A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide that tuition grants be provided to State residents who graduate from the north carolina school of Science and mathematics and enroll full‑time at an eligible institution of higher education for up to four academic years.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 23 of Chapter 116 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Part to read:
"Part 5.
"Tuition Grant for Graduates of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.
"§ 116‑210.  Tuition grants for graduates to attend an eligible institution of higher education.
(a)	Within the funds available, a State resident who graduates from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) in each school year, beginning with the 2019‑2020 school year, and who enrolls as a full‑time student in an eligible institution of higher education in the next academic year after graduation shall be eligible for a tuition grant awarded under this Part. Students who receive initial tuition grants as a cohort of a graduating class of NCSSM shall also be eligible to apply for tuition grants for subsequent academic years for up to a total of four academic years. A student shall be continuously enrolled in an eligible institution of higher education after the award of the initial tuition grant to be eligible for tuition grants in subsequent academic years. The Authority shall have the discretion to waive this requirement if the student is able to demonstrate that any of the following have substantially disrupted or interrupted the student's pursuit of a degree: (i) a military service obligation, (ii) serious medical debilitation, (iii) a short‑term or long‑term disability, or (iv) other extraordinary hardship.
(b)	For the purposes of this Part, "an eligible institution of higher education" shall mean a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina or a private institution of higher education located in North Carolina as described in G.S. 116‑280(3). The amount of the tuition grant to each graduate shall be determined and distributed as provided in G.S. 116‑211.
"§ 116‑211.  Administration of tuition grants.
(a)	The Authority shall administer the tuition grants provided for in this Part pursuant to guidelines and procedures established by the 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 Authority shall not approve any grant until it receives proper certification from the appropriate eligible institution of higher education that the student applying for the grant is an eligible student. Upon receipt of the certification, the Authority shall remit, at the times it prescribes, the tuition grant to the eligible institution of higher education 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 eligible institution of higher education shall refund the full amount of the tuition grant to the Authority.
(b)	Except as otherwise provided in this section, the amount of the grant awarded to a student shall cover (i) to attend a constituent institution, the tuition cost at the constituent institution in which the student is enrolled or (ii) to attend a private institution of higher education located in North Carolina, the tuition cost, in whole or in part, at the private institution in an amount up to the highest amount of undergraduate resident tuition charged at a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina for that academic year.
No tuition grant awarded to a student under this section shall exceed the cost of attendance at a constituent institution for which the student is enrolled, or if enrolled in a North Carolina private institution of higher education, exceed the highest amount of undergraduate resident tuition charged at a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina for that academic year.
(c)	If a student, who is eligible for a tuition grant under this section, also receives a scholarship or other grant covering the cost of attendance at the eligible institution of higher education for which the tuition grant is awarded, then the amount of the tuition grant shall be reduced by an appropriate amount determined by the Authority so that the total amount of scholarships and grants received by the student does not exceed the cost of attendance for the institution. The cost of attendance shall be determined by the Authority for each eligible institution of higher education.
(d)	In the event there are not sufficient funds to provide each eligible student with a full grant as provided by this Part, each eligible student shall receive a pro rata share of funds available for the academic year covered by the appropriation in the preceding fiscal year.
"§ 116‑212.  North Carolina Tuition Grant Fund Reserve.
The North Carolina Tuition Grant Fund Reserve shall be established as a reserve to be administered by the Authority. All funds appropriated to or otherwise received by the Authority to provide tuition grants under this Part, all returned tuition grant monies, and all interest earned on these funds shall be placed in the Fund. The Fund shall be used for (i) tuition grants for the academic year that begins in the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the appropriation is made to the Reserve and (ii) the administrative costs of the 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.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, students who are State residents who graduated from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics at the end of the 2018‑2019 school year and were awarded a tuition grant for the 2019‑2020 academic year in accordance with Section 10A.5 of S.L. 2018‑5 shall be included in the award of tuition grants under G.S. 116‑211, as enacted by this act, beginning with the 2020‑2021 academic year.
SECTION 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the North Carolina Tuition Grant Fund Reserve established pursuant to G.S. 116‑212, as enacted by this act, the sum of (i) two million nine hundred fifty thousand dollars ($2,950,000) in recurring funds for the 2019‑2020 fiscal year to support the award of tuition grants to students who qualify pursuant to Section 2 of this act and a new cohort of eligible students who graduate from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) at the end of the 2019‑2020 school year and (ii) one million eight hundred fifty thousand dollars ($1,850,000) in additional recurring funds for the 2020‑2021 fiscal year to support the award of tuition grants to a new cohort of eligible students who graduate from NCSSM at the end of the 2020‑2021 school year, with a total net appropriation of four million eight hundred thousand dollars ($4,800,000) in recurring funds for the 2020‑2021 fiscal year for the purpose of awarding tuition grants in accordance with this act. These funds shall be made available to eligible students as follows:
(1)	Beginning with the 2019‑2020 fiscal year, the Authority shall use up to seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) to award tuition grants to each cohort of eligible students who attend a private institution of higher education located in North Carolina, as described in G.S. 116‑280(3), for the next academic year following the year in which the funds were appropriated.
(2)	Beginning with the 2019‑2020 fiscal year, the Authority shall use up to one million one hundred thousand dollars ($1,100,000) to award tuition grants to each cohort of eligible students who attend constituent institutions of the University of North Carolina for the next academic year following the year in which the funds were appropriated.
It is the intent of the General Assembly to appropriate from the General Fund to the North Carolina Tuition Grant Fund Reserve the sum of (i) one million eight hundred fifty thousand dollars ($1,850,000) in additional recurring funds for the 2022‑2023 fiscal year, with a total net appropriation of six million six hundred fifty thousand dollars ($6,650,000) in recurring funds for the 2022‑2023 fiscal year and (ii) seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) in additional recurring funds for the 2023‑2024 fiscal year, with a total net appropriation of seven million four hundred thousand dollars ($7,400,000) in recurring funds for the 2023‑2024 fiscal year to fund up to four years of tuition grants for each graduating class of eligible students from NCSSM on an ongoing basis in accordance with this act.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2019.