SB 895

89R5138 KJE-D
		By: Hughes
  S.B. No. 895
  A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
  AN ACT
  relating to a student's eligibility to participate in the Financial
  Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 28.0095(c), (e), (f), and (h),
  Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (c)  A student is eligible to enroll at no cost in a dual
  credit course under the program if the student:
               (1)  is enrolled:
                     (A)  in high school in a school district, [or]
  charter school, or private school, including a home school; and
                     (B)  in a dual credit course at a participating
  institution of higher education; and
               (2)  was educationally disadvantaged at any time during
  the four school years preceding the student's enrollment in the
  dual credit course described by Subdivision (1)(B).
         (e)  Each school district, [or] charter school, or private
  school shall:
               (1)  on a high school student's enrollment in a dual
  credit course, determine whether the student meets the criteria for
  the program under Subsection (c)(2); and
               (2)  notify the institution of higher education that
  offers the dual credit course in which the student is enrolled of
  the district's or school's determination under Subdivision (1).
         (f)  A school district, [or] charter school, or private
  school may make the determination under Subsection (e)(1) based on
  the district's or school's records, the agency's records, or any
  other method authorized by commissioner or coordinating board rule.  
  If the district or school bases the determination on a method other
  than the agency's records, the district or school shall report the
  method used and the data on which the method is based to the agency
  for purposes of verification.
         (h)  The coordinating board shall distribute money
  transferred to the coordinating board under Section 48.308, or
  appropriated to the coordinating board for purposes of paying costs
  for eligible students enrolled in a private school, to the
  participating institutions of higher education in proportion to the
  number of dual credit courses in which eligible students are
  enrolled at the institution.
         SECTION 2.  Section 48.308(b), Education Code, as added by
  Chapter 378 (H.B. 8), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular
  Session, 2023, is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  An institution of higher education participating in the
  FAST program is entitled to an allotment in an amount equal to the
  amount of tuition set by coordinating board rule under Section
  28.0095(d) for each dual credit course in which a student who is
  enrolled in a school district or open-enrollment charter school and
  is eligible to participate in the FAST program is enrolled at the
  institution.
         SECTION 3.  Section 61.059, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (u) to read as follows:
         (u)  In its instruction and operations formula applicable to
  an institution of higher education participating in the Financial
  Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) program under Section 28.0095, the
  board shall include the amount of tuition set by coordinating board
  rule under Section 28.0095(d) for each dual credit course in which a
  student who is enrolled in a private school and is eligible to
  participate in the FAST program is enrolled at the institution.
         SECTION 4.  Section 28.0095, Education Code, as amended by
  this Act, applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2025.