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  S.B. No. 28
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to eligibility for a TEXAS grant and to administration of
  the TEXAS grant program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  This Act shall be known as the TEXAS Grant
  College Readiness Reform Act.
         SECTION 2.  Section 56.303, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (d-1), (e), and (f)
  to read as follows:
         (d)  From money appropriated by the legislature for the
  purposes of this subchapter, the coordinating board annually shall
  determine the allocation of money available for TEXAS grants among
  general academic teaching institutions and other eligible
  institutions and shall distribute the money accordingly.
         (d-1)  In allocating among general academic teaching
  institutions money available for initial TEXAS grants for an
  academic year, the coordinating board shall ensure that each of
  those institutions' percentage share of the total amount of money
  for initial grants that is allocated to general academic teaching
  institutions under this subsection for that year does not, as a
  result of the number of students who establish eligibility at the
  institution for an initial grant under Section 56.3041(2)(A),
  change from the institution's percentage share of the total amount
  of money for initial grants that is allocated to those institutions
  under this subsection for the preceding academic year.
         (e)  In determining who should receive a TEXAS grant, the
  coordinating board and the eligible institutions shall give
  [highest] priority to awarding TEXAS grants to students who
  demonstrate the greatest financial need and whose expected family
  contribution, as determined according to the methodology used for
  federal student financial aid, does not exceed 60 percent of the
  average statewide amount of tuition and required fees described by
  Section 56.307(a).  In giving priority based on financial need as
  required by this subsection to students who meet the requirements
  for the highest priority as provided by Subsection (f), a general
  academic teaching institution shall determine financial need
  according to the relative expected family contribution of those
  students, beginning with students who have the lowest expected
  family contribution.
         (f)  Beginning with TEXAS grants awarded for the 2013-2014
  academic year, in determining who should receive an initial TEXAS
  grant, each general academic teaching institution, in addition to
  giving priority as provided by Subsection (e), shall give highest
  priority to students who meet the eligibility criteria described by
  Section 56.3041(2)(A). If there is money available in excess of the
  amount required to award an initial TEXAS grant to all students
  meeting those criteria, a general academic teaching institution
  shall make awards to other students who meet the eligibility
  criteria described by Section 56.304(a)(2)(A), provided that the
  institution continues to give priority to students as provided by
  Subsection (e).
         SECTION 3.  Subsection (h), Section 56.304, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (h)  The coordinating board shall adopt rules to allow a
  person who is otherwise eligible to receive a TEXAS grant, 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 TEXAS grant while enrolled in a number of
  semester credit hours that is less than the number of semester
  credit hours required under Subsection (a)(5) or Section
  56.3041(5), as applicable. The coordinating board may not allow a
  person to receive a TEXAS grant while enrolled in fewer than six
  semester credit hours.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code, is
  amended by amending Section 56.3041 and adding Section 56.3042 to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 56.3041.  INITIAL ELIGIBILITY OF PERSON GRADUATING FROM
  HIGH SCHOOL ON OR AFTER MAY 1, 2013, AND ENROLLING IN A GENERAL
  ACADEMIC TEACHING INSTITUTION. Notwithstanding Section 56.304(a),
  to be eligible initially for a TEXAS grant, a person graduating from
  high school on or after May 1, 2013, and enrolling in a general
  academic teaching institution must:
               (1)  be a resident of this state as determined by
  coordinating board rules;
               (2)  meet the academic requirements prescribed by
  Paragraph (A), (B), or (C) as follows:
                     (A)  be a graduate of a public or accredited
  private high school in this state who completed the recommended
  high school program established under Section 28.025 or its
  equivalent and have accomplished any two or more of the following:
                           (i)  graduation under the advanced high
  school program established under Section 28.025 or its equivalent,
  successful completion of the course requirements of the
  international baccalaureate diploma program, or earning of the
  equivalent of at least 12 semester credit hours of college credit in
  high school through courses described in Sections 28.009(a)(1),
  (2), and (3);
                           (ii)  satisfaction of the Texas Success
  Initiative (TSI) college readiness benchmarks prescribed by the
  coordinating board under Section 51.3062(f) on any assessment
  instrument designated by the coordinating board under Section
  51.3062(c) or (e) or qualification for an exemption as described by
  Section 51.3062(p), (q), or (q-1);
                           (iii)  graduation in the top one-third of
  the person's high school graduating class or graduation from high
  school with a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a four-point
  scale or the equivalent; or
                           (iv)  completion for high school credit of
  at least one advanced mathematics course following the successful
  completion of an Algebra II course, as permitted by Section
  28.025(b-3), or at least one advanced career and technical course,
  as permitted by Section 28.025(b-2);
                     (B)  have received an associate degree from a
  public or private institution of higher education; or
                     (C)  if sufficient money is available, meet the
  eligibility criteria described by Section 56.304(a)(2)(A);
               (3)  meet financial need requirements established by
  the coordinating board;
               (4)  be enrolled in an undergraduate degree or
  certificate program at the general academic teaching institution;
               (5)  except as provided under rules adopted under
  Section 56.304(h), be enrolled as:
                     (A)  an entering undergraduate student for at
  least three-fourths of a full course load, as determined by the
  coordinating board, not later than the 16th month after the
  calendar month in which the person graduated from high school;
                     (B)  an entering undergraduate student who
  entered military service not later than the first anniversary of
  the date the person graduated from high school and who enrolled for
  at least three-fourths of a full course load, as determined by the
  coordinating board, at the general academic teaching institution
  not later than 12 months after being honorably discharged from
  military service; or
                     (C)  a continuing undergraduate student for at
  least three-fourths of a full course load, as determined by the
  coordinating board, not later than the 12th month after the
  calendar month in which the person received an associate degree
  from a public or private institution of higher education;
               (6)  have applied for any available financial aid or
  assistance; and
               (7)  comply with any additional nonacademic
  requirements adopted by the coordinating board under this
  subchapter.
         Sec. 56.3042.  INITIAL QUALIFICATION [ELIGIBILITY] OF
  PERSON ON TRACK TO MEET ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS [COMPLETE
  RECOMMENDED OR ADVANCED CURRICULUM].  (a)  If at the time an
  eligible institution awards TEXAS grants to initial recipients for
  an academic year an applicant has not completed high school or the
  applicant's final high school transcript is not yet available to
  the institution, the student is considered to have satisfied the
  eligibility requirements of Section 56.304(a)(2)(A) or
  56.3041(2)(A) if the student's available high school transcript
  indicates that at the time the transcript was prepared the student
  was on schedule to graduate from high school and to meet the
  eligibility requirements [complete the recommended or advanced
  high school curriculum or its equivalent], as applicable to the
  student, in time to be eligible for a TEXAS grant for the academic
  year.
         (a-1)  If at the time an eligible institution awards TEXAS
  grants to initial recipients for an academic year an applicant who
  is an associate degree candidate has not completed that degree or
  the applicant's final college transcript is not yet available to
  the institution, the student is considered to have satisfied the
  associate degree requirement of Section 56.304(a)(2)(B) or
  56.3041(2)(B) if the student's available college transcript
  indicates that at the time the transcript was prepared the student
  was on schedule to complete the associate degree in time to be
  eligible for a TEXAS grant for the academic year.
         (b)  The coordinating board or the eligible institution may
  require the student to forgo or repay the amount of an initial TEXAS
  grant awarded to the student as described by Subsection (a) or (a-1) 
  if the student fails to meet the eligibility requirements of
  Section 56.304(a)(2)(A), 56.3041(2)(A), 56.304(a)(2)(B), or
  56.3041(2)(B), as applicable to the student, [complete the
  recommended or advanced high school curriculum or its equivalent]
  after the issuance of the available high school or college 
  transcript.
         (c)  A person who is required to forgo or repay the amount of
  an initial TEXAS grant under Subsection (b) may subsequently become
  eligible to receive an initial TEXAS grant under Section 56.304 or
  56.3041 by satisfying the associate degree requirement prescribed
  by Section 56.304(a)(2)(B) or 56.3041(2)(B) and the other
  [applicable] requirements of those sections applicable to the
  person [that section] at the time the person reapplies for the
  grant.
         (d)  A person who receives an initial TEXAS grant under
  Subsection (a) or (a-1) and is not required to forgo or repay the
  amount of the grant under Subsection (b) may become eligible to
  receive a subsequent TEXAS grant under Section 56.305 only by
  satisfying the associate degree requirement prescribed by Section
  56.304(a)(2)(B) or 56.3041(2)(B), as applicable to the person, in
  addition to the requirements of Section 56.305 at the time the
  person applies for the subsequent grant.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 56.3045 to read as follows:
         Sec. 56.3045.  TOLLING OF ELIGIBILITY FOR INITIAL AWARD.
  (a)  This section applies only to a person who:
               (1)  was eligible to receive an initial TEXAS grant in
  an academic year for which sufficient money was not available
  through legislative appropriations to allow the coordinating board
  to award initial TEXAS grants to at least 10 percent of the persons
  eligible for initial TEXAS grants in that year, as determined by the
  coordinating board;
               (2)  has not previously been awarded a TEXAS grant; and
               (3)  has not received a baccalaureate degree.
         (b)  Provided that the person meets the requirements
  described by Section 56.305(a), a person to whom this section
  applies is eligible to receive an initial TEXAS grant in any
  academic year in which funding is sufficient to award initial TEXAS
  grants to eligible applicants for that year. The person's
  eligibility for an initial TEXAS grant under this section is not
  affected by:
               (1)  the period for which the person has been enrolled
  at an eligible institution; or
               (2)  any statutory changes to the eligibility
  requirements for initial TEXAS grants that are enacted after the
  person first established eligibility for an initial TEXAS grant as
  described by Subsection (a)(1).
         (c)  A person who is eligible for an initial TEXAS grant
  under this section is entitled to the highest priority as described
  by Section 56.303(f) if the person was entitled to that priority
  when the person first established eligibility for an initial TEXAS
  grant as described by Subsection (a)(1).
         (d)  A person who receives an initial TEXAS grant under this
  section:
               (1)  may receive subsequent TEXAS grants as provided by
  Section 56.305; and
               (2)  is not entitled to TEXAS grants for any previously
  completed academic year.
         SECTION 6.  Section 56.311, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
         (c-1)  Not later than September 1 of each year, the
  coordinating board shall provide a report to the committee
  regarding the operation of the TEXAS grant program, including
  information from the three preceding state fiscal years as follows:
               (1)  allocations of TEXAS grants by eligible
  institution, disaggregated by initial and subsequent awards;
               (2)  the number of TEXAS grants awarded to students
  disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and expected family
  contribution;
               (3)  disaggregated as required by Subdivision (2) and
  reported both on a statewide basis and for each eligible
  institution, the number of TEXAS grants awarded to students who
  meet:
                     (A)  only the eligibility criteria described by
  Section 56.304; or
                     (B)  the eligibility criteria described by
  Section 56.3041(2)(A); and
               (4)  the persistence, retention, and graduation rates
  of students receiving TEXAS grants.
         SECTION 7.  The change in law made to Subchapter M, Chapter
  56, Education Code, by this Act applies beginning with TEXAS grants
  awarded for the 2013 fall semester. Grants awarded for a semester
  or term before the 2013 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, 2011.
 
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 28 passed the Senate on
  April 6, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 24, Nays 7;
  May 5, 2011, Senate refused to concur in House amendments and
  requested appointment of Conference Committee; May 17, 2011, House
  granted request of the Senate; May 29, 2011, Senate adopted
  Conference Committee Report by the following vote:  Yeas 28,
  Nays 3.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 28 passed the House, with
  amendments, on April 21, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 136,
  Nays 12, one present not voting; May 17, 2011, House granted
  request of the Senate for appointment of Conference Committee;
  May 24, 2011, House adopted Conference Committee Report by the
  following vote:  Yeas 143, Nays 1, two present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
             Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor