Sec. 56.0092. TEXAS B-ON-TIME STUDENT LOAN ACCOUNT; FORMER LOAN PROGRAM CONTINUED IN EFFECT FOR CERTAIN ACADEMIC YEARS ONLY. (a) The Texas B-On-time student loan account previously established by former Section 56.463 continues as an account in the general revenue fund. The account consists of:

(1) gifts and grants;

(2) any legislative appropriations received for the purpose of awarding Texas B-On-time student loans to students who qualify and establish eligibility for the loans as described by Subsection (c) and for discharging any other remaining obligations under the former Texas B-On-time student loan program;

(3) tuition set aside under Section 56.465, as that section existed immediately before September 1, 2015, for a semester or term occurring before the 2015 fall semester;

(4) bond proceeds deposited under Section 52.91(a); and

(5) any other money in the account on September 1, 2015.

(b) Money in the Texas B-On-time student loan account may be used only to pay any costs of the coordinating board related to loans awarded under the Texas B-On-time student loan program as provided by Subsection (c) for a semester or term occurring before the 2020 fall semester.

(c) Beginning with the 2015 fall semester, the coordinating board may not award an initial Texas B-On-time student loan under the Texas B-On-time student loan program. The coordinating board may award, for a semester or term occurring before the 2020 fall semester, a subsequent Texas B-On-time student loan to an eligible student who received an initial Texas B-On-time student loan before the 2015-2016 academic year. For Texas B-On-time student loans to be awarded as described by this subsection:

(1) students may qualify and establish continued eligibility, as applicable, under Subchapter Q as that subchapter existed immediately before September 1, 2015; and

(2) the coordinating board may make loans using any money available for the purposes of the former Texas B-On-time student loan program.

(d) On September 1, 2024, the Texas B-On-time student loan account is abolished, and any remaining money in the account, notwithstanding Subsection (b), may be appropriated only to eligible institutions in the manner provided by Subsection (e).

(e) An appropriation under Subsection (d) must be made in accordance with a formula, adopted by coordinating board rule, that the coordinating board determines fairly allocates the appropriated amount to those eligible institutions at which the Texas B-On-time student loan program was underutilized. For purposes of this subsection, the Texas B-On-time student loan program is considered to have been underutilized by students of an institution in any period if the institution's percentage of the total amount of tuition set aside by all institutions under the program during the period was greater than the institution's percentage of all students who received a Texas B-On-time student loan under the program for the same period. The coordinating board shall base the coordinating board's determination on a period of academic years occurring before the 2015-2016 academic year that the coordinating board considers representative of eligible institutions' student participation in the Texas B-On-time student loan program.

(e-1) An eligible institution that receives an appropriation of money under Subsection (d) may use the money only to support efforts to increase the number of at-risk students who graduate from the institution or the rate at which at-risk students graduate from the institution.

(f) In this section:

(1) "At-risk student" means an undergraduate student of an eligible institution:

(A) who has previously received a grant under the federal Pell Grant program or met the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) criterion for a grant under that program; or

(B) whose total score on the SAT or the ACT, excluding the optional essay test, is less than the national mean of students' scores on the applicable test.

(2) "Eligible institution" means a general academic teaching institution described by Section 56.451(2)(A) or a medical and dental unit described by Section 56.451(2)(B), as those paragraphs existed immediately before September 1, 2015.

Added by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1243 (H.B. 700), Sec. 6, eff. September 1, 2015.

Amended by:

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 634 (S.B. 1504), Sec. 1, eff. June 10, 2019.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1173 (H.B. 3317), Sec. 9(a), eff. June 14, 2019.