82R606 JRJ-D
By: Howard of Travis H.B. No. 1520
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the determination of student priority in awarding TEXAS
grants.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 56.303, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (e), (f), (g), and
(h) to read as follows:
(d) 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.
(e) In determining who should receive a TEXAS grant, each
eligible institution shall give highest priority to awarding TEXAS
grants to students who:
(1) demonstrate the greatest financial need; and
(2) beginning with grants awarded for the 2015-2016
academic year, meet the merit criteria adopted by the eligible
institution under Subsection (f).
(f) Subject to coordinating board approval in accordance
with rules adopted under Subsection (h), each eligible institution
shall adopt merit criteria for determining student priority in
awarding TEXAS grants. The merit criteria must promote the
participation goals and targets of the most recent revision of
"Closing the Gaps," the state's master plan for higher education,
and be based on at least two of the following achievement standards
for each student:
(1) percentile rank according to high school
graduating class standing based on grade point average;
(2) grade point average;
(3) completion of the advanced high school program or
an international baccalaureate program;
(4) achievement of a score on the Scholastic
Assessment Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT) that
qualifies the student for an exemption under Section 51.3062(p); or
(5) demonstration of the performance standard for
college readiness as provided by Section 39.024 on the Algebra II
and English III end-of-course assessment instruments.
(g) Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year
beginning in 2016, each eligible institution shall submit to the
lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
the presiding officer of the standing committee of each house of the
legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher education, and
the coordinating board a report addressing the impact of using the
merit criteria adopted by the institution under Subsection (f) for
determining priority in awarding TEXAS grants on the state's goal
of closing college access and achievement gaps under "Closing the
Gaps," the state's master plan for higher education.
(h) The coordinating board shall adopt rules for the
approval and implementation of the use of merit criteria adopted by
an eligible institution under Subsection (f).
SECTION 2. 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, 2011.