A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide tuition grants to State residents who graduate from the north carolina school of Science and mathematics and enroll full‑time at constituent institutions of the university of north carolina.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Chapter 116 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"Article 36.
"Tuition Grant for Graduates of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.
"§ 116‑300.  Tuition grants for graduates who attend a State university.
A tuition grant shall be awarded to each State resident who graduates from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics and who enrolls as a full‑time student in a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina. The amount of the tuition grant to each graduate shall be determined and distributed as provided in G.S. 116‑301.
"§ 116‑301.  Administration of tuition grants.
(a)	The State Education Assistance Authority shall administer the tuition grants provided for in this Article in consultation with the General Administration of The University of North Carolina and pursuant to guidelines and procedures established by the State Education Assistance Authority consistent with its practices for administering State‑funded financial aid. The guidelines and procedures shall include an application process and schedule, notification and disbursement procedures, standards for reporting, and standards for return of tuition grants when a student withdraws. The State Education Assistance Authority shall not approve any grant until it receives proper certification from the appropriate constituent institution that the student applying for the grant is an eligible student. Upon receipt of the certification, the State Education Assistance Authority shall remit at the times it prescribes the tuition grant to the constituent institution on behalf, and to the credit, of the student. In the event a student on whose behalf a tuition grant has been paid is not enrolled and carrying a minimum academic load as of the tenth classroom day following the beginning of the school term for which the tuition grant was paid, the constituent institution shall refund the full amount of the tuition grant to the State Education Assistance Authority.
(b)	The maximum amount of the tuition grant to be awarded to any student for any academic year shall be five thousand dollars ($5,000) per semester, but the maximum amount shall be increased by two percent (2%) for any academic year for which the tuition rate at the constituent institution is increased. In no event, however, shall the amount of the tuition grant, when accounted for in combination with all other grants, educational benefits, and any other financial aid available to the student, cause the total of all such assistance to exceed the total cost of attendance at the in‑State tuition rate at the constituent institution, as determined in accordance with Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.
"§ 116‑302.  North Carolina Tuition Grant Fund.
There is established the North Carolina Tuition Grant Fund to be administered by the State Education Assistance Authority. All funds appropriated to or otherwise received by the State Education Assistance Authority to provide tuition grants under this Article, all returned tuition grant monies, and all interest earned on these funds shall be placed in the Fund. The Fund shall be used only for tuition grants made pursuant to this Article and the administrative costs of the State Education Assistance Authority, provided that no more than five percent (5%) of the funds appropriated each fiscal year for tuition grants is expended for administrative purposes."
SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the North Carolina Tuition Grant Fund established by G.S. 116‑302, as enacted by Section 1 of this act, the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for the 2017‑2018 fiscal year and the sum of two million five hundred thousand dollars ($2,500,000) for the 2018‑2019 fiscal year.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2017; however, no tuition grant shall be awarded to a qualified student for enrollment commencing prior to August 1, 2018.