84R1943 AAF-F
	By: Zaffirini	S.B. No. 43

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the institutions of higher education eligible to
	participate in the Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and
	Mathematics (T-STEM) Challenge Scholarship program.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 61.9792, Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 61.9792.  SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.  The board shall
	establish and administer, in accordance with this subchapter and
	board rules, the Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and
	Mathematics (T-STEM) Challenge Scholarship program under which the
	board provides a grant to an eligible institution for the purpose of
	providing a scholarship to a student who meets the eligibility
	criteria prescribed by Section 61.9793.
	SECTION 2.  Section 61.9794, Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 61.9794.  ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION. (a)  To qualify as an
	eligible institution under this subchapter, an institution must:
	(1)  be one of the following:
	(A)  a public junior college, public junior
	college district, or public technical institute that admits[;
	[(2)  admit] at least 50 students into a STEM program
	each academic year; or
	(B)  a general academic teaching institution that
	admits into a STEM program each academic year eligible students
	who:
	(i)  previously participated in a T-STEM
	Challenge Scholarship program at a public junior college or public
	technical institute; and
	(ii)  completed at least 45 semester credit
	hours at the college or institute before enrolling in the general
	academic teaching institution; and
	(2) [(3)]  develop partnerships with business and
	industry to:
	(A)  identify local employment needs in Science,
	Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields; and
	(B)  provide part-time employment for students
	enrolled in a STEM program.
	(b)  To maintain eligibility, beginning with the second year
	following implementation of a scholarship program under this
	subchapter, an institution must demonstrate to the board that at
	least 70 percent of the institution's T-STEM Challenge Scholarship
	graduates, within six [three] months after graduation, are:
	(1)  employed by a business in a Science, Technology,
	Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) field; or
	(2)  enrolled in upper-division courses leading to a
	baccalaureate degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, and
	Mathematics (STEM) field.
	SECTION 3.  Section 61.9795, Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 61.9795.  AMOUNT; FUNDING. (a)  Subject to available
	funding, the board shall award a grant to an eligible institution
	for the purpose of providing scholarships, with at least 50 percent
	of the amount awarded from private funds.
	(b)  Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), an [An] eligible
	student may receive a scholarship awarded under this subchapter for
	not more than two academic years.
	(b-1)  A student who previously participated in the T-STEM
	Challenge Scholarship program at a public junior college or public
	technical institute and completed at least 45 semester credit hours
	at the college or institute, who then enrolls in a general academic
	teaching institution, may receive a scholarship awarded under this
	subchapter for two additional academic years.  The student must
	meet the eligibility requirements established under Section
	61.9793.
	(c)  The board may use any available revenue, including
	legislative appropriations, and may solicit and accept gifts and
	grants for purposes of this subchapter.
	SECTION 4.  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
	shall award scholarships under Subchapter GG, Chapter 61, Education
	Code, as amended by this Act, beginning with the 2015-2016 academic
	year. The coordinating board shall adopt the rules required by that
	subchapter as soon as practicable after this Act takes effect.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.