Current Status Bill Number:3787 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19970401 Primary Sponsor:Haskins All Sponsors:Haskins, Quinn, Seithel, Tripp, Allison, Barrett, Bauer, Beck, Campsen, Carnell, Cooper, Cotty, Cromer, Davenport, Easterday, Fleming, Gamble, Hamilton, Harrison, Jordan, Kirsh, Klauber, Knotts, Leach, Limbaugh, Limehouse, Littlejohn, Loftis, Mason, McCraw, McMahand, McMaster, Miller, Phillips, Rice, Robinson, Sandifer, D. Smith, F. Smith, R. Smith, Stille, Townsend, Vaughn, Walker, Whatley, Wilder, Wilkes, Woodrum, Young and Young-Brickell Drafted Document Number:gjk\20082sd.97 Residing Body:House Current Committee:Ways and Means Committee 30 HWM Subject:Scholastic Excellence through Educational Development Fund established, Colleges and Universities, tuition
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
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House 19970401 Introduced, read first time, 30 HWM
referred to Committee
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TO AMEND TITLE 59, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO EDUCATION, BY ADDING CHAPTER 146 SO AS TO ESTABLISH THE SCHOLASTIC EXCELLENCE THROUGH EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH AND CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA SHALL PROVIDE MERIT-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS TO COVER ALL TUITION AND FEES TO ELIGIBLE RESIDENT STUDENTS ATTENDING A STATE-SUPPORTED COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY, OR TECHNICAL COLLEGE OF THIS STATE, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THE SOUTH CAROLINA PUBLIC SERVICE AUTHORITY SHALL ANNUALLY PAY INTO THE SCHOLASTIC EXCELLENCE THROUGH EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND FROM ITS OPERATING BUDGET AN AMOUNT DETERMINED BY THE BUDGET AND CONTROL BOARD WHICH SHALL BE EQUAL TO THE LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL TAXES IT WOULD HAVE PAID IF IT WAS A PRIVATELY-OWNED FOR-PROFIT UTILITY CORPORATION.
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 59-146-10. There is hereby established the Scholastic Excellence through Educational Development Fund from which the State shall provide merit-based scholarships to cover tuition and fees to eligible resident students attending state-supported colleges and universities under the procedures and subject to the requirements of this chapter.
Section 59-146-20. (A) To be eligible for a South Carolina merit-based scholarship, a student must be considered a resident of this State as provided in this chapter.
(B) A student attending a state-supported institution and who is seeking a merit-based scholarship as a freshman meets the residency requirements of this chapter if he met the requirements to be classified as a resident of South Carolina for in-state tuition purposes under Chapter 112 of this title at the time of his high school graduation and at the time of enrollment at a state institution.
(C) A student attending a state-supported institution who is seeking a merit-based scholarship as a sophomore meets the residency requirements of this chapter if the student is determined to have met the residency requirements of this chapter while the student was receiving a merit-based scholarship as a freshman.
(D) A student attending a state-supported institution who is seeking a merit-based scholarship as a junior or senior meets the residency requirements of this chapter if the student met the requirements to be classified as a resident of South Carolina for in-state tuition purposes at the time the student first enrolled at a state-supported institution or graduated from high school in this State.
(E) Once a student attending a state-supported institution has been correctly determined to meet the residency requirements of this chapter and begins receiving a merit-based scholarship, the student shall continue to meet the residency requirements even if his parents or legal guardians move from this State or stop being legal residents of South Carolina. If the institution requires the student to begin paying out-of-state tuition, the merit-based scholarship shall cover only the in-state tuition and fees.
Section 59-146-30. Full-time enrollment is a requirement for eligibility for eligibility. The student must be admitted, enrolled, and classified as a degree-seeking undergraduate student.
Section 59-146-40. (A) Students must apply for federal financial aid in order to be eligible for a merit-based scholarship.
(B) The merit-based scholarship covers tuition and fees not covered by Pell Grants or other federal assistance. Merit-based scholarship funds awarded for tuition and fees may be applied only to tuition and fees, not other expenses such as room and board.
Section 59-146-50. (A) To be eligible for a merit-based scholarship for the freshman year, a student must be a member of a class graduating from high school after the effective date of this chapter which school is located in this State or from another high school sufficient to establish residency as required by this chapter, and have graduated from high school with a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative grade average on a 4.0 scale, an eighty numeric average in a college preparatory curriculum and met the curriculum's requirements, or a 3.2 average or an eighty-five numeric average in other curriculum tracks.
(B) To be eligible for a merit-based scholarship as a sophomore, the student must have graduated from high school and meet the requirements of subsection (A). In addition, if the student has attempted twenty-four and not more than sixty hours, he must have a cumulative grade average of at least 3.0 at the end of the school term in which the twenty-four hours was attempted.
(C) To be eligible for a merit-based scholarship as a junior, the student must have attempted at least sixty credit hours but not more than eighty-four credit hours. The student also shall have a cumulative grade average of at least 3.0 at the end of the term he attempted at least sixty hours.
(D) A student must have been a merit-based scholarship recipient or meet all the eligibility requirements for his junior year to be eligible for his senior year. In addition, the student must have a cumulative grade average of at least 3.0 at the end of the term he attempted at least eighty-four hours.
(E) Students who were merit-scholarship recipients seeking a degree at a state-supported institution during their freshman year that failed to earn a 3.0 at the end of the term they attempted at least twenty-four hours may regain eligibility if their cumulative grade average is a 3.0 at the end of the term they have attempted at least sixty hours.
Section 59-146-60. The student must maintain satisfactory academic progress defined as a 3.0 cumulative grade average and may complete a minimum of twenty-four semester hours an academic year. The student may receive the merit-based scholarship for not more than ten semesters for a five-year degree program, eight semesters for a four-year degree program, or four semesters for a two-year degree program, and is further subject to the one hundred twenty-four hour limitation contained in Section 59-146-90.
Section 59-146-70. The student must not be in default on a Federal Title IV or State of South Carolina educational loan, nor owe a refund on a Federal Title IV or State of South Carolina student financial aid program. If the student has repaid the defaulted loan or refund in full, he is eligible to obtain a merit-based scholarship in the future.
Section 59-146-80. Students transferring from one eligible state-supported institution to another are eligible for a merit-based scholarship, if they continue to meet all eligibility requirements.
Section 59-146-90. (A) Students must be of good moral character and must not have been convicted or pled guilty or nolo contendere to any felonies under the laws of this or any other state or
under the laws of the United States.
(B) Students who meet all other requirements for senior eligibility, except that they are classified as professional level rather than undergraduate students are eligible if they have been accepted into the professional level program of study prior to receiving a bachelor's degree. Such students are subject to the one hundred twenty-four hour limitation as contained in subsection (C).
(C) In addition to the provisions of Section 59-146-60, a student may receive a merit-based scholarship for a total of one hundred twenty-four semester credit hours attempted. The one hundred twenty-four hours include remedial and all regular college credit courses attempted after high school graduation. If a student enters the term with less than one hundred twenty-four hours attempted and enrolls for more than one hundred twenty-four hours, he is eligible for payment for the full number of hours enrolled for that term. The one hundred twenty-four hour limitation does not apply to students enrolled in specific undergraduate degree programs which are designed to be more than one hundred twenty-four hours in length. Regardless of the number of hours attempted, once the student has earned a bachelor's degree, he is ineligible for a merit-based scholarship to seek another degree.
Section 59-146-100. Students enrolled in an eligible South Carolina institution qualify for a merit-based scholarship, even though they may not be physically present in South Carolina during all or part of the school term for which the merit-based scholarship applies. The student's institution must approve for credit a study-abroad or out-of-state program. This merit-based scholarship program only covers the normal tuition and fees of eligible South Carolina institutions.
Section 59-146-110. (A) Any credit hours attempted or earned before high school graduation, hours exempted by examination, or advanced placement credit hours do not count against the credit hour limits.
(B) A student who is required to participate in remedial course work and who is seeking a degree is eligible to receive a merit-based scholarship for such course work. The credit hours from these courses count towards the one hundred twenty-four hour limit.
(C) No merit-based scholarship funds may be applied to the costs of continuing education courses.
Section 59-146-120. Merit-based scholarships also may be awarded to eligible students attending a technical college of this State as the Commission on Higher Education by regulation shall provide in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.
Section 59-146-130. The Commission on Higher Education is responsible for administering the merit-based scholarship program established by this chapter. For this purpose, it is authorized to promulgate those regulations as are necessary to implement the provisions of this chapter.
Section 59-146-140. The South Carolina Public Service Authority annually shall pay into the Scholastic Excellence through Educational Development Fund from its operating budget an amount determined by the Budget and Control Board which shall be equal to the local, state, and federal taxes it would have paid for that year if it had been a for-profit privately-owned utility corporation. These taxes include, but are not limited to, property, sales, generation, and income taxes. This annual payment must be made no later than July first of an applicable year and the Budget and Control Board shall make its required determination by June first of the applicable year.
The Scholastic Excellence through Educational Development Fund is a fund separate and distinct from the state general fund and shall be managed and funds disbursed therefrom in the same manner funds are managed and disbursed from the Children's Education Endowment fund pursuant to Section 59-143-10."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect January 1, 1998.