South Carolina General Assembly
114th Session, 2001-2002

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Bill 3684


Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      3684
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 House
Introduced Date:                  20010308
Primary Sponsor:                  Campsen
All Sponsors:                     Campsen, Altman, Easterday, Scarborough, 
                                  Vaughn
Drafted Document Number:          l:\council\bills\skb\18248sd01.doc
Companion Bill Number:            669
Residing Body:                    House
Current Committee:                Ways and Means Committee 30 HWM
Subject:                          Palmetto Fellows Scholarship Freedom of 
                                  Choice Act, School Districts, Colleges and 
                                  Universities, Tuition


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
------  20010516  Companion Bill No. 669
House   20010501  Co-Sponsor added (Rule 5.2) by Rep.            Vaughn
House   20010308  Introduced, read first time,           30 HWM
                  referred to Committee


              Versions of This Bill

View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO ENACT THE "PALMETTO FELLOWS SCHOLARSHIP FREEDOM OF CHOICE ACT" INCLUDING PROVISIONS TO AMEND SECTION 59-104-20, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE PALMETTO FELLOWS SCHOLARSHIP, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT PALMETTO FELLOWS SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS SHALL NOT BE ALLOCATED TO INDIVIDUAL HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS OR BETWEEN PUBLIC AND INDEPENDENT INSTITUTIONS BUT INSTEAD SHALL BE AWARDED TO STUDENTS BASED ON ACADEMIC CRITERIA ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THESE STUDENTS MAY THEN USE THESE SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS TO ATTEND ANY INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING IN THIS STATE; AND TO AMEND SECTION 59-143-30, RELATING TO ALLOCATIONS FOR CERTAIN HIGHER EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP GRANTS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT ALLOCATIONS FOR PALMETTO FELLOWS SCHOLARSHIPS TO INDEPENDENT INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS SHALL BE COMBINED TOGETHER AND USED IN THE MANNER PROVIDED ABOVE.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    This act is known and may be cited as the "Palmetto Fellows Scholarship Freedom of Choice Act".

SECTION    2.    Section 59-104-20 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 289 of 2000, is further amended to read:

    "Section 59-104-20.    (A)    The Palmetto Fellows Scholarship Program is established to foster scholarship among the state's post-secondary students and retain outstanding South Carolina high school graduates in the State through awards based on scholarship and achievement. Measures must be taken to ensure equitable minority participation in this program. Recipients of these scholarships are designated Palmetto Fellows. Each Palmetto Fellow shall receive a scholarship in an amount designated by the Commission on Higher Education. The commission shall promulgate regulations and establish procedures to administer the program and request annual state appropriations for the program.

    Students, either new or continuing, must not have been adjudicated delinquent or been convicted or pled guilty or nolo contendere to any felonies or any alcohol or drug-related offenses under the laws of this or any other state or under the laws of the United States in order to be eligible for a Palmetto Fellows Scholarship, except that a high school or college student otherwise qualified who has been adjudicated delinquent or has been convicted or pled guilty or nolo contendere to an alcohol or drug-related misdemeanor offense nevertheless shall be eligible or continue to be eligible for such scholarships after the expiration of one academic year from the date of the adjudication, conviction, or plea.

    (B)    Beginning with Palmetto Fellows Scholarship awards for school year 2001-2002, Palmetto Fellows Scholarship Funds shall not be allocated to individual higher education institutions or between public and independent institutions but instead shall be awarded from funds provided for this scholarship by the General Assembly to students based on academic criteria established by the Commission on Higher Education. These students may then use these scholarship funds to attend any institution of higher learning in this State."

SECTION    3.    Section 59-143-30 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 458 of 1996, is amended to read:

    "Section 59-143-30.    (1) Of the funds made available for higher education scholarship grants from the higher education scholarship grant allocation under Section 59-143-10 of the 1976 Code for any year, a percentage thereof must be allocated for higher education scholarships and grants for students attending South Carolina independent colleges of higher learning in this State. This percentage shall be equivalent to the percentage of the independent colleges' share of the total South Carolina resident undergraduate full-time (FTE) enrollment of all public and independent higher education institutions in South Carolina based on the previous year's data as determined by the Commission on Higher Education and the South Carolina Tuition Grants Commission.

    (2) The allocation each year to students at the South Carolina independent colleges under item (1) above shall be used to provide tuition grants under Chapter 113 of Title 59 of the 1976 Code, and Palmetto Fellows Scholarships under Section 59-104-20 of the 1976 Code in the manner the General Assembly shall provide in the annual general appropriations act. Of the funds allocated to independent college students, fifty percent shall be awarded for South Carolina Tuition Grants and fifty percent shall be awarded under the Palmetto Fellows Program. The funds allocated for South Carolina Tuition Grants to South Carolina independent colleges students under this subsection shall be included in the annual appropriation to the Commission on Higher Education and transferred annually into the budget of the South Carolina Tuition Grants Commission in the amount prescribed in item (1) above. The funds allocated for Palmetto Fellows Scholarships to South Carolina independent college students under this subsection shall be included in the annual appropriation to the Commission on Higher Education and may only be awarded to eligible students attending South Carolina independent colleges combined together with the Palmetto Fellows allocation for public institutions and included in the annual appropriation therefor to the Commission on Higher Education.

    (3)    Independent colleges for purposes of this subsection means those institutions eligible to participate in the South Carolina Tuition Grants Program as defined by Section 59-113-50.

    (4)    Public institutions shall receive the remaining allocation each year of the funds made available for higher education scholarship grants under Section 59-143-10. One-half shall be used to provide higher education need-based grants as provided for in this act or otherwise provided for in state law, and one-half shall be combined together with the Palmetto Fellows allocation for independent institutions and used to provide Palmetto Fellows Scholarships under Section 59-104-20 of the 1976 Code in the manner the General Assembly shall provide in the annual general appropriations act.

    (5)    The maximum amount of funding provided for awards to students attending South Carolina independent colleges from the Children's Education Endowment Fund for South Carolina Tuition Grants and Palmetto Fellows Scholarships shall not exceed the percentage funding calculation described under item (1) above.

    (6)    Beginning with Palmetto Fellows Scholarship awards for school year 2001-2002 and thereafter, the allocation for Palmetto Fellows Scholarship grants for public institutions and independent institutions under this section shall not be allocated between public and independent institutions but instead shall be pooled into one sum of money and awarded and used as provided in Section 59-104-20(B)."

SECTION    4.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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