HBA-MPM H.B. 527 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS
Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 527
By: Hinojosa
Higher Education
3/5/1999
Introduced
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
H.B. 527 amends Chapter 56 of the Education Code to establish the Texas
Hope Scholarship Program (program), which creates two types of grants, the
Hope Tuition Grant for Public Service, and the Teach for Texas Hope Tuition
Grant. Furthermore, this bill sets forth eligibility requirements for
grant applicants, makes provisions for the funding of the program, and sets
forth specific terms for the grants offered to eligible individuals,
including penalties should the terms of the grant not be met.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board in SECTION 1 (Section 56.310, Education Code) of this bill.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 56, Education Code, by adding Subchapter M, as
follows:
SUBCHAPTER M. TEXAS HOPE TUITION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Sec. 56.301. DEFINITION. Defines "coordinating board" as the Texas Higher
Education Board.
Sec. 56.302. PROGRAM NAME; PURPOSE. Establishes the name of the student
financial assistance program authorized by this subchapter as the Texas
Hope Tuition Scholarship Program (program) and an individual grant awarded
under the program as a Texas hope tuition grant (grant). Sets forth the
purpose of the program.
Sec. 56.303. TYPES OF GRANTS. Specifies the two types of grants as
provided by the program, the hope tuition grant for public service and the
Teach for Texas hope tuition grant.
Sec. 56.304. ELIGIBLE PERSON. Sets forth eligibility requirements for a
grant. Stipulates that a person is ineligible for a grant if, while
enrolled in an undergraduate program, the person has received a
baccalaureate degree; or if the person has been convicted of certain
offenses, unless the person has received a certificate of discharge by the
appropriate correctional entity or completed a period of probation ordered
by the court, and at least two years have elapsed from the receipt or
completion, or if the person has been pardoned, had the offense expunged
from the person's record, or otherwise been released from the resulting
ineligibility to receive a grant.
Sec. 56.305. REQUIREMENTS FOR HOPE TUITION GRANT FOR PUBLIC SERVICE.
Specifies that a hope tuition grant for public service is available only to
a person enrolled in an undergraduate degree or certificate program.
Prohibits a person from receiving a tuition grant for public service for
more than 140 semester hours or the equivalent. Specifies that in order to
qualify for a hope tuition grant for public service, a person must agree to
perform public service as provided by coordinating board (board) rule as a
volunteer to a boardapproved nonprofit charitable organization or
governmental entity for a number of hours that equal or exceed an average
of five hours per each full week of the term or semester. Requires the
person to enter into an agreement to perform the public service at the
beginning of each term or semester covered by the grant. Sets forth
specific exemptions from the public service requirement. Sets forth
certain conditions relating to grade-point average and documentation that a
person must comply with in order to continue receiving a hope tuition grant
for public service.
Sec. 56.306. REQUIREMENTS FOR TEACH FOR TEXAS HOPE TUITION GRANT. (a)
Specifies that a Teach for Texas hope tuition grant is available only to a
person enrolled in a baccalaureate or master's degree program in a teaching
field certified by the board as experiencing a critical shortage of
teachers in this state in the year the person begins the degree program; or
to a person who agrees to teach in a public school in Texas in a community
that is not required to be specifically designated at the time the person
receives the grant and that is certified by the board as experiencing a
critical shortage of teachers in any year that the person receives a grant
or in any subsequent year that the person fulfills the teaching obligation.
(b) Requires a person, in order to receive a Teach for Texas hope tuition
grant, to agree to teach full-time at the preschool, primary, or secondary
level in a public school in Texas in the person's chosen field or in a
community experiencing a critical teacher shortage for one academic year
for each 60 semester hours or the equivalent, or each fraction of 60
semester hours or the equivalent, for which the person receives the grant.
(c) Requires the person to fulfill the teaching obligation within the
applicable period specified by this subsection after the person completes
the degree program and any related courses required for teacher
certification, unless the board grants the person additional time to
complete the teaching obligation. Specifies that the period within which
the person must complete the teaching obligation is a number of years equal
to the number of academic years that the person is required to teach, plus
one year. Requires the board to grant a person additional time to complete
the teaching obligation under certain conditions.
(d) Requires the board to cancel a person's teaching obligation under
certain conditions.
Sec. 56.307. ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY. Requires the board to provide
grants in a number to be determined after reviewing the money available to
an eligible person enrolled in an institution of higher education based on
the person's financial need. Specifies that the total amount of grants
distributed may not exceed the amount available in the Texas hope tuition
scholarship trust fund (trust fund). Requires the board to award the
grants to persons with the greatest financial need if there are
insufficient funds available to provide a grant to each eligible person.
Sec. 56.308. PAYMENT OF GRANT; AMOUNT. (a) Requires the board to
determine a person's eligibility for a grant after receiving the person's
grant application, an enrollment report from the institution of higher
learning the person is enrolled in which provides the board with
information needed to determine the person's eligibility, and a
certification of the amount of financial need from the institution of
higher learning. Requires the board to distribute the amount of the grant
to the institution of higher learning if the person is selected for a
grant.
(b) Specifies that the grant amount may not exceed the average tuition and
required fees the student would be charged at a public senior institution
of higher education, except that the amount of a Teach for Texas hope
tuition grant may be in a greater amount, not to exceed two times the
average tuition and required fees the student would be charged at a public
senior institution of higher education, according to the financial need of
the student as determined by board rules. Specifies that the grant amount
may not exceed the financial need of the student when added to other gift
aid and that the grant may not be applied to tuition or fees covered by a
Pell grant or other federally or state-funded grant.
Sec. 56.309. GRANT CONDITIONAL; REPAYMENT. (a) Specifies that a grant
is conditioned on the person's maintenance of qualifications provided by
this subchapter and performance of applicable public service or teaching
requirements. Provides that the grant is considered a loan until all
applicable conditions are met.
(b) Requires the board to require a person who receives a grant to sign a
promissory note acknowledging the conditional nature of the grant and
promising to repay the grant amount plus applicable interest and collection
costs should the person not satisfy the conditions of the grant. Requires
the board to determine the terms of the promissory note. Specifies that the
terms must be the same as those that apply to state or federally guaranteed
student loans made at the same time, to the extent practicable. Provides
that all amounts collected in repayment of a grant, including interest, but
excluding collection costs, shall be deposited in the trust fund.
(c) Specifies that the amount to be repaid by a person who fails to
complete the teaching obligation of the person's grant shall be determined
based on the portion of the teaching obligation that the person has
completed.
(d) Specifies that a person who receives a grant is considered to have
failed to satisfy conditions of the grant if the person does not remain
enrolled in or make steady progress in the degree program for which the
grant was made without good cause as determined by the board, and that the
grant automatically becomes a loan.
Sec. 56.310. ADOPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF RULES. Requires the board to
adopt rules to administer this subchapter and to distribute copies of the
rules to each institution of higher learning and school district.
Sec. 56.311. FUNDING. (a) Specifies that the Texas Hope Tuition
Scholarship Program is funded from the trust fund, which is established
outside the treasury but held in trust of the comptroller of public
accounts. Specifies that money in the trust fund may be spent without
appropriation and only to fund the program and that interest and income
from the assets of the trust fund shall be credited to and deposited in the
trust fund.
(b) Authorizes the board, in each state fiscal year, to draw the costs of
administering the program from the trust fund in an amount that doesn't
exceed 2.5 percent of the total money deposited into the fund for that
fiscal year.
(c) Authorizes the board to accept gifts and grants from any public or
private source.
(d) Authorizes the legislature to appropriate money to the trust fund.
SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999.
Provides that the board shall make grants under the Texas Hope
Tuition Scholarship Program beginning with the fall semester of
2000.
SECTION 3. Emergency clause.