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 constituent institutions of the university of north carolina on a recurring basis.
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 who attend a State university.
Within the funds available, 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. 116‑211.
"§ 116‑211.  Administration of tuition grants.
(a)	The Authority shall administer the tuition grants provided for in this Part in consultation with The University of North Carolina System Office and 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 constituent institution 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 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 Authority.
(b)	Except as otherwise provided in this section, the amount of the grant awarded to each student shall cover the tuition cost at the constituent institution in which the student is enrolled. No tuition grant awarded to a student under this section shall exceed the cost of attendance at the constituent institution at which the student is enrolled. 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 constituent institution 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. The Authority shall reduce the amount of the tuition grant so that the sum of all grants and scholarship aid covering the cost of attendance received by the student, including the tuition grant under this section, shall not exceed the cost of attendance for the constituent institution at which the student is enrolled. The cost of attendance, as used in this subsection, shall be determined by the Authority for each constituent institution.
(c)	The Authority shall provide first priority in the award of tuition grants to students who received a tuition grant in the academic year prior to the academic year for which they are applying. With remaining available funds, the Authority shall award tuition grants to students in the order of which the applications are received.
"§ 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 are awarded a tuition grant for the 2019‑2020 academic year in accordance with Section 10A.5 of S.L. 2018‑5 shall receive first priority in the award of tuition grants for the 2020‑2021 academic year under G.S. 116‑211, as enacted by this act.
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 five hundred thousand dollars ($2,500,000) in recurring funds for the 2019‑2020 fiscal year and (ii) two million five hundred thousand dollars ($2,500,000) in additional recurring funds for the 2020‑2021 fiscal year for the purpose of awarding tuition grants in accordance with this act.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2019, and applies beginning with the award of tuition grants for the 2020‑2021 academic year.