87R2259 KJE-D
By: Menéndez S.B. No. 103
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of the Texas First Generation
Matching Scholarship Program for certain first generation students
at public institutions of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter S to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER S. TEXAS FIRST GENERATION MATCHING SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Sec. 56.501. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
(2) "First generation student" means a person:
(A) whose parents or legal guardians have not
obtained a baccalaureate degree; or
(B) who is or was in the conservatorship of the
Department of Family and Protective Services.
(3) "Program" means the Texas First Generation
Matching Scholarship Program.
Sec. 56.502. PROGRAM PURPOSE. The purpose of the Texas
First Generation Matching Scholarship Program is to provide
assistance in the payment of tuition and required fees to enable
eligible first generation students to attend institutions of higher
education.
Sec. 56.503. FIRST GENERATION MATCHING SCHOLARSHIP
ACCOUNT. (a) The first generation matching scholarship account is
an account in the general revenue fund.
(b) The account consists of:
(1) money appropriated or transferred to the credit of
the account by the legislature; and
(2) interest earned on the investment of money in the
account.
(c) Money in the account may be used only to provide
scholarships to eligible first generation students as provided by
this subchapter.
Sec. 56.504. ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM. The coordinating
board shall administer the program and adopt any rules necessary to
implement the program or this subchapter. The coordinating board
shall consult with the student financial aid officers of
institutions of higher education in developing the rules.
Sec. 56.505. ALLOCATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF MATCHING FUNDS;
REMISSION OF UNSPENT FUNDS. (a) For each academic year, the
coordinating board shall allocate the total amount of funding
available for purposes of the program for that year to institutions
of higher education in proportion to the number of full-time
equivalent students enrolled at each institution.
(b) Before the last date on which the institution permits
students enrolled at the institution to drop or add courses for a
fall semester, the coordinating board shall distribute to each
institution of higher education an amount of funding equal to the
lesser of:
(1) 50 percent of the total amount of any gifts or
endowment funds received by the institution that are designated to
be used for purposes of providing matching funds for the program for
the applicable academic year; or
(2) the amount allocated to the institution under
Subsection (a).
(c) If the amount allocated to an institution of higher
education under Subsection (a) is greater than the amount
distributed to the institution under Subsection (b) for an academic
year, the coordinating board shall distribute the remainder to each
institution of higher education for which the total amount of gifts
or endowment funds described by Subsection (b)(1) exceeds the
amount allocated to the institution under Subsection (a). The
coordinating board shall distribute the remainder to those
institutions in proportion to the number of full-time equivalent
students enrolled in those institutions.
(d) An institution of higher education is not entitled to
funding under Subsection (b) to match a gift or funding from an
endowment if the gift or endowment has been pledged but has not been
received by the institution.
(e) Gifts or endowment funds matched under this section are
not eligible for matching under any other state matching
scholarship or grant program.
(f) Not later than June 1 of each year, an institution of
higher education shall remit to the coordinating board any amount
distributed to the institution under this section during the
preceding academic year that was not used to award scholarships
under the program.
Sec. 56.506. AWARD OF SCHOLARSHIP. (a) From money
available for the purpose, each institution of higher education
shall award scholarships to eligible students under the program.
(b) Each institution of higher education shall establish an
application process for a scholarship under the program.
Sec. 56.507. INITIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR SCHOLARSHIP. (a) To
be eligible initially for a scholarship under the program, a person
must:
(1) be a first generation student;
(2) be a resident of this state as determined by
coordinating board rules;
(3) meet financial need requirements as defined by the
coordinating board;
(4) be enrolled in an associate or baccalaureate
degree or certificate program at an institution of higher
education;
(5) be enrolled as an entering student for at least
one-half of a full course load for an entering student in the
associate or baccalaureate degree or certificate program, as
determined by the coordinating board;
(6) have applied for any available financial aid or
assistance; and
(7) comply with any additional nonacademic
requirement adopted by the coordinating board under this
subchapter.
(b) A person is not eligible to receive a scholarship under
the program if the person has been convicted of a felony or an
offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or under the law
of another jurisdiction involving a controlled substance as defined
by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, unless the person has met
the other applicable eligibility requirements under the program and
has:
(1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
completed a period of probation ordered by a court, and at least two
years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion; or
(2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense
expunged from the person's record, or otherwise been released from
the resulting ineligibility to receive a scholarship under the
program.
(c) A person is not eligible to receive a scholarship under
the program if the person has been granted:
(1) a certificate for completion of a certificate
program; or
(2) a baccalaureate degree.
(d) A person may not receive a scholarship under the program
for more than:
(1) 75 semester credit hours or the equivalent, if the
person is enrolled in a degree or certificate program of two years
or less; or
(2) 150 semester credit hours or the equivalent, if
the person is enrolled in a degree or certificate program of more
than two years.
(e) A person's eligibility for a scholarship under the
program ends on:
(1) the third anniversary of the initial award of a
scholarship under the program to the person, if the person is
enrolled in a degree or certificate program of two years or less;
(2) the fifth anniversary of the initial award of a
scholarship under the program to the person, if the person is
enrolled in a degree or certificate program of more than two years
but not more than four years; or
(3) the sixth anniversary of the initial award of a
scholarship under the program to the person, if the person is
enrolled in a degree or certificate program of more than four years.
Sec. 56.508. CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY AND ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS. (a) After initially qualifying for a
scholarship under the program, a person may continue to receive a
scholarship under the program during each semester or term in which
the person is enrolled at a participating institution only if the
person:
(1) meets financial need requirements as defined by
the coordinating board;
(2) is enrolled in an associate or baccalaureate
degree or certificate program at a participating institution;
(3) is enrolled for at least one-half of a full course
load for a student in an associate or baccalaureate degree or
certificate program, as determined by the coordinating board;
(4) makes satisfactory academic progress toward an
associate or baccalaureate degree or certificate; and
(5) complies with any additional nonacademic
requirement adopted by the coordinating board.
(b) A person is not eligible to continue to receive a
scholarship under this section if the person has been convicted of a
felony or an offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or
under the law of another jurisdiction involving a controlled
substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, unless
the person has met the other applicable eligibility requirements
under the program and has:
(1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
completed a period of probation ordered by a court, and at least two
years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion; or
(2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense
expunged from the person's record, or otherwise been released from
the resulting ineligibility to receive a scholarship under the
program.
(c) If a person fails to meet any of the requirements of
Subsection (a) after the completion of any semester or term, the
person may not receive a scholarship under the program during the
next semester or term in which the person enrolls. A person may
become eligible to receive a scholarship under the program in a
subsequent semester or term if the person:
(1) completes a semester or term during which the
student is not eligible for a scholarship; and
(2) meets all the requirements of Subsection (a).
(d) For the purpose of this section, a person makes
satisfactory academic progress toward an associate or
baccalaureate degree or certificate only if:
(1) in the person's first academic year, the person
meets the satisfactory academic progress requirements of the
institution at which the person is enrolled; and
(2) in the subsequent academic year, the person:
(A) completes at least 75 percent of the semester
credit hours attempted in the student's most recent academic year;
and
(B) has earned an overall grade point average of
at least 2.5 on a four-point scale or the equivalent on course work
previously attempted at institutions of higher education.
(e) A person who is eligible to receive a scholarship under
the program continues to remain eligible to receive the scholarship
if the person enrolls in or transfers to another institution of
higher education.
(f) The coordinating board shall adopt rules to allow a
person who is otherwise eligible to receive a scholarship under the
program, 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 scholarship under the
program:
(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).
Sec. 56.509. SCHOLARSHIP USE. A scholarship awarded under
the program may be applied only to the payment of tuition and
required fees at an institution of higher education.
Sec. 56.510. SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT; ALLOCATION. (a) The
amount of a scholarship awarded by an institution of higher
education to an eligible student under the program for a semester or
other academic term in which the student is enrolled at the
institution may not exceed the difference between the amount of
tuition and required fees charged to the student by the institution
for that semester or term and the amount of any other gift aid,
including state or federal grants or scholarships, awarded to the
student for that semester or term.
(b) A scholarship may not be awarded under the program to an
eligible student for a semester or other academic term until any
other gift aid for which the student is eligible has been awarded to
the student and the student's unmet financial need has been
established for purposes of determining the appropriate amount of
the student's scholarship under Subsection (a).
Sec. 56.511. NOTIFICATION OF PROGRAM; RESPONSIBILITIES OF
SCHOOL DISTRICTS. (a) The coordinating board, in consultation
with all institutions of higher education, shall prepare materials
designed to inform prospective students, their parents or
guardians, and high school counselors about the program and
eligibility for a scholarship under the program. The coordinating
board shall distribute to each institution of higher education and
to each school district a copy of the materials prepared under this
section.
(b) Each school district shall notify its high school
students, those students' teachers and school counselors, and those
students' parents or guardians of the program and the eligibility
requirements of the program.
Sec. 56.512. GIFTS, GRANTS, AND DONATIONS. Each
institution of higher education may solicit and accept gifts,
grants, and donations from any public or private source for the
purposes of providing matching institutional funds under this
subchapter.
Sec. 56.513. REPORTING. (a) On or before a date
established by coordinating board rule, each institution of higher
education shall annually submit to the coordinating board a report
on the award of scholarships by the institution under the program
for the preceding academic year. The report must include the amount
of the scholarship awarded to each student.
(b) Not later than July 1 of each year, each institution of
higher education shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant
governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the
coordinating board a report on the effectiveness of the program.
The report must include:
(1) the amounts of the scholarships awarded under the
program for the preceding academic year;
(2) the demographics of students who received a
scholarship under the program for the preceding academic year; and
(3) the retention and graduation rates of students who
received a scholarship under the program.
SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board shall adopt rules to administer Subchapter S, Chapter 56,
Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after
the effective date of this Act.
(b) Each public institution of higher education shall begin
awarding scholarships under Subchapter S, Chapter 56, Education
Code, as added by this Act, for the first academic year for which
money is available for that purpose, except that an institution may
not award scholarships under that subchapter for an academic year
before the 2022-2023 academic year.
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.