85R6583 KJE-F
By: Seliger S.B. No. 886
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Texas Educational Opportunity Grant program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 56.405(f), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(f) The coordinating board shall adopt rules to allow a
person who is otherwise eligible to receive a grant under this
subchapter, 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
grant under this subchapter:
(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);
(3) for a number of semester credit hours that is
greater than the number of semester credit hours permitted under
Section 56.404(d); or
(4) for a number of years that is greater than the
number of years for which the person is eligible to receive a grant
under Section 56.404(f).
SECTION 2. Section 56.406, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 56.406. GRANT USE. A person receiving a grant under
this subchapter may use the money only to pay the amount of tuition
and required fees and the cost of required textbooks [any usual and
customary cost of attendance] at an eligible institution incurred
by the student. The institution may disburse all or part of the
proceeds of a grant under this subchapter to an eligible person only
if the tuition and required fees incurred by the person at the
institution have been paid.
SECTION 3. Sections 56.407(a), (c), and (g), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The amount of a grant awarded to a student under this
subchapter for a semester or other academic term [student enrolled
full-time at an eligible institution] is an [the] amount not to
exceed the lesser of:
(1) the difference between:
(A) [determined by the coordinating board as] the
[average statewide] amount of tuition and required fees incurred by
the student at an eligible institution for that semester or term
plus a textbook stipend in an amount determined by the coordinating
board; and
(B) the amount of the Pell Grant for which the
student is eligible, if any; or
(2) the student's unmet financial need for that
semester or term [that a resident student enrolled full-time in an
associate degree or certificate program would be charged for that
semester or term at eligible institutions].
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (a)(1), the [The]
amount of a grant under this subchapter may not be reduced by any
gift aid for which the person receiving the grant is eligible,
unless the total amount of a person's grant plus any gift aid
received exceeds the student's financial need [total cost of
attendance at an eligible institution].
(g) An institution may use other available sources of
financial aid, other than a loan or work-study program [a Pell
grant], to cover any difference in the amount of a grant under this
subchapter and the actual amount of tuition and required fees at the
institution.
SECTION 4. Sections 56.407(b) and (d), Education Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply
beginning with initial or subsequent grants awarded for the 2018
fall semester. Initial or subsequent grants awarded for a semester
or term before the 2018 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 January 1, 2018.