HBA-GUM, KMH H.B. 713 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 713 By: Cuellar Higher Education 7/7/1999 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE A national study reviewed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board showed that college participation and graduation rates decrease as family income decreases. In Texas, at least 46 percent of all households and 62 percent of African-American and Hispanic households have annual incomes of less than $25,000. The rising cost of tuition, fees, and other expenses, such as room, board, books, and transportation, has made attending a Texas institution of higher education prohibitively expensive for many Texas students and their families. H.B. 713 creates the Toward Excellence, Access and Success (TEXAS), and the Teach For Texas grant programs, which are intended to streamline and simplify the award process and to focus grant money directly toward those Texas students attending or planning to attend the state's institutions of higher education that show the greatest amount of financial need. This bill also requires school districts and institutions of higher education, as well as counselors and experts in the field of financial aid, to cooperate in the compilation, publication, and distribution of relevant information. This bill further provides for the creation of a center and an advisory committee to assist in the coordination of the programs. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill expressly delegates rulemaking authority to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (coordinating board) in SECTIONS 1 (Sections 56.303, 56.304, 56.305, and 56.307, Education Code) and 19, and to the State Board for Educator Certification in SECTION 8 (Section 21.502, Education Code) of this bill. Rulemaking authority is transferred from the coordinating board to the Texas Board of Education in SECTION 10 (Section 61.708, Education Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 56, Education Code, by adding Subchapter M, as follows: SUBCHAPTER M. TOWARD EXCELLENCE, ACCESS, AND SUCCESS (TEXAS) GRANT PROGRAM AND TEACH FOR TEXAS GRANT PROGRAM Sec. 56.301. DEFINITIONS. (1) Defines "coordinating board" as the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. (2) Defines "eligible institution." (3) Defines "private or independent institution of higher education," "public junior college," and "public technical institute" as assigned under Section 61.003, Education Code. Sec. 56.302. PROGRAM NAME; PURPOSE. Provides that the student financial assistance program authorized by this subchapter is known as the Toward Excellence, Access, and Success (TEXAS) grant program, and provides for a grant awarded under the program to be known as a TEXAS grant. Sets forth that the purpose of this subchapter is to provide a grant of money to enable eligible students to attend public and private institutions of higher education in this state. Sec. 56.303. ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM. Requires the coordinating board to administer TEXAS, to adopt rules necessary to implement TEXAS or the subchapter, and to consult with the student financial aid officers of eligible institutions in developing the rules. Requires the coordinating board to adopt rules to provide a TEXAS grant to an eligible student enrolled in an eligible institution of higher education in the most efficient manner possible. Prohibits the total amount of TEXAS grants awarded from exceeding the amount available for the program from appropriations, gifts, grants, or other funds. Requires the coordinating board and eligible institutions to give highest priority to awarding TEXAS grants to students who demonstrate the greatest financial need. Sec. 56.304. INITIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANT. (a) Sets forth the criteria a person must satisfy in order to be eligible for a TEXAS grant. (b) Prohibits eligibility to a person who has been convicted of a felony or an offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code (Texas Controlled Substances Act), or under the law of another jurisdiction involving a controlled substance as defined by that chapter unless the person has met the other applicable eligibility requirements under this subchapter; has received a certificate of discharge as described by this subsection or has competed a period of probation ordered by a court and two years since the date of the discharge of completion has elapsed; or has been pardoned, had the record of the offense expunged from the person's record, or otherwise has been released from the resulting ineligibility to receive a grant under this subchapter. (c) Prohibits eligibility to a person who has received a baccalaureate degree. (d) Prohibits eligibility to a person who has completed 150 semester credit hours, or the equivalent. (e) Provides that a person's eligibility for a TEXAS grant ends on the sixth anniversary of the initial award of a TEXAS grant to the person and the person's enrollment in an eligible institution. (f) Applies the advanced curriculum requirement only to a person who attended a high school that did not offer all the necessary courses to be certified by the commissioner of education (commissioner) and completed all of the high school's recommended or advanced curriculum courses. (g) Requires the commissioner to provide to the coordinating board a list of all the public high schools that do not offer all the courses necessary to complete all parts of the recommended or advanced high school curriculum as described by Subsection (f) not later than March 1 of each year. (h) Requires the coordinating board to 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, 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). Prohibits the coordinating board from allowing a person to receive a TEXAS grant while enrolled in fewer than six semester credit hours. Sec. 56.305. CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS. (a) Authorizes a person to continue to receive a TEXAS grant during each semester or term in which the person continues to be eligible, but only if the person meets the specified financial aid requirements, is enrolled in an appropriate undergraduate degree or certificate program, is enrolled for at least three-fourths of a full course load, makes satisfactory academic progress toward an undergraduate degree as determined by the coordinating board, and complies with any additional nonacademic requirement adopted by the coordinating board. (b) Makes a conforming change. (c) Prohibits further receipt of a TEXAS grant if a person fails to meet any of the requirements during a semester until one complete semester passes if the person completes the subsequent semester and meets all the requirements. (d) Authorizes continued eligibility if a person who received a TEXAS grant and received an undergraduate certificate or associate degree subsequently enrolls within 12 months in a program leading to a higher-level undergraduate degree. (e) Defines satisfactory academic progress under this chapter as meeting the satisfactory academic progress requirements of the institution at which the person is enrolled in the person's first academic year; completing 75 percent of the semester credit hours attempted in the student's most recent semester or term; and earning an overall grade point average of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 point scale, or the equivalent, on previously attempted coursework at institutions of higher education. (f) Provides that a person who is eligible to receive a TEXAS grant continues to remain eligible to receive the TEXAS grant if the person enrolls in or transfers to another eligible institution. (g) Requires the coordinating board to 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, 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). Prohibits the coordinating board from allowing a person to receive a TEXAS grant while enrolled in fewer than six semester credit hours. Sec. 56.306. GRANT USE. Authorizes the person receiving a TEXAS grant to use the money to pay any usual and customary cost of attendance at an institution of higher education incurred by the student. Prohibits distribution of all or part of the proceeds of a TEXAS grant to an eligible person by an institution if the tuition and required fees incurred by the person at the institution have not been paid. Sec. 56.307. GRANT AMOUNT. (a)-(d) Sets forth how the amount of a TEXAS grant is determined for persons enrolled full-time at eligible institutions. (f) Prohibits the TEXAS grant from being reduced by any gift aid for which a person is eligible, unless the total sum of a gift aid and TEXAS grant exceeds the total cost of attendance at an eligible institution. (g) Requires the coordinating board to publish the amounts of each TEXAS grant for each type of institution for the next academic year not later than January 1 of each year. (h) Prohibits the total amount of grants that a student may receive in an academic year under this subchapter and under Section 61.221 (Tuition Equalization Grants Authorized) from exceeding the maximum amount authorized under Section 61.227 (Payment of Grant; Amount). (i) Prohibits a public institution from charging a person attending the institution who also receives a TEXAS grant an amount of tuition and required fees in excess of the amount of the TEXAS grant received by the person, or denying admission to or enrollment in the institution based on a person's eligibility to receive a TEXAS grant or a person's receipt of a TEXAS grant. (j) Authorizes an institution to use other available sources of financial aid, other than a loan or a Pell grant, to cover any difference in the amount of a TEXAS grant and the actual amount of tuition and required fees. (k) Requires the legislature in an appropriations act to account for tuition and required fees received under this section in a way that does not increase the general revenue appropriations to that institution. Sec. 56.308. NOTIFICATION OF PROGRAM; RESPONSIBILITIES OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS. (a) Requires the coordinating board to distribute to each eligible institution of higher education and to each school district a copy of the rules adopted under this subchapter. (b) Requires each school district to: (1) notify its middle, junior high, and high school students, those students' teachers and counselors, and the parents of those students of the TEXAS grant and Teach for Texas grant programs established under this subchapter, the eligibility requirements of each program, the need for students to make informed curriculum choices to be prepared for success beyond high school, and sources of information on higher education admissions and financial aid in a manner that assists the district in implementing a strategy adopted by the district under Section 11.252(a)(4) (District-Level Planning and Decision-Making), Education Code; (2) ensure that each student's official transcript or diploma indicates whether the student has completed or is on schedule to complete the recommended high school curriculum required for grant eligibility under Section 28.002 or 28.025 (High School Diploma and Certificate; Academic Achievement), Education Code, or for a school district covered by Section 56.304(f)(1), the required portion of the recommended or advanced high school curriculum in the manner described by Section 56.304(f)(2) not later than the end of the student's junior year. (c) Provides that the information required by Subsection (b)(2) must be included on a student's transcript not later than the end of the student's junior year. (d) Provides that in addition to the eligibility requirements of Section 56.304, a graduate of an accredited private high school is eligible to receive a grant under this subchapter only if the graduate's official transcript or diploma includes the information required as provided by Subsections (b)(2) and (c). Sec. 56.309. TEACH FOR TEXAS GRANT PROGRAM. (a) Provides that the purpose of the Teach for Texas grant program (TT grant program) is to attract to the teaching profession persons who have expressed interest in teaching and to support the certification of those persons as classroom teachers. (b) Provides that a TT tuition grant is available only to a person who receives a TEXAS grant, applies for a TT tuition grant, and is enrolled as a junior or senior in a baccalaureate degree program if the degree program is in a teaching field experiencing a critical shortage of teachers in this state in the year in which the person begins the degree program, or the person agrees to teach in a public school in this state in a community experiencing a critical shortage of teachers in any year in which the person receives a TT grant or in any subsequent year in which the person fulfills the teaching obligation. (c) Provides that to receive a TT tuition grant, a person must agree to teach full-time for five years at a public school in this state in the person's chosen critical field or in a community experiencing a critical teacher shortage, as applicable. (d) Sets forth the amount of a TT tuition grant as two times the amount of a TEXAS grant for the same semester or term. Authorizes a person to receive both a TEXAS grant and a TT grant for the same semester or term. (e) Provides that the person must begin fulfilling the teaching obligation of this section not later than the 18th month after the person completes the degree program and any related courses required for teacher certification, unless the coordinating board grants the person additional time to begin fulfilling the teaching obligation. Requires the coordinating board to grant a person additional time to complete the teaching obligation for good cause. (f) Requires the coordinating board to cancel a person's teaching obligation if the board determines that the person has become permanently disabled so that the person is not able to teach or has died. (g) Requires the coordinating board to require a person who receives a TT grant to sign a promissory note acknowledging the conditional nature of the grant and promising to repay the amount of the grant plus applicable interest and reasonable collection costs if the person ides not satisfy the applicable conditions. Requires the board to determine to terms of the promissory note. (h) Sets forth the amount required to be repaid by a person who fails to complete the teaching obligation of the person's TT grant. (i) Provides that a person receiving a TT grant is considered to have failed to satisfy the conditions of the grant if the person fails to remain enrolled in or make progress in the applicable degree program without good cause, or if the person fails to become certified as a teacher not later than the 18th month after the date the person receives a degree. Provides that a TT grant automatically becomes a loan if the person fails to satisfy the conditions of a TT grant. Sec. 56.310. FUNDING. Authorizes the coordinating board to solicit and accept gifts and grants from any public or private source for the purposes of this subchapter. Authorizes the legislature to appropriate money for the purposes of this subchapter. Sec. 56.311. LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE. (a) Sets forth the composition of the Legislative Oversight Committee (committee) on the TEXAS and TT grant programs. (b) Requires the committee to meet at least twice a year with the coordinating board, and receive information regarding rules relating to the TEXAS and TT grant programs that have been adopted or proposed for adoption by the coordinating board. (c) Authorizes the committee to request reports and other information from the coordinating board relating to the operation of the TEXAS and TT grant programs by the coordinating board. (d) Requires the committee to review the specific recommendations for legislation related to this subchapter that are proposed by the coordinating board. (e) Requires the committee to monitor the operation of the TEXAS and TT grant programs, with emphasis on the manner of the award of grants, the number of grants awarded, and the educational progress made by persons who have received such grants. (f) Requires the committee to file a report with certain specified persons not later than December 31 of each even-numbered year. (g) Requires the report to include identification of any problems in the TEXAS and TT grant programs with recommended solutions for the coordinating board and for legislative action. SECTION 2. Amends Section 54.5021(c), Education Code, to specify that the amount allocated under this subsection may be used only in making grants under Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code, rather than for making"scholarship awards to needy and deserving students." SECTION 3. Amends Section 56.039, Education Code, to make a conforming change. SECTION 4. Amends Section 151.423, Tax Code, to provide that a card distributed for the collection of taxes under this chapter (Limited Sales, Excise, and Use Tax) may be used for contribution of all or part of the reimbursement of a taxpayer provided by this section (Reimbursement to Taxpayer for Tax Collections) for use as grants under Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code, rather than for use as student financial assistance grants offered under that chapter. Makes a conforming change. SECTION 5. Amends Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code by adding Section 61.0776, as follows: Sec. 61.0776. CENTER FOR FINANCIAL AID INFORMATION. (a) Requires the board, among others involved in the distribution of financial aid for education, to develop a center for financial aid information required to disseminate relevant information. Requires the center to provide information emphasizing the importance of teaching as a profession to prospective students about the TT grant program. (b) Requires the board to create and appoint an advisory committee of experts in financial aid administration, public school counselors, and other persons with relevant insight. (c) Authorizes the board to designate an entity with appropriate facilities and resources to operate or house the center. (d) Requires the center to maintain a toll-free telephone line staffed by knowledgeable persons regarding financial aid information. (e) Requires the center to publish relevant information on the advice of the advisory committee and furnish a written copy to each middle, junior high, and high school counselor in the state and post the information on an Internet website accessible to the public. SECTION 6. Amends Section 11.252(a), Education Code, by adding Subdivision (4) providing that each school district's improvement plan must include strategies for providing to middle, junior high, and high school students information about higher education, the TEXAS and TT grant programs, the need for students to make informed curriculum choices, and sources of information on higher education admissions and financial aid. Redesignates existing Subdivisions (4)-(7) to Subdivisions (5)-(8). SECTION 7. Amends Section 21.004, Education Code, as follows: Sec. 21.004. TEACHER RECRUITMENT PROGRAM. (a) Requires the agency, the State Board for Educator Certification (certification board), and the coordinating board, to the extent that funds are available, to develop and implement programs to identify talented students and recruit those students and persons, including certain specified persons, rather than those students for entry, into the teaching profession. (b) Requires the entities listed in Subsection (a) to develop and distribute materials that emphasize the importance of the teaching profession and inform individuals about statefunded loan forgiveness and tuition assistance programs from available funds. Deletes existing text regarding a technology program for presentation on certain campuses in this state. (c) Redesignates existing Subsection (d). Requires the commissioner, in cooperation with certain specified persons, to annually identify the need for teachers in specific subject areas and geographic regions and among underrepresented groups, rather than authorize the commissioner to coordinate and administer a comprehensive program to identify the need for teachers and encourage members of underrepresented groups to enter the teaching profession. Adds language to require the commissioner to give priority to developing and implementing recruitment programs to address those needs from the agency's discretionary funds. Deletes existing text regarding a program for recruiting minorities into the teaching profession, and existing Subsection (c) to make a conforming change. (d) Deletes existing Subsection (e) to make a conforming change, and redesignates existing Subsection (f). Requires the agency, the certification board, and coordinating board, rather than the commissioner, to encourage the business community to cooperate with local schools to develop teacher recruiting programs. Makes a nonsubstantive change. (e) Redesignates existing Subsection (g). Requires the agency, the certification board, and the coordinating board, rather than the commissioner, to encourage major education associations to cooperate in developing a program and assist in promoting teaching as a career. (f) Redesignates existing Subsection (h). Adds language to authorize the funds received for teacher recruitment programs to be used to publicize the programs. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 8. Amends Chapter 21, Education Code, by adding Subchapter K, as follows: SUBCHAPTER K. TEACH FOR TEXAS PILOT PROGRAM RELATING TO ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION Sec. 21.501. PURPOSES. Provides that the purposes of the alternative certification Teach for Texas Pilot Program (TTPP) are to: (1) attract to the teaching profession persons who have expressed interest in teaching and to support the certification of those persons as teachers; (2) recognize the importance of the certification process under Subchapter B (Certification of Educators); (3) encourage the creation and expansion of educator preparation that recognize the knowledge and skills gained through previous educational and work-related experiences and that are delivered in a manner that recognizes individual circumstances, including the need to remain employed full-time while enrolled in the TTPP; and (4) provide annual stipends to postbaccalaureate teacher certification candidates. Sec. 21.502. PROGRAM ESTABLISHED. Requires, by rule, the certification board to establish the TTPP consistent with the purposes under Section 21.501. Sec. 21.503. FINANCIAL INCENTIVES. (a) Provides that the TT pilot program must offer to participants financial incentives, including tuition assistance and loan forgiveness. Requires the certification board to require a contract between each participant who accepts a financial incentive and the certification board under which the participant is obligated to teach in a public school in this state for a stated period after certification, provide financial incentives in proportion to the length of the period the participant is obligated by contract to teach after certification, and give special financial incentives to a participant who agrees in the contract to teach in an underserved area. (b) Provides that financial incentives may be paid only from funds appropriated specifically for that purpose and from gifts, grants, and donations solicited or accepted by the certification board for that purpose. (c) Requires the certification board to propose rules establishing criteria for awarding financial incentives under this section, including criteria for awarding such incentives if there are more participants than funds available. SECTION 9. Amends Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, by adding Section 61.0514, as follows: Sec. 61.0514. INTEGRATED COURSEWORK. Requires the State Board of Education, with the cooperation and advice of the certification board, to adopt educator preparation coursework guidelines that promote the integration of subject matter knowledge with classroom teaching strategies and techniques to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of coursework required for certification under Subchapter B, Chapter 21. SECTION 10. Amends Subchapter M, Chapter 61, Education Code, as follows: New title: SUBCHAPTER M. REPAYMENT OF CERTAIN TEACHER AND FACULTY EDUCATION LOANS Sec. 61.701. REPAYMENT AUTHORIZED. Authorizes the State Board of Education (board), rather than the coordinating board, to provide assistance in the repayment of student loans for persons, rather than teachers, who apply and qualify for assistance. Sec. 61.702. ELIGIBILITY. Adds language to provide that to be eligible to receive repayment assistance, a person must apply to the board and must have: (1) completed at least one year of employment as and be employed as a full-time classroom teacher as described by this section; or (2) received a doctoral degree not earlier than September 1, 1994, from a public or private institution of higher education accredited as required by the board and be employed as a full-time faculty member with instructional duties in an institution of higher education located in a county that boarders the United Mexican States. Deletes Subsection (b) relating to repayment assistance on a pro rata basis for part-time teachers as described by this section. Makes conforming changes. Sec. 61.703. LIMITATION. Extends from five to 10 years the maximum number of years during which a person may receive repayment assistance. Makes a conforming change. Sec. 61.704. ELIGIBLE LOANS. Adds language to specify that repayment assistance is for any student loan for education at a public or private institution of higher education, including loans for undergraduate and graduate education, received through any lender. Makes conforming changes. Sec. 61.705. REPAYMENT. Sets forth the minimum amount of repayment assistance that may be received in one year by a person described by Section 61.702(2). Makes conforming changes. Sec. 61.706. ADVISORY COMMITTEES. Makes a conforming change. Sec. 61.707. ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS. Adds language to authorize the board to solicit gifts, grants, and donations for the purposes of this subchapter. Makes a conforming change. Sec. 61.708. RULES. (a) Requires the board, rather than the coordinating board, to adopt rules necessary for the administration of this subchapter, including a rule that sets a minimum or maximum amount of repayment assistance that may be received in one year by a person described by Section 61.702(1), and a rule that sets a maximum amount of repayment assistance that may received in one year by a person described by Section 61.702(2). Makes a conforming change. (b) Adds language to require the board to distribute a copy of the rules adopted under this section and pertinent information in this subchapter to the personnel office at each institution of higher education located in a county that borders the United Mexican States. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 11. (a) Authorizes this section to be cited as the Steven Gonzales-Prisoner of War Higher Education Act. (b) Amends Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, by adding Section 54.219, as follows: Sec. 54.219. PRISONERS OF WAR. (a) Defines "tuition and required fees." (b) Requires the governing body of each institution of higher education to exempt from the payment of tuition and required fees for each semester or summer session and for a total number of semester credit hours not to exceed 120 to any person who is a resident of Texas and was a resident of Texas at the time of the person's original entry into the United States armed forces, was first classified as a prisoner of war on or after January 1, 1999, by the United States Department of Defense, and is enrolled for at least 12 semester credit hours. (c) Requires the governing body of the institution to exempt the person from the payment of fees and charges for lodging and board if the person resides on the campus of the institution for each semester or session in which a person receives an exemption from tuition and required fees under Subsection (b). (d) Requires the institution to award to the person a scholarship to cover the costs of books and similar educational materials required for course work at the institution for each semester or session in which a person receives an exemption from tuition and required fees under Subsection (b). (e) Authorizes an institution to use any available revenue, and requires the institution to solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations, for the purposes of this section. Requires the institution to use gifts, grants, and donations received for the purposes of this section before using any other revenue. (c) Provides that this section applies beginning with the 1999 fall semester. SECTION 12. Repealer: Sections 54.215 (Texas National Guard/ROTC Students) and 54.216 (Texas New Horizons Scholarships), Education Code. SECTION 13. Repealer: Subchapters F (Texas Educational Opportunity Grant Program) and G (Texas Tuition Assistance Grant Program), Chapter 56, Education Code. SECTION 14. Transfers any money, wherever situated, which was appropriated or collected for any program abolished under SECTION 12 or 13 of this Act to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for use in the TEXAS Grant Program. SECTION 15. (a) Requires the coordinating board to review and study the laws relating to student financial aid, grant, and scholarship programs or tuition and fee waivers or exemptions, to describe possible improvements to existing programs to maximize the benefits to the state and its students, and to make recommendations for legislative or administrative action that may be taken to consolidate, expand, or otherwise modify existing programs or create new programs. (b) Requires the coordinating board to report its activities and findings to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the presiding officer of each legislative committee charged with the oversight of higher education institutions not later than December 1, 2000. SECTION 16. Authorizes a person receiving financial assistance under Section 54.215 (Texas National Guard/ROTC Students) or 54.216, Education Code, or under Subchapter G, Chapter 56, Education Code, to continue to receive the financial assistance until the person is no longer eligible for it, as those sections and subchapter existed on January 1, 1999. Requires the TEXAS Grant Program to cover the costs of the continued exemptions under Section 54.215 or 54.216, or Subchapter G. SECTION 17. (a) Requires the coordinating board, in conjunction with the commissioner of education, to conduct a study relating to the performance of students at institutions of higher education as that performance relates to whether a student completed the recommended or advanced high school curriculum. (b) Sets forth considerations the board is required to include in the study. (c) Requires the board to issue the final report describing the findings of the study and any recommendations for legislation or administrative action not later than January 1, 2003. Requires the board to distribute the report to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, the presiding officer of each legislative committee charged with the oversight of primary and secondary education or higher education, and the legislative oversight committee established under Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code. Authorizes the board to issue preliminary reports related to the study at any time. (d) Provides that this section expires January 2, 2003. SECTION 18. (a) Requires the coordinating board to review and study the effect of the TEXAS and TT grant programs established by Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code, on enrollments at institutions of higher education. Requires that the report make recommendations for legislative changes to the methodology for calculating the amount of the grant awards, if needed. (b) Requires the coordinating board to report its findings to certain specified persons of the legislature not later than December 1, 2000. SECTION 19. Requires the coordinating board to award grants under the TEXAS and TT grant programs beginning with the 1999 fall semester. Requires the coordinating board to adopt the initial rules for awarding TEXAS and TT grants no later than July 31, 1999. Authorizes the coordinating board to award a grant under TT grant program to a person who has not received a TEXAS grant under Section 56.304 or 56.305, Education Code, if the person meets all the other qualifications for the award under Section 56.309, Education Code, and the requirements for a TEXAS grant under Sections 56.304 and 56.305, Education Code, except for requirements of Sections 56.304(a)(2) and (5), Education Code. Provides that this section expires September 1, 2001. SECTION 20. Requires the commissioner to provide to the coordinating board a list of all of the public high schools that do not offer all the courses necessary to complete all parts of the recommended or advanced high school curriculum or its equivalent as required by Section 56.304(f)(1), Education Code, not later than July 31, 1999. SECTION 21.Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.