SF 116

as introduced - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to higher education; establishing the academic competitiveness
highlighting individual excellence and valuing education grant program;
appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 136A.01,
subdivision 2; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter
136A.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 136A.01, subdivision 2, is amended to
read:

Subd. 2.

Responsibilities.

The Minnesota Office of Higher Education is responsible
for:

(1) necessary state level administration of financial aid programs, including
accounting, auditing, and disbursing state and federal financial aid funds, and reporting on
financial aid programs to the governor and the legislature;

(2) approval, registration, licensing, and financial aid eligibility of private collegiate
and career schools, under sections 136A.61 to 136A.71 and chapter 141;

(3) administering the Learning Network of Minnesota;

(4) negotiating and administering reciprocity agreements;

(5) publishing and distributing financial aid information and materials, and other
information and materials under section 136A.87, to students and parents;

(6) collecting and maintaining student enrollment and financial aid data and
reporting data on students and postsecondary institutions to develop and implement a
process to measure and report on the effectiveness of postsecondary institutions;

(7) administering the federal programs that affect students and institutions on a
statewide basis; deleted text begin and
deleted text end

(8) prescribing policies, procedures, and rules under chapter 14 necessary to
administer the programs under its supervision new text begin ; and
new text end

new text begin (9) administering the academic competitiveness highlighting individual excellence
and valuing education grant program, under section 136A.126 new text end .

Sec. 2.

new text begin [136A.126] ACADEMIC COMPETITIVENESS HIGHLIGHTING
INDIVIDUAL EXCELLENCE AND VALUING EDUCATION GRANT.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Creation. new text end

new text begin The academic competitiveness highlighting individual
excellence and valuing education grant program, also known as the ACHIEVE program,
the ACHIEVE grant, or ACHIEVE, is created to provide free tuition at any public
postsecondary institution in the state and to cover tuition at private, nonprofit institutions.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Definition. new text end

new text begin For purposes of this section, "eligible institution" means a
public postsecondary institution in the state or a private, nonprofit institution in the state
regulated by the state under this chapter.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Eligibility. new text end

new text begin To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, in addition
to the requirements listed under section 136A.121, a student must:
new text end

new text begin (1) not have a family adjusted gross income more than $150,000 for the year prior to
September 1 of the school year for which the grant is made;
new text end

new text begin (2) either rank in the top 25 percent of the student's class as certified by the
Minnesota Department of Education or receive a score of 26 or higher on the ACT test;
new text end

new text begin (3) for students that have received this grant in one or more previous years, maintain
a cumulative B average or a grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale;
new text end

new text begin (4) attend an eligible institution;
new text end

new text begin (5) for students returning for their third or fourth year, be pursuing a baccalaureate
degree and formally declare a major in the appropriate department in one of the following
areas:
new text end

new text begin (i) agriculture and related sciences;
new text end

new text begin (ii) computer and information sciences;
new text end

new text begin (iii) engineering;
new text end

new text begin (iv) engineering technologies;
new text end

new text begin (v) biological and biomedical sciences;
new text end

new text begin (vi) mathematics and statistics;
new text end

new text begin (vii) physical sciences; or
new text end

new text begin (viii) science technologies and technicians.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Grant amount. new text end

new text begin The grant amount shall be equal to the tuition and fees
charged by the eligible institution, not to exceed the tuition and fee maximum established
by law, less the federal Pell Grant award and the state grant award for which the student
is eligible.
new text end

Sec. 3. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the Minnesota Office of Higher
Education for the biennium ending June 30, 2009, for the ACHIEVE grant program to be
used for postsecondary student grants and program administration.
new text end

Sec. 4. new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE.
new text end

new text begin Section 2 is effective for students first enrolling in the fall term for the 2007-2008
school year. Sections 1 and 3 are effective the day following final enactment.
new text end