HF 884

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to higher education; modifying requirements 
  1.3             for students to receive state financial aid; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 136A.121, subdivision 
  1.5             5, by adding a subdivision.  
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 136A.121, 
  1.8   subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 5.  [GRANT STIPENDS.] The grant stipend shall be 
  1.10  based on a sharing of responsibility for covering the recognized 
  1.11  cost of attendance by the applicant, the applicant's family, and 
  1.12  the government.  The amount of a financial stipend must not 
  1.13  exceed a grant applicant's recognized cost of attendance, as 
  1.14  defined in subdivision 6, after deducting the following:  
  1.15     (1) the assigned student responsibility of at least 46 
  1.16  percent of the cost of attending the institution of the 
  1.17  applicant's choosing; 
  1.18     (2) the assigned family responsibility as defined in 
  1.19  section 136A.101; and 
  1.20     (3) the amount of a federal Pell grant award for which the 
  1.21  grant applicant is eligible. 
  1.22     A student who is awarded a financial stipend greater than 
  1.23  $2,000 for a semester or the equivalent enrollment period must 
  1.24  comply with the service requirements of subdivision 5a or the 
  1.25  stipend award is set at $2,000.  The minimum financial stipend 
  2.1   is $100 per academic year.  
  2.2      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 136A.121, is 
  2.3   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.4      Subd. 5a.  [SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.] (a) A student who 
  2.5   accepts a grant stipend greater than $2,000 for a semester or 
  2.6   the equivalent enrollment period must volunteer for a minimum of 
  2.7   five hours of service work during each semester or equivalent 
  2.8   period.  A volunteer must provide service to the institution 
  2.9   where the student is enrolled in work that includes, but is not 
  2.10  limited to, cleaning buildings, shelving library books, selling 
  2.11  tickets at campus events, and maintaining campus grounds.  
  2.12  Students who provide voluntary service under this subdivision 
  2.13  are not employees of the institution for the purposes of chapter 
  2.14  176.  A student with a disability is exempt from the requirement 
  2.15  for voluntary service.  At the time of the stipend award, a 
  2.16  student may choose to provide the voluntary service or to accept 
  2.17  an award of $2,000. 
  2.18     (b) Each eligible institution must certify to the office, 
  2.19  in a manner prescribed, that students have met their 
  2.20  requirements under this subdivision.  The office may audit 
  2.21  institutions for compliance under this subdivision.  The office 
  2.22  may determine that an institution that does not comply with the 
  2.23  requirements of this subdivision is not an eligible institution 
  2.24  under section 136A.101, subdivision 4.  Future grant awards for 
  2.25  a student who does not comply with the volunteer service 
  2.26  requirements under this subdivision are limited to a maximum of 
  2.27  $2,000 for a semester or equivalent enrollment term.