a TEXAS grant, 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 TEXAS grant while enrolled in a number of semester credit hours that is less than the number of semester credit hours required under Subsection (a)(5) or Section 56.3041(5), as applicable.The coordinating board may not allow a person to receive a TEXAS grant while enrolled in fewer than six semester credit hours. SECTION 4. Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by amending Section 56.3041 and adding Section 56.3042 to read as follows: Sec. 56.3041. INITIAL ELIGIBILITY OF PERSON GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL ON OR AFTER MAY 1, 2013, AND ENROLLING IN A GENERAL ACADEMIC TEACHING INSTITUTION. Notwithstanding Section 56.304(a), to be eligible initially for a TEXAS grant, a person graduating from high school on or after May 1, 2013, and enrolling in a general academic teaching institution must: (1) be a resident of this state as determined by coordinating board rules; (2) meet the academic requirements prescribed by Paragraph (A), (B), or (C) as follows: (A) be a graduate of a public or accredited private high school in this state who completed the recommended high school program established under Section 28.025 or its equivalent and have accomplished any two or more of the following: (i) graduation under the advanced high school program established under Section 28.025 or its equivalent, successful completion of the course requirements of the international baccalaureate diploma program, or earning of 12 or more credits in high school through courses described in Sections 28.009(a)(1), (2), and (3); (ii) satisfaction of the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) college readiness benchmarks prescribed by the coordinating board under Section 51.3062(f) on any assessment instrument designated by the coordinating board under Section 51.3062(c) or (e), or qualification for an exemption as described by Section 51.3062(p), (q), or (q-1); (iii) graduation in the top one-third of the person's high school graduating class or graduation from high school with a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a four-point scale or the equivalent; or (iv) completion for high school credit of at least one advanced mathematics course following the successful completion of an Algebra II course, as permitted by Section 28.025(b-3), or at least one advanced career and technical course, as permitted by Section 28.025(b-2); (B) have received an associate degree from a public or private institution of higher education; or (C) if sufficient money is available, meet the eligibility criteria described by Section 56.304(a)(2)(A); (3) meet financial need requirements established by the coordinating board; (4) be enrolled in an undergraduate degree or certificate program at the general academic teaching institution; (5) except as provided under rules adopted under Section 56.304(h), be enrolled as: (A) an entering undergraduate student for at least three-fourths of a full course load, as determined by the coordinating board, not later than the 16th month after the calendar month in which the person graduated from high school; (B) an entering undergraduate student who entered military service not later than the first anniversary of the date the person graduated from high school and who enrolled for at least three-fourths of a full course load, as determined by the coordinating board, at the general academic teaching institution not later than 12 months after being honorably discharged from military service; or (C) a continuing undergraduate student for at least three-fourths of a full course load, as determined by the coordinating board, not later than the 12th month after the calendar month in which the person received an associate degree from a public or private institution of higher education; (6) have applied for any available financial aid or assistance; and (7) comply with any additional nonacademic requirements adopted by the coordinating board under this subchapter. Sec. 56.3042. INITIAL QUALIFICATION [ELIGIBILITY] OF PERSON ON TRACK TO MEET ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS [COMPLETE RECOMMENDED OR ADVANCED CURRICULUM].(a) If at the time an eligible institution awards TEXAS grants to initial recipients for an academic year an applicant has not completed high school or the applicant's final high school transcript is not yet available to the institution, the student is considered to have satisfied the eligibility requirements of Section 56.304(a)(2)(A) or 56.3041(2)(A) if the student's available high school transcript indicates that at the time the transcript was prepared the student was on schedule to graduate from high school and to meet the eligibility requirements [complete the recommended or advanced high school curriculum or its equivalent],as applicable to the student, in time to be eligible for a TEXAS grant for the academic year. (a-1) If at the time an eligible institution awards TEXAS grants to initial recipients for an academic year an applicant who is an associate degree candidate has not completed that degree or the applicant's final college transcript is not yet available to the institution, the student is considered to have satisfied the associate degree requirement of Section 56.304(a)(2)(B) or 56.3041(2)(B) if the student's available college transcript indicates that at the time the transcript was prepared the student was on schedule to complete the associate degree in time to be eligible for a TEXAS grant for the academic year. (b) The coordinating board or the eligible institution may require the student to forgo or repay the amount of an initial TEXAS grant awarded to the student as described by Subsection (a) or (a-1) if the student fails to meet the eligibility requirements of Section 56.304(a)(2)(A), 56.3041(2)(A), 56.304(a)(2)(B), or 56.3041(2)(B), as applicable to the student, [complete the recommended or advanced high school curriculum or its equivalent] after the issuance of the available high school or college transcript. (c) A person who is required to forgo or repay the amount of an initial TEXAS grant under Subsection (b) may subsequently become eligible to receive an initial TEXAS grant under Section 56.304 or 56.3041 by satisfying the associate degree requirement prescribed by Section 56.304(a)(2)(B) or 56.3041(2)(B) and the other [applicable] requirements of those sections applicable to the person [that section] at the time the person reapplies for the grant. (d) A person who receives an initial TEXAS grant under Subsection (a) or (a-1) and is not required to forgo or repay the amount of the grant under Subsection (b) may become eligible to receive a subsequent TEXAS grant under Section 56.305 only by satisfying the associate degree requirement prescribed by Section 56.304(a)(2)(B) or 56.3041(2)(B), as applicable to the person, in addition to the requirements of Section 56.305 at the time the person applies for the subsequent grant. SECTION 5. The change in law made to Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code, by this Act applies beginning with TEXAS grants awarded for the 2013 fall semester. Grants awarded for a semester or term before the 2013 fall semester are governed by the applicable law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.