Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB35 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R1723 MM-F
2	2	By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 35
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the establishment and operation of the Texas B-On-time
8	8	student loan program; authorizing a fee.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
11	11	Subchapter Q to read as follows:
12	12	SUBCHAPTER Q. TEXAS B-ON-TIME LOAN PROGRAM
13	13	Sec. 56.451. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
14	14	(1) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
15	15	Education Coordinating Board.
16	16	(2) "Eligible institution" means:
17	17	(A) a general academic teaching institution; or
18	18	(B) a public junior college that offers one or
19	19	more baccalaureate degree programs.
20	20	(3) "General academic teaching institution" and
21	21	"public junior college" have the meanings assigned by Section
22	22	61.003.
23	23	Sec. 56.452. PROGRAM NAME; PURPOSE. (a) The student loan
24	24	program authorized by this subchapter is known as the Texas
25	25	B-On-time loan program, and an individual loan awarded under this
26	26	subchapter is known as a Texas B-On-time loan.
27	27	(b) The purpose of this subchapter is to provide no-interest
28	28	loans to eligible students to enable those students to earn
29	29	baccalaureate degrees at public institutions of higher education in
30	30	this state.
31	31	Sec. 56.453. ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM; RULES. (a) The
32	32	coordinating board shall:
33	33	(1) administer the Texas B-On-time loan program;
34	34	(2) determine the repayment and other terms of a Texas
35	35	B-On-time loan; and
36	36	(3) in consultation with the student financial aid
37	37	officers of eligible institutions, adopt any rules necessary to
38	38	implement the program or this subchapter.
39	39	(b) The coordinating board may charge and collect a loan
40	40	origination fee from a person who receives a Texas B-On-time loan to
41	41	be used by the board to pay for the operating expenses for making
42	42	loans under this subchapter.
43	43	(c) The total amount of Texas B-On-time loans awarded may
44	44	not exceed the amount available in the Texas B-On-time student loan
45	45	account under Section 56.463.
46	46	(d) The coordinating board, in collaboration with eligible
47	47	institutions and other appropriate entities, shall adopt and
48	48	implement measures to:
49	49	(1) improve student participation in the Texas
50	50	B-On-time loan program, including strategies to better inform
51	51	students and prospective students about the program; and
52	52	(2) improve the rate of student satisfaction of the
53	53	requirements for obtaining Texas B-On-time loan forgiveness.
54	54	(e) The coordinating board, in collaboration with eligible
55	55	institutions and appropriate nonprofit or college access
56	56	organizations, shall:
57	57	(1) educate students regarding the eligibility
58	58	requirements for forgiveness of Texas B-On-time loans;
59	59	(2) ensure that students applying for or receiving a
60	60	Texas B-On-time loan understand their responsibility to repay any
61	61	portion of the loan that is not forgiven; and
62	62	(3) ensure that students who are required to repay
63	63	Texas B-On-time loans receive and understand information regarding
64	64	loan default prevention strategies.
65	65	Sec. 56.454. PERSONS NOT ELIGIBLE. A person is not eligible
66	66	to receive a Texas B-On-time loan if the person was ever previously
67	67	enrolled at an institution of higher education for an academic term
68	68	before the academic year in which the person initially applies for a
69	69	loan under this subchapter.
70	70	Sec. 56.455. INITIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR LOAN. To be eligible
71	71	initially for a Texas B-On-time loan, a person must:
72	72	(1) be a resident of this state under Section 54.052 or
73	73	be entitled, as a child of a member of the armed forces of the United
74	74	States, to pay tuition at the rate provided for residents of this
75	75	state under Section 54.241;
76	76	(2) meet one of the following academic requirements:
77	77	(A) be a graduate of a public or private high
78	78	school in this state who graduated not earlier than the 2020-2021
79	79	school year and earned a distinguished level of achievement under
80	80	the foundation high school program established under Section 28.025
81	81	or its equivalent; or
82	82	(B) be a graduate of a high school operated by the
83	83	United States Department of Defense who:
84	84	(i) graduated from that school not earlier
85	85	than the 2020-2021 school year; and
86	86	(ii) at the time of graduation from that
87	87	school was a dependent child of a member of the armed forces of the
88	88	United States;
89	89	(3) be enrolled for a full course load for an
90	90	undergraduate student, as determined by the coordinating board, in
91	91	a baccalaureate degree program at an eligible institution;
92	92	(4) be eligible for federal financial aid, except that
93	93	a person is not required to meet any financial need requirement
94	94	applicable to a particular federal financial aid program; and
95	95	(5) comply with any additional requirement adopted by
96	96	the coordinating board under this subchapter.
97	97	Sec. 56.456. CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY AND ACADEMIC
98	98	PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS. (a) After initially qualifying for a
99	99	Texas B-On-time loan, a person may continue to receive a Texas
100	100	B-On-time loan for each semester or term in which the person is
101	101	enrolled at an eligible institution only if the person:
102	102	(1) is enrolled for a full course load for an
103	103	undergraduate student, as determined by the coordinating board, in
104	104	a baccalaureate degree program at an eligible institution;
105	105	(2) is eligible for federal financial aid, except that
106	106	a person is not required to meet any financial need requirement
107	107	applicable to a particular federal financial aid program;
108	108	(3) makes satisfactory academic progress toward a
109	109	degree as determined by the institution at which the person is
110	110	enrolled, if the person is enrolled in the person's first academic
111	111	year at the institution;
112	112	(4) completed at least 75 percent of the semester
113	113	credit hours attempted by the person in the most recent academic
114	114	year and has a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5 on a
115	115	four-point scale or the equivalent on all coursework previously
116	116	attempted at institutions of higher education, if the person is
117	117	enrolled in any academic year after the person's first academic
118	118	year; and
119	119	(5) complies with any additional requirement adopted
120	120	by the coordinating board under this subchapter.
121	121	(b) If a person fails to meet any of the requirements of
122	122	Subsection (a) after the completion of any semester or term, the
123	123	person may not receive a Texas B-On-time loan for the next semester
124	124	or term in which the person enrolls. A person may become eligible
125	125	to receive a Texas B-On-time loan in a subsequent semester or term
126	126	if the person:
127	127	(1) completes a semester or term during which the
128	128	person is not eligible for a Texas B-On-time loan; and
129	129	(2) meets all of the requirements of Subsection (a).
130	130	(c) A person who is eligible to receive a Texas B-On-time
131	131	loan continues to remain eligible to receive the Texas B-On-time
132	132	loan if the person enrolls in or transfers to another eligible
133	133	institution.
134	134	Sec. 56.457. WAIVER OF COURSE LOAD REQUIREMENT. (a) The
135	135	coordinating board shall adopt rules to allow a person who is
136	136	otherwise eligible to receive a Texas B-On-time loan, in the event
137	137	of a hardship or other good cause, to receive a Texas B-On-time loan
138	138	while enrolled in a number of semester credit hours that is less
139	139	than the number of semester credit hours required under Section
140	140	56.455 or 56.456, as applicable.
141	141	(b) The coordinating board may not allow a person to receive
142	142	a Texas B-On-time loan while enrolled in fewer than six semester
143	143	credit hours.
144	144	Sec. 56.458. LOAN USE. A person receiving a Texas B-On-time
145	145	loan may use the money to pay for any usual and customary costs of
146	146	attendance at an eligible institution incurred by the student,
147	147	including tuition, fees, books, and room and board.
148	148	Sec. 56.459. LOAN AMOUNT. (a) The amount of a Texas
149	149	B-On-time loan for a semester or term for a student enrolled
150	150	full-time at a general academic teaching institution is an amount
151	151	determined by the coordinating board as the average statewide
152	152	amount of tuition and required fees that a resident student
153	153	enrolled full-time in a baccalaureate degree program would be
154	154	charged for that semester or term at general academic teaching
155	155	institutions.
156	156	(b) The amount of a Texas B-On-time loan for a student
157	157	enrolled full-time at a public junior college is the amount
158	158	determined by the coordinating board as the average statewide
159	159	amount of tuition and required fees that a student who is a resident
160	160	of the junior college district and is enrolled full-time in a
161	161	baccalaureate degree program would be charged for that semester or
162	162	term at public junior colleges.
163	163	(c) Not later than January 31 of each year, the coordinating
164	164	board shall publish the amounts of each loan established by the
165	165	board for each type of institution for the academic year beginning
166	166	the next fall semester.
167	167	(d) If in any academic year the amount of money in the Texas
168	168	B-On-time student loan account is insufficient to provide the loans
169	169	to all eligible persons in amounts specified by this section, the
170	170	coordinating board shall determine the amount of available money
171	171	and shall allocate that amount to eligible students in the order in
172	172	which the students applied.
173	173	Sec. 56.460. NOTIFICATION OF PROGRAM; RESPONSIBILITIES OF
174	174	SCHOOL DISTRICTS. (a) The coordinating board, in consultation
175	175	with representatives of the board's financial aid advisory
176	176	committee established under Section 61.0776, shall prepare
177	177	materials designed to inform prospective students, their parents or
178	178	guardians, and their teachers and counselors about the program and
179	179	eligibility for a Texas B-On-time loan. The coordinating board
180	180	shall distribute to each eligible institution and to each school
181	181	district a copy of the materials prepared under this subchapter.
182	182	(b) Each school district shall notify its middle school
183	183	students, junior high school students, and high school students,
184	184	those students' teachers and counselors, and those students'
185	185	parents or guardians of the Texas B-On-time loan program and the
186	186	eligibility requirements of the program.
187	187	Sec. 56.461. LOAN PAYMENT DEFERRED. The repayment of a
188	188	Texas B-On-time loan received by a student under this subchapter is
189	189	deferred as long as the student remains continuously enrolled in a
190	190	baccalaureate degree program at an eligible institution.
191	191	Sec. 56.462. LOAN FORGIVENESS. A student who receives a
192	192	Texas B-On-time loan shall be forgiven the amount of the student's
193	193	loan if the student is awarded a baccalaureate degree at an eligible
194	194	institution with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 on
195	195	a four-point scale or the equivalent:
196	196	(1) within:
197	197	(A) four calendar years after the date the
198	198	student initially enrolled in an institution of higher education if
199	199	the student is awarded a degree other than a degree in a program
200	200	that the institution certifies to the coordinating board is a
201	201	program that requires more than four years to complete; or
202	202	(B) five calendar years after the date the
203	203	student initially enrolled in an institution of higher education if
204	204	the student is awarded a degree in a program that the institution
205	205	certifies to the coordinating board is a program that requires more
206	206	than four years to complete; or
207	207	(2) with a total number of semester credit hours that
208	208	is not more than six hours more than the minimum number of semester
209	209	credit hours required to complete the degree, including transfer
210	210	credit hours and excluding hours earned:
211	211	(A) exclusively by examination;
212	212	(B) for a course for which the student received
213	213	credit toward the student's high school academic requirements; and
214	214	(C) for developmental coursework that an
215	215	institution of higher education required the student to take under
216	216	Subchapter F-1, Chapter 51, or under the provisions of former
217	217	Section 51.306 or former Section 51.3062.
218	218	Sec. 56.463. TEXAS B-ON-TIME STUDENT LOAN ACCOUNT. (a) The
219	219	Texas B-On-time student loan account is an account in the general
220	220	revenue fund. The account consists of gifts and grants and
221	221	legislative appropriations received under Section 56.464 and other
222	222	money required by law to be deposited in the account.
223	223	(b) Money in the Texas B-On-time student loan account may be
224	224	used only to pay the costs of the coordinating board related to the
225	225	operation of the Texas B-On-time loan program and as otherwise
226	226	provided by this subchapter.
227	227	Sec. 56.464. FUNDING. (a) The coordinating board may
228	228	solicit and accept gifts and grants from any public or private
229	229	source for the purposes of this subchapter.
230	230	(b) The coordinating board may issue and sell general
231	231	obligation bonds under Subchapter F, Chapter 52, for the purposes
232	232	of this subchapter.
233	233	(c) The legislature may appropriate money for the purposes
234	234	of this subchapter.
235	235	SECTION 2. Section 52.89, Education Code, is amended by
236	236	amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
237	237	follows:
238	238	(c) The board shall deposit to the credit of the fund any
239	239	proceeds from the sale of bonds, excluding:
240	240	(1) any accrued interest on the bonds which shall be
241	241	deposited in the board interest and sinking fund relating to the
242	242	bonds; and
243	243	(2) proceeds from the sale of bonds issued by the board
244	244	under Section 56.464(b) to provide Texas B-On-time student loans[,
245	245	as that subsection existed immediately before September 1, 2015].
246	246	(c-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), proceeds from the
247	247	sale of bonds issued by the board under Section 56.464(b) to provide
248	248	Texas B-On-time student loans may be deposited to the credit of the
249	249	fund by resolution of the board.
250	250	SECTION 3. Sections 52.90(a) and (b), Education Code, are
251	251	amended to read as follows:
252	252	(a) The board:
253	253	(1) shall make a loan from the fund to a student who
254	254	qualifies for a loan under Subchapter C; and
255	255	(2) may make a loan from the fund to a student who
256	256	qualifies for a Texas B-On-time student loan under Subchapter Q,
257	257	Chapter 56.
258	258	(b) Loans from the fund are governed by Subchapter C of this
259	259	chapter or Subchapter Q, Chapter 56, as appropriate, as if made
260	260	under that subchapter, except to the extent of conflict with this
261	261	subchapter.
262	262	SECTION 4. The heading to Section 52.91, Education Code, is
263	263	amended to read as follows:
264	264	Sec. 52.91. BONDS FOR [FORMER] TEXAS B-ON-TIME STUDENT LOAN
265	265	PROGRAM.
266	266	SECTION 5. Section 52.91, Education Code, is amended by
267	267	amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (b) to read
268	268	as follows:
269	269	(a) The board shall deposit to the credit of the Texas
270	270	B-On-time student loan account established under Section 56.463 or
271	271	former Section 56.0092 any proceeds from the sale of bonds issued by
272	272	the board to fund Texas B-On-time student loans under Section
273	273	56.464(b), [as that subsection existed immediately before
274	274	September 1, 2015,] other than:
275	275	(1) accrued interest on the bonds, which shall be
276	276	deposited to the credit of the interest and sinking fund related to
277	277	the bonds; and
278	278	(2) any proceeds from the sale of the bonds that the
279	279	board by resolution deposits to the student loan auxiliary fund
280	280	under Section 52.89(c-1).
281	281	(b) The board by resolution may establish, as provided by
282	282	Section 52.03, one or more interest and sinking funds to be used for
283	283	any purpose relating to the Texas B-On-time student loan program
284	284	established under Subchapter Q, Chapter 56.
285	285	(c) The board shall repay bonds described by Subsection (a)
286	286	using proceeds from the bonds, legislative appropriations, and
287	287	money collected by the board as repayment for Texas B-On-time
288	288	student loans awarded by the board [under Section 56.0092(c) for a
289	289	semester or term occurring before the 2020 fall semester]. The
290	290	board may also repay the bonds by using tuition set aside under
291	291	Section 56.465, as that section existed immediately before
292	292	September 1, 2015, for a semester or term occurring before the 2015
293	293	fall semester. The board may not repay the bonds with money
294	294	collected by the board as repayment for student loans awarded by the
295	295	board under Subchapter C.
296	296	SECTION 6. Section 56.0092, Education Code, is repealed.
297	297	SECTION 7. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
298	298	Board and the eligible institutions shall award loans under the
299	299	Texas B-On-time loan program established under Subchapter Q,
300	300	Chapter 56, Education Code, as added by this Act, beginning with the
301	301	2021 fall semester.
302	302	(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
303	303	adopt the initial rules for awarding loans under the Texas
304	304	B-On-time loan program established under Subchapter Q, Chapter 56,
305	305	Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after
306	306	the effective date of this Act.
307	307	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
308	308	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
309	309	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
310	310	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
311	311	Act takes effect September 1, 2021.