87R18094 MM-F
By: González of El Paso, VanDeaver, Stucky, H.B. No. 4387
Raney
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of the Texas Transfer Grant Pilot
Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter N to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER N. TEXAS TRANSFER GRANT PILOT PROGRAM
Sec. 56.331. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
(2) "Eligible institution" means a general academic
teaching institution or a medical and dental unit that offers one or
more baccalaureate degree programs. The term does not include a
public state college.
(3) "General academic teaching institution," "medical
and dental unit," and "public state college" have the meanings
assigned by Section 61.003.
(4) "Pilot program" means the Texas Transfer Grant
Pilot Program established under this subchapter.
(5) "Transfer student" means a student who, at the
time the student is admitted to the eligible institution disbursing
the grant, has earned enough credit hours to no longer be considered
a first-time entering undergraduate student, as defined by
coordinating board rule.
Sec. 56.332. PILOT PROGRAM. The Texas Transfer Grant Pilot
Program is a pilot program under which the coordinating board may
provide a grant to enable eligible students to attend eligible
institutions of higher education.
Sec. 56.333. ADMINISTRATION OF PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The
coordinating board shall administer the pilot program and adopt any
rules necessary to implement the pilot program or this subchapter.
The coordinating board shall consult with the student financial aid
officers of eligible institutions in developing the rules.
(b) The total amount of grants awarded under this subchapter
may not exceed the amount available for the program from
appropriations, gifts, grants, or other funds.
(c) For each academic year during which eligible students
are enrolled at an eligible institution, the coordinating board
shall allocate to that institution the amount necessary to pay to
eligible students grants under this subchapter.
(d) In determining who should receive a grant under this
subchapter, the coordinating board and the eligible institutions
shall give priority to awarding grants to students who demonstrate
the greatest financial need.
(e) The coordinating board shall establish priorities for
awarding grant assistance as the board determines appropriate to
further the purpose of this subchapter in the event that in any year
the amount of money available for grant assistance under this
subchapter is insufficient to provide grant assistance to all
eligible students described by Section 56.334.
Sec. 56.334. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANT. (a) To be eligible for
a grant under the pilot program, a student must:
(1) be a resident of this state as determined by
coordinating board rules;
(2) meet financial need requirements as defined by the
coordinating board;
(3) be enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program at
an eligible institution;
(4) be enrolled as a transfer student for at least
three-fourths of a full course load for a student in a baccalaureate
program, as determined by the coordinating board;
(5) have applied for any available financial aid or
assistance;
(6) not be a recipient of a TEXAS Grant under
Subchapter M for the same semester or term;
(7) make satisfactory academic progress toward a
baccalaureate degree, as determined by the coordinating board; and
(8) comply with any additional nonacademic
requirement adopted by the coordinating board under this
subchapter.
(b) A person is not eligible to receive a grant under this
subchapter if the person has been granted a baccalaureate degree.
(c) The coordinating board shall by rule establish the
maximum semester credit hours, or semester credit hour equivalent,
for which an eligible student may receive a grant under this
subchapter.
(d) If a student fails to meet any of the requirements
established by the coordinating board under Subsection (a)(7) after
the completion of any semester or term, the student may not receive
a grant under this subchapter during the next semester or term in
which the student enrolls. A student may become eligible to receive
a grant under this subchapter in a subsequent semester or term if
the student:
(1) completes a semester or term during which the
student is not eligible for a grant; and
(2) meets all the requirements established under
Subsection (a).
(e) The coordinating board shall adopt rules to allow a
student who is otherwise eligible to receive a grant under this
subchapter, in the event of a hardship or for other good cause
shown, to receive a grant under this subchapter:
(1) while enrolled in a number of semester credit
hours that is fewer than the number of semester credit hours
required under Subsection (a)(4);
(2) if the student fails to meet the satisfactory
academic progress requirements established by the coordinating
board under Subsection (a)(7); or
(3) for a number of semester credit hours that exceeds
the number of semester credit hours outlined in Subsection (c).
Sec. 56.335. GRANT USE. A student receiving a grant under
this subchapter may use the money to pay any usual and customary
cost of attendance that is incurred by the student at an eligible
institution. The institution may disburse all or part of the
proceeds of a grant under this subchapter directly to an eligible
student only if the tuition and required fees incurred by the
student at the institution have been paid.
Sec. 56.336. GRANT AMOUNT. (a) The maximum amount of a
grant under this subchapter for an eligible student enrolled
full-time at an eligible institution is the amount determined by
the coordinating board as the average statewide amount of tuition
and required fees that a resident student enrolled full-time in a
baccalaureate degree program would be charged for that semester or
term at eligible institutions.
(b) The coordinating board shall determine the average
statewide tuition and fee amounts for a semester or term of the next
academic year for purposes of this section by using the amounts of
tuition and required fees that will be charged by the eligible
institutions for that semester or term in that academic year. The
coordinating board may estimate the amount of the charges for a
semester or term in the next academic year by an institution if the
relevant information is not yet available to the board.
(c) The coordinating board may adopt rules that allow the
board to increase or decrease, in proportion to the number of
semester credit hours in which a student is enrolled, the amount of
a grant award under this section to a student who is enrolled in a
number of semester credit hours that exceeds or that is less than
the number of semester credit hours established under Section
56.334(a)(4).
(d) 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 total financial need at an
eligible institution.
(e) An eligible institution may not:
(1) unless the institution complies with Subsection
(g), charge a person attending the institution who also receives a
grant under this subchapter an amount of tuition and required fees
that exceeds the amount of the grant received by the person; or
(2) deny admission to or enrollment in the institution
based on a person's eligibility to receive a grant or a person's
receipt of a grant under this subchapter.
(f) An eligible institution may elect to award a grant under
this subchapter to any student in an amount that is less than the
applicable amount established under Subsection (a) or (e).
(g) An eligible institution shall use other available
sources of financial aid, other than a loan, to cover any difference
in the amount of a grant awarded under this subchapter to the
student and the actual amount of tuition and required fees at the
institution if the difference results from:
(1) a reduction in the amount of a grant under
Subsection (f); or
(2) a deficiency in the amount of the grant as
established under Subsection (a) or (c), as applicable, to cover
the full amount of tuition and required fees charged to the student
by the institution.
(h) The legislature in an appropriations act shall account
for tuition and required fees received under this section in a way
that does not increase the general revenue appropriations to that
institution.
Sec. 56.337. REPORT. Not later than December 1 of each
even-numbered year, the coordinating board shall submit to the
legislature a report on the effectiveness of the pilot program. The
coordinating board shall include in the report a recommendation
regarding whether the pilot program should be continued, expanded,
or terminated.
Sec. 56.338. EXPIRATION. This subchapter expires September
1, 2025.
SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board shall adopt rules to administer the pilot program established
under Subchapter N, Chapter 56, Education Code, as added by this
Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act.
(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and
eligible institutions shall award initial grants under Subchapter
N, Chapter 56, Education Code, as added by this Act, beginning with
the 2022 spring semester.
SECTION 3. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is
required to implement this Act only if the legislature appropriates
money specifically for that purpose. If the legislature does not
appropriate money specifically for that purpose, the coordinating
board may, but is not required to, implement this Act using other
appropriations available for that purpose.
SECTION 4. 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.