Current Status Bill Number:130 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:19950110 Primary Sponsor:Rose All Sponsors:Rose, Wilson, Setzler Drafted Document Number:RES9477.MTR Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Education Committee 04 SED Subject:Tuition Payment Plan
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate 19950110 Introduced, read first time, 04 SED
referred to Committee
Senate 19941003 Prefiled, referred to Committee 04 SED
View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 141 TO TITLE 59 SO AS TO ENACT THE SOUTH CAROLINA TUITION PAYMENT PLAN.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 59-141-10. (A) The State shall pay the tuition of a student who enrolls as an undergraduate in a public institution of higher learning who applies for his tuition to be paid and who meets the following qualifications:
(1) has resided in South Carolina during the twenty-four months preceding enrollment;
(2) has a parent or guardian who is domiciled in this State;
(3) has graduated from high school within the two years preceding the application with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 calculated on a 4.0 scale;
(4) has successfully completed seventeen and one-half units of high school coursework (ninth grade or higher), which constitutes a core curriculum and meets standards for admission to the desired institution. The core curriculum is:
(a) English I, II, III, and IV (four units);
(b) Algebra I and II (two units);
(c) Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, or comparable advanced Mathematics (one unit);
(d) Biology (one unit);
(e) Chemistry (one unit);
(f) Earth Science, Environmental Science, or Physics (one unit);
(g) American History (one unit);
(h) World History, World Cultures, Western Civilization, or World Geography (one unit);
(i) Civics and/or Economics (one unit);
(j) Fine Arts Survey (one unit, or alternate);
(k) Foreign Language (two units);
(l) Computer Science (one-half unit);
(m) Electives from the above (one unit).
(5) has a combined score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test of at least eight hundred or a combined score on the American College Test of at least eighteen;
(6) has no criminal record (including abuse of any controlled substances); and
(7) is found to be in financial need as determined in this chapter;
(B) In each year a public institution of higher learning may admit a student who qualifies for payment of his tuition as provided in this section if the student meets at least two of the requirements enumerated in items (3) through (5) of subsection (A) of this section and fails to meet eligibility for the third by an amount equal to ten percent or less, but the total number of the students who do not meet all of the eligibility requirements of items (3) through (5) of subsection (A) of this section may not exceed ten percent of the total number of students admitted the previous year who received tuition as provided in this section.
(C) To maintain continued state payment of tuition once enrolled a student shall:
(1) make steady academic progress toward a degree, earning not less than the minimum number of hours of credit required for full-time standing in each academic period;
(2) maintain full-time enrollment standing for not less than two semesters or three quarters in any academic year;
(3) rank in the upper fifty percent of the total number of his classmates in the public institution of higher learning; and
(4) have no criminal record.
Section 59-141-20. (A) The provisions of this chapter must be administered by the Commission on Higher Education. The commission shall promulgate regulations to implement this chapter.
(B) By regulation, the commission shall provide for:
(1) a mechanism for informing all students of the availability of the assistance provided pursuant to this section early enough in their schooling that a salutary motivational effect is possible; and
(2) application forms, financial audit procedures, eligibility, and other program audit procedures, and other matters related to efficient operation.
Section 59-141-30. An applicant is in financial need if:
(1) the family has one dependent child under the age of twenty-one and the four-year annual adjusted gross income of the family is less than twenty thousand dollars;
(2) the family has two dependent children under the age of twenty-one and the four-year average annual adjusted gross income of the family is less than twenty-five thousand dollars; or
(3) the family has three or more dependent children under the age of twenty-one and the four-year average annual adjusted gross income of the family is less than thirty thousand dollars.
The four-year average annual adjusted gross income of the family must be verified by Internal Revenue Service returns.
Section 59-141-40. The General Assembly shall annually appropriate to the commission funds sufficient to meet initial and continuing tuition payments made pursuant to this chapter. The payments must be made directly to the public institution upon the receipt of written notice from the institution that the student is enrolled. If funding is insufficient, tuition payments must be proportionately reduced or eliminated as the commission considers appropriate.
Section 59-141-50. The commission may seek, accept, and expend funds from any source, including private contributions available for this purpose, to implement this act.
Section 59-141-60. No student may receive a grant pursuant to this chapter in an amount greater than the tuition charged by the school. The student must apply for all federal grants before receiving state funds and the amount of the state grant for tuition must be reduced by scholarships for tuition paid to the student from public or private sources."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect January 1, 1996, and applies with respect to tuition due for the fall, 1996 semester or quarter.