HBA-SEP C.S.S.B. 1596 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 1596
By: Bivins
Higher Education
4/27/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Community and technical colleges constitute the largest sector of higher
education in Texas, accounting for an enrollment of over 430,000 students
or 45 percent of the total student enrollment.  However, community and
technical college students only received approximately 14 percent of the
total allocation of Toward EXcellence, Access, & Success (TEXAS) grant
funds for fiscal year 2000.  With 70 percent of the state's freshman and
sophomore students, and 75 percent of the state's minority freshman and
sophomore students attending community and technical colleges, it may be
important to develop an additional method to assist these students in
completing their educational goals.  C.S.S.B. 1596 establishes the Toward
EXcellence, Access, & Success (TEXAS) grant II program to provide grants to
enable eligible students to attend public junior colleges and technical
institutes in this state.  

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 (Sections 56.353 and 56.357, Education Code) and in
SECTION 2 of this bill. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.S.B. 1596 amends the Education Code to establish the Toward EXcellence,
Access, & Success (TEXAS) grant II program to provide grants to enable
eligible students to attend eligible public junior colleges, technical
institutes, and public state colleges in this state (Sec. 56.352).  The
bill requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (board) to
administer the TEXAS grant II program and to adopt any rules necessary to
implement the program.  The board is also required to consult with the
student financial aid officers of eligible institutions in developing the
rules and to adopt rules to provide a TEXAS grant II to an eligible student
enrolled in an eligible institution in a manner consistent with the
administration of federal student financial aid programs.  In determining
who should receive a TEXAS grant II, the board and the eligible institution
are required to give the highest priority to students who demonstrate the
greatest financial need (Sec. 56.353). 

The bill sets forth initial eligibility requirements and continued
eligibility and academic performance requirements for a TEXAS grant II
(Secs. 56.354 and 56.355).  A student receiving a TEXAS grant II is
authorized to use the money to pay any usual and customary cost of
attendance at an eligible institution incurred by the student.  The
institution is authorized to disburse all or part of the proceeds of a
TEXAS grant II to an eligible person only if the tuition and required fees
incurred by the person at the institution have been paid (Sec. 56.356).   

The amount of a TEXAS grant II for a student enrolled full-time at an
eligible institution is the amount determined by the 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.   

The bill authorizes the board to adopt rules that allow the board to
increase or decrease, in proportion to  the number of semester credit hours
in which a student is enrolled, the amount of a TEXAS grant II award to a
student who is enrolled in a number of semester credit hours in excess of
or below the number of semester credit hours necessary for initial or
continuing eligibility.  The bill prohibits the amount of a TEXAS grant II
from being reduced by any gift aid for which the person receiving the grant
is eligible, unless the total amount of a person's grant plus any gift aid
received exceeds the total cost of attendance at an eligible institution.
Not later than January 31 of each year, the board is required to publish
the amounts of each grant established by the board for the academic year
beginning the next fall semester.   

The total amount of grants that a student is authorized to receive for a
TEXAS grant II and a tuition equalization grant is prohibited from
exceeding an amount equal to 50 percent of the average state appropriation
in the biennium preceding the biennium in which the grant is made for a
full-time student or the equivalent at public senior colleges and
universities, as determined by the board.  An eligible institution is
prohibited from denying admission to or enrollment in the institution based
on a person's eligibility to receive a TEXAS grant II or a person's receipt
of a TEXAS grant II.  An institution is authorized to use other available
sources of financial aid to cover any difference in the amount of a TEXAS
grant II and the actual amount of tuition and required fees (Sec. 56.357).

The bill requires the board and eligible institutions to award TEXAS grant
II scholarships beginning with the 2001 fall semester.  The bill requires
the board to adopt the initial rules for awarding a TEXAS grant II no later
than July 31, 2001 (SECTION 2). 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001. 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.S.B. 1596 modifies the original by removing the provision that a person
is not eligible to receive a TEXAS II grant if the person has been granted
an associate degree.  The substitute replaces references to an
undergraduate student with a student in the associate degree or certificate
program.  The substitute removes the provision prohibiting an eligible
institution from charging a person attending the institution who also
receives a TEXAS grant II an amount of tuition and required fees in excess
of the amount of the TEXAS grant II received by the person.