1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to higher education; modifying assigned 
  1.3             family responsibility; prorating grant stipends for 
  1.4             part-time students; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, 
  1.5             sections 136A.101, subdivision 5a; and 136A.121, 
  1.6             subdivisions 5 and 6. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 136A.101, 
  1.9   subdivision 5a, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 5a.  [ASSIGNED FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY.] "Assigned 
  1.11  family responsibility" means the amount of a family contribution 
  1.12  to a student's cost of attendance, as determined by a federal 
  1.13  need analysis, except that, beginning for the 1998-1999 academic 
  1.14  year, up to $25,000 in savings and other assets shall be 
  1.15  subtracted from the federal calculation of net worth before 
  1.16  determining the contribution.  For dependent students, the 
  1.17  assigned family responsibility is the parental contribution.  
  1.18  For independent students with dependents other than a spouse, 
  1.19  the assigned family responsibility is 50 percent of the student 
  1.20  contribution.  For independent students without dependents other 
  1.21  than a spouse, the assigned family responsibility is 80 75 
  1.22  percent of the student contribution. 
  1.23     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 136A.121, 
  1.24  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.25     Subd. 5.  [GRANT STIPENDS.] The grant stipend shall be 
  1.26  based on a sharing of responsibility for covering the recognized 
  2.1   cost of attendance by the applicant, the applicant's family, and 
  2.2   the government.  The amount of a financial stipend must not 
  2.3   exceed a grant applicant's recognized cost of attendance, as 
  2.4   defined in subdivision 6, after deducting the following:  
  2.5      (1) the assigned student responsibility of at least 47 
  2.6   percent of the cost of attending the institution of the 
  2.7   applicant's choosing; 
  2.8      (2) the assigned family responsibility as defined in 
  2.9   section 136A.101; and 
  2.10     (3) the amount of a federal Pell grant award for which the 
  2.11  grant applicant is eligible.  For a student attending less than 
  2.12  full time, the office shall prorate the amount of the grant 
  2.13  stipend to the actual number of credits for which the student is 
  2.14  enrolled. 
  2.15     The minimum financial stipend is $300 per academic year. 
  2.16     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 136A.121, 
  2.17  subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  2.18     Subd. 6.  [COST OF ATTENDANCE.] (a) The recognized cost of 
  2.19  attendance consists of allowances specified in law for room and 
  2.20  board and miscellaneous expenses, and 
  2.21     (1) for public institutions, tuition and fees charged by 
  2.22  the institution; or 
  2.23     (2) for private institutions, an allowance for tuition and 
  2.24  fees equal to the lesser of the actual tuition and fees charged 
  2.25  by the institution, or the private institution tuition maximums 
  2.26  established in law. 
  2.27     (b) For the purpose of paragraph (a), clause (2), the 
  2.28  private institution tuition maximum for two- and four-year, 
  2.29  private, residential, liberal arts, degree-granting colleges and 
  2.30  universities must be the same. 
  2.31     (c) For a student attending less than full time, the office 
  2.32  shall prorate the recognized cost of attendance to the actual 
  2.33  number of credits for which the student is enrolled. 
  2.34     The recognized cost of attendance for a student who is 
  2.35  confined to a Minnesota correctional institution shall consist 
  2.36  of the tuition and fee component in paragraph (a), clause (1) or 
  3.1   (2), with no allowance for living expenses.