87R1725 JRJ-D
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 176
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the award of a grant under the Texas Educational
Opportunity Grant Program to certain students enrolled in a
baccalaureate degree program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 56.402(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The purpose of this subchapter is to provide a grant of
money to enable eligible students to attend eligible [two-year
public] institutions [of higher education] in this state.
SECTION 2. Sections 56.404(a), (c), and (f), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) To be eligible initially for a grant under the grant
program, a person 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 an associate or baccalaureate
degree program or a certificate program at an eligible institution;
(4) 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 program or certificate program,
as determined by the coordinating board;
(5) have applied for any available financial aid or
assistance; and
(6) comply with any additional nonacademic
requirement adopted by the coordinating board under this
subchapter.
(c) A person is not eligible to receive a grant under this
subchapter if the person has been granted:
(1) an associate degree, if the person is enrolled in
an associate degree or certificate program; or
(2) a baccalaureate degree.
(f) A person's eligibility for a grant under this subchapter
ends on:
(1) the fourth anniversary of the initial award of a
grant under this subchapter to the person and the person's
enrollment in an eligible institution, if the person is enrolled in
a degree or certificate program of two years or less; or
(2) the fifth anniversary of the initial award of a
grant under this subchapter to the person and the person's
enrollment in an eligible institution, if the person is enrolled in
a degree program of more than two years.
SECTION 3. Sections 56.405(a) and (d), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) After initially qualifying for a grant under this
subchapter, a person may continue to receive a grant under this
subchapter during each semester or term in which the person is
enrolled at an eligible 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 program or certificate program at an eligible institution;
(3) is enrolled for at least one-half of a full course
load for a student in an associate or baccalaureate degree program
or certificate program, as determined by the coordinating board;
(4) makes satisfactory academic progress toward an
associate or baccalaureate degree or a certificate; and
(5) complies with any additional nonacademic
requirement adopted by the coordinating board.
(d) For the purpose of this section, a person makes
satisfactory academic progress toward an associate or
baccalaureate degree or a 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 a 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.
SECTION 4. Subchapter P, Chapter 56, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 56.4051 to read as follows:
Sec. 56.4051. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF SEMESTER CREDIT HOURS.
(a) A person who is enrolled in an associate degree program or
certificate program at an eligible institution may not receive a
grant under this subchapter for more than 75 semester credit hours
or the equivalent.
(b) A person who is enrolled in a baccalaureate degree
program at an eligible institution may not receive a grant under
this subchapter for more than the greater of:
(1) 135 semester credit hours or the equivalent; or
(2) 15 semester credit hours, or the equivalent, in
addition to the number of credit hours needed to complete the
person's baccalaureate degree program.
SECTION 5. Section 56.407(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The amount of a grant under this subchapter for a
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 an associate degree or certificate program]
would be charged for that semester or term at eligible institutions
to a resident student enrolled full-time in:
(1) an associate degree program or a certificate
program, if the student receiving the grant is enrolled in an
associate degree program or a certificate program; or
(2) a baccalaureate degree program, if the student
receiving the grant is enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program.
SECTION 6. Section 56.404(d), Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 7. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board shall adopt rules to administer the Texas Educational
Opportunity Grant Program consistent with the changes made by this
Act to Subchapter P, Chapter 56, Education Code, as soon as
practicable after the effective date of this Act.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act to Subchapter P,
Chapter 56, Education Code, apply beginning with initial or
subsequent grants awarded for the 2022 fall semester. Initial or
subsequent grants awarded for a semester or term before the 2022
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 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.