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.