Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB27 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 27
2	2	(Anchia)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the Texas B-On-time student loan program.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Subdivisions (2) and (3), Section 56.451,
10	10	Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
11	11	(2) "Eligible institution" means:
12	12	(A) a general academic teaching institution,
13	13	other than a public state college [an institution of higher
14	14	education]; [or]
15	15	(B) a medical and dental unit that offers
16	16	baccalaureate degrees; or
17	17	(C) a private or independent institution of
18	18	higher education that offers baccalaureate degree programs.
19	19	(3) "General academic teaching institution," "medical
20	20	and dental unit," "private or independent institution of higher
21	21	education," and "public state [junior] college," [and "public
22	22	technical institute"] have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.
23	23	SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 56.452, Education Code,
24	24	is amended to read as follows:
25	25	(b) The purpose of this subchapter is to provide no-interest
26	26	loans to eligible students to enable those students to earn
27	27	baccalaureate degrees at [attend all] public and private or
28	28	independent institutions of higher education in this state.
29	29	SECTION 3. Section 56.455, Education Code, is amended to
30	30	read as follows:
31	31	Sec. 56.455. INITIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR LOAN. To be eligible
32	32	initially for a Texas B-On-time loan, a person must:
33	33	(1) be a resident of this state under Section 54.052 or
34	34	be entitled, as a child of a member of the armed forces of the United
35	35	States, to pay tuition at the rate provided for residents of this
36	36	state under Section 54.241;
37	37	(2) meet one of the following academic requirements:
38	38	(A) be a graduate of a public or private high
39	39	school in this state who graduated not earlier than the 2002-2003
40	40	school year under the recommended or advanced high school program
41	41	established under Section 28.025(a) or its equivalent;
42	42	(B) be a graduate of a high school operated by the
43	43	United States Department of Defense who:
44	44	(i) graduated from that school not earlier
45	45	than the 2002-2003 school year; and
46	46	(ii) at the time of graduation from that
47	47	school was a dependent child of a member of the armed forces of the
48	48	United States; or
49	49	(C) have received an associate degree from an
50	50	[eligible] institution of higher education or private or
51	51	independent institution of higher education not earlier than May 1,
52	52	2005;
53	53	(3) be enrolled for a full course load for an
54	54	undergraduate student, as determined by the coordinating board, in
55	55	a baccalaureate [an undergraduate] degree [or certificate] program
56	56	at an eligible institution;
57	57	(4) be eligible for federal financial aid, except that
58	58	a person is not required to meet any financial need requirement
59	59	applicable to a particular federal financial aid program; and
60	60	(5) comply with any additional nonacademic
61	61	requirement adopted by the coordinating board under this
62	62	subchapter.
63	63	SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 56.456, Education Code,
64	64	is amended to read as follows:
65	65	(a) After initially qualifying for a Texas B-On-time loan, a
66	66	person may continue to receive a Texas B-On-time loan for each
67	67	semester or term in which the person is enrolled at an eligible
68	68	institution only if the person:
69	69	(1) is enrolled for a full course load for an
70	70	undergraduate student, as determined by the coordinating board, in
71	71	a baccalaureate [an undergraduate] degree [or certificate] program
72	72	at an eligible institution;
73	73	(2) is eligible for federal financial aid, except that
74	74	a person is not required to meet any financial need requirement
75	75	applicable to a particular federal financial aid program;
76	76	(3) makes satisfactory academic progress toward a
77	77	degree [or certificate] as determined by the institution at which
78	78	the person is enrolled, if the person is enrolled in the person's
79	79	first academic year at the institution;
80	80	(4) completed at least 75 percent of the semester
81	81	credit hours attempted by the person in the most recent academic
82	82	year and has a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5 on a
83	83	four-point scale or the equivalent on all coursework previously
84	84	attempted at institutions of higher education or private or
85	85	independent institutions of higher education, if the person is
86	86	enrolled in any academic year after the person's first academic
87	87	year; and
88	88	(5) complies with any additional nonacademic
89	89	requirement adopted by the coordinating board.
90	90	SECTION 5. Subsections (a), (b), and (f), Section 56.459,
91	91	Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
92	92	(a) The amount of a Texas B-On-time loan for a semester or
93	93	term for a student enrolled full-time at an eligible institution
94	94	other than an institution covered by Subsection (b) may not exceed
95	95	the[, (c), or (d) is an] amount determined by the coordinating board
96	96	to be [as] the average statewide amount of tuition and required fees
97	97	that a resident student enrolled full-time in a baccalaureate [an
98	98	undergraduate] degree program would be charged for that semester or
99	99	term at general academic teaching institutions.
100	100	(b) The amount of a Texas B-On-time loan for a student
101	101	enrolled full-time at a private or independent institution of
102	102	higher education may not exceed the [is an] amount determined by the
103	103	coordinating board to be [as] the average statewide amount of
104	104	tuition and required fees that a resident student enrolled
105	105	full-time in a baccalaureate [an undergraduate] degree program
106	106	would be charged for that semester or term at general academic
107	107	teaching institutions.
108	108	(f) If in any academic year the amount of money in the Texas
109	109	B-On-time student loan account, other than money appropriated to
110	110	the account exclusively for loans at eligible institutions that are
111	111	private or independent institutions of higher education, is
112	112	insufficient to provide the loans in the maximum amount specified
113	113	by this section to all eligible persons at eligible institutions
114	114	that are institutions of higher education [in amounts specified by
115	115	this section], the coordinating board shall determine the amount of
116	116	that available money and shall allocate that amount to those
117	117	eligible institutions in proportion to the amount of tuition set
118	118	aside by [number of full-time equivalent undergraduate students
119	119	enrolled at] each of those institutions under Section 56.465 for
120	120	the preceding academic year [institution]. In the manner
121	121	prescribed by the coordinating board for purposes of this
122	122	subsection, each eligible institution that is a private or
123	123	independent institution of higher education is entitled to receive
124	124	an allocation only from the general revenue appropriations made for
125	125	that academic year to eligible private or independent institutions
126	126	of higher education for the purposes of this subchapter. Each
127	127	institution shall use the money allocated to award Texas B-On-time
128	128	loans to eligible students enrolled at the institution selected
129	129	according to financial need.
130	130	SECTION 6. Sections 56.461 and 56.462, Education Code, are
131	131	amended to read as follows:
132	132	Sec. 56.461. LOAN PAYMENT DEFERRED. The repayment of a
133	133	Texas B-On-time loan received by a student under this subchapter is
134	134	deferred as long as the student remains continuously enrolled in a
135	135	baccalaureate [an undergraduate] degree [or certificate] program
136	136	at an eligible institution.
137	137	Sec. 56.462. LOAN FORGIVENESS. A student who receives a
138	138	Texas B-On-time loan shall be forgiven the amount of the student's
139	139	loan if the student is awarded a baccalaureate [an undergraduate
140	140	certificate or] degree at an eligible institution with a cumulative
141	141	grade point average of at least 3.0 on a four-point scale or the
142	142	equivalent:
143	143	(1) within:
144	144	(A) four calendar years after the date the
145	145	student initially enrolled in an [the] institution of higher
146	146	education or private or independent institution of higher education
147	147	[or another eligible institution] if[:
148	148	[(i) the institution is a four-year
149	149	institution; and
150	150	[(ii)] the student is awarded a degree
151	151	other than a degree in engineering, architecture, or any other
152	152	program determined by the coordinating board to require more than
153	153	four years to complete; or
154	154	(B) five calendar years after the date the
155	155	student initially enrolled in an [the] institution of higher
156	156	education or private or independent institution of higher education
157	157	[or another eligible institution] if[:
158	158	[(i) the institution is a four-year
159	159	institution; and
160	160	[(ii)] the student is awarded a degree in
161	161	engineering, architecture, or any other program determined by the
162	162	coordinating board to require more than four years to complete; [or
163	163	[(C) two years after the date the student
164	164	initially enrolled in the institution or another eligible
165	165	institution if the institution is a public junior college or public
166	166	technical institute;] or
167	167	(2) with a total number of semester credit hours,
168	168	including transfer credit hours and excluding hours earned
169	169	exclusively by examination, hours earned for a course for which the
170	170	student received credit toward the student's high school academic
171	171	requirements, and hours earned for developmental coursework that an
172	172	institution of higher education required the student to take under
173	173	Section 51.3062 or under the former provisions of Section 51.306,
174	174	that is not more than six hours more than the minimum number of
175	175	semester credit hours required to complete the [certificate or]
176	176	degree.
177	177	SECTION 7. Subsection (d), Section 56.456, and Subsections
178	178	(c) and (d), Section 56.459, Education Code, are repealed.
179	179	SECTION 8. (a) The change in law made by this Act in
180	180	amending Subchapter Q, Chapter 56, Education Code, applies
181	181	beginning with Texas B-On-time loans awarded for the 2014-2015
182	182	academic year.
183	183	(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this section, a
184	184	student who first receives a Texas B-On-time loan for a semester or
185	185	other academic term before the 2014 fall semester may continue to
186	186	receive Texas B-On-time loans under Subchapter Q, Chapter 56,
187	187	Education Code, as that subchapter existed immediately before the
188	188	effective date of this Act, as long as the student remains eligible
189	189	for a Texas B-On-time loan under the former law, and is entitled to
190	190	obtain forgiveness of the loans as permitted by Section 56.462,
191	191	Education Code, as that section existed immediately before the
192	192	effective date of this Act. The Texas Higher Education
193	193	Coordinating Board shall adopt rules to administer this subsection
194	194	and shall notify each student who receives a Texas B-On-time loan in
195	195	the 2013-2014 academic year of the provisions of this subsection.
196	196	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.