A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to establish the Tuition Grant for Graduates of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Program.
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 6. Tuition Grant for Graduates of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.
"§ 116‑209.90.  Tuition grants for graduates to attend a constituent institution.
(a)	Program Established. – There is established the Tuition Grant for Graduates of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Program (Program). Within the funds made available for the Program, a State resident who graduates from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) in each school year, beginning with the 2020‑2021 school year, and who enrolls as a full‑time student in a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina in the next academic year after graduation shall be eligible for a tuition grant awarded for that student's first academic year in accordance with this Part.
(b)	Administration of Grants. – 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 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.
(c)	Award of Grants. – Except as provided in subsections (d) and (e) of this section, the amount of the grant awarded to a student shall be the full tuition cost at the constituent institution in which the student is enrolled for the student's first academic year. No tuition grant awarded to a student under this section shall exceed the cost of attendance at the constituent institution for which the student is enrolled.
(d)	Reduction of an Award Due to Other Aid. – 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 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 constituent institution.
(e)	Pro Rata Amount. – In the event there are not sufficient funds available for the Program to provide each eligible student with a full tuition grant as provided for by this Part, each eligible student shall receive a pro rata share of funds available for that academic year.
"§ 116‑209.91.  North Carolina Tuition Grant Fund Reserve.
The North Carolina Tuition Grant Fund Reserve is 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 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the North Carolina Tuition Grant Fund Reserve established pursuant to G.S. 116‑209.91, as enacted by this act, the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2020‑2021 fiscal year for the purpose of awarding tuition grants in accordance with this act.
SECTION 4.  If House Bill 966, 2019 Regular Session, becomes law, then Section 8A.2 of that act and the provision of the Committee Report described in Section 42.2 of that act appropriating funds to implement Section 8A.2 of that act are repealed.
SECTION 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2020, and applies beginning with the award of tuition grants for the 2021‑2022 academic year.