87R7726 KJE-F
By: Rogers H.B. No. 2765
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of a rural dual credit grant program by the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.0765 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.0765. RURAL DUAL CREDIT GRANT PROGRAM. (a) The
board shall establish a grant program under which the board awards
grants to eligible public junior colleges to provide financial
assistance to educationally disadvantaged high school students for
all or part of the cost of enrolling in dual credit courses at the
college.
(b) A public junior college is eligible to receive a grant
under the grant program if the college is in the small or medium
public junior college peer group, as identified by the board.
(c) A public junior college that receives a grant under the
grant program must:
(1) use the grant funds to provide financial
assistance to eligible students for all or part of the cost of
tuition and required fees for dual credit courses at the college;
(2) work with high schools that partner with the
college to provide dual credit courses and elect to participate in
the grant program to:
(A) inform eligible students regarding the grant
program and how those courses relate to postsecondary education and
career paths; and
(B) assist eligible students in applying to
enroll in those courses; and
(3) collect and report to the board data on:
(A) participation rates of eligible students in
the grant program;
(B) outreach efforts regarding the grant
program; and
(C) the percentage of eligible students
receiving financial assistance under the grant program who graduate
from high school:
(i) in the top 10 percent of the student's
high school class; or
(ii) with a workforce certificate or
credential.
(d) A student is eligible to receive financial assistance
from a public junior college under the grant program if the student:
(1) is educationally disadvantaged;
(2) is enrolled in a participating public or private
high school, including a home school, in the service area of the
college; and
(3) has completed less than 60 semester credit hours
at an institution of higher education.
(e) Funds provided to an eligible student under the grant
program must be used for the cost of tuition or required fees for
dual credit courses at the public junior college.
(f) A public or private high school, including a home
school, that partners with a public junior college to provide dual
credit courses and elects to participate in the grant program must
provide to students in grade nine or the equivalent information
regarding dual credit opportunities and the funding available for
dual credit courses under the grant program.
SECTION 2. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall establish the grant program under Section 61.0765, Education
Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable following the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 3. 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, 2021.