PRINTER'S NO. 758
No. 690 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY COWELL, COLAFELLA, MILLER, HERMAN, LESCOVITZ,
E. Z. TAYLOR, TIGUE, KOSINSKI, BATTISTO, FOX, COY, LINTON,
DALEY, STAIRS, EVANS, LANGTRY, ITKIN, NOYE, CAWLEY, JOHNSON,
PRESTON, J. L. WRIGHT, VROON, FEE, PRESSMANN, CAPPABIANCA,
PISTELLA, LETTERMAN, MAINE, ROBINSON, MAIALE, D. W. SNYDER,
MARKOSEK, VAN HORNE, SEMMEL, NAHILL, JOSEPHS, REBER, HALUSKA,
TANGRETTI, TRELLO, CARLSON, HERSHEY, PETRARCA, DeLUCA,
SAURMAN, FLICK, MICHLOVIC, JAROLIN, OLIVER, STEIGHNER,
McHALE, MORRIS, MELIO, CORRIGAN, HARPER, STUBAN, GEIST,
BELARDI, LEVDANSKY, STABACK, CIVERA, THOMAS, COLAIZZO,
GRUPPO, OLASZ, BOWLEY, BELFANTI, BUSH, BUNT, RAYMOND,
McVERRY, LASHINGER, HUGHES, KUKOVICH, MERRY, DOMBROWSKI AND
SALOOM, MARCH 7, 1989
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MARCH 7, 1989
AN ACT
1 Providing State-funded grants for qualified students of
2 Pennsylvania who need financial assistance to attend
3 postsecondary institutions of higher learning on a part-time
4 enrollment basis; providing for the administration of this
5 act; and making an appropriation.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Short title.
9 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Part-Time
10 Student Grant Act.
11 Section 2. Purpose.
12 Part-time enrollments and part-time students' financial needs
13 are steadily increasing each year. Today nearly one of every
14 four undergraduates and one of every two graduate students in
1 Pennsylvania's postsecondary institutions are enrolled on a
2 part-time basis. Enrollments are growing as many Pennsylvanians
3 find it necessary to seek further education and training after
4 experiencing unemployment and job displacement as our economy's
5 basis shifts from heavy industry to services and high
6 technology. Increasing numbers of women are enrolling on a part-
7 time basis as more employment opportunities become available to
8 women and, in many cases, as it becomes necessary for women to
9 work to augment a spouse's income or to support children as
10 single parents. Additionally, attendance on a part-time basis
11 represents one method of coping with the rising college costs
12 and diminishing access to financial aid to meet those costs that
13 all students have experienced during the 1980's. While part-time
14 students represent over 30% of all enrolled students, they have
15 access to less than 8% of all available financial aid, primarily
16 because of the demand for financial aid by full-time students.
17 The General Assembly believes the Commonwealth can no longer
18 overlook the part-time students' needs or the potential benefits
19 that will accrue to Pennsylvania from attendance and completion
20 of educational programs by such students. Therefore, the purpose
21 of this act is to establish a publicly funded program of grant
22 assistance to help students pay for their costs of attending
23 postsecondary educational institutions on a part-time basis.
24 Section 3. Definitions.
25 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
26 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
27 context clearly indicates otherwise:
28 "Agency." The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance
29 Agency (PHEAA).
30 "Approved high school." Any public or private secondary
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1 school, whether designated as a high school, academy,
2 preparatory school, or otherwise, located in this Commonwealth
3 or elsewhere, which, in the judgment of the Department of
4 Education, provides a course of instruction at the secondary
5 level and maintains standards of instruction substantially
6 equivalent to those of the public high schools located in this
7 Commonwealth.
8 "Approved institution of higher learning." An institution
9 approved by the agency for participation under this act.
10 "Approved program." Any program of study approved by the
11 agency for participation under this act.
12 "Board." The board of directors of the agency.
13 "Financial need." The need of the student as calculated by,
14 or at the direction of, the agency according to standards and
15 tests of financial need approved by the agency.
16 "Full time." The equivalent of 12 semester credits a
17 semester at an institution using credits or 24 clock hours of
18 instruction a week at an institution using clock hours.
19 "Full-time student." A student enrolled full time.
20 "Grant." A part-time student grant.
21 "Guardian." Any person or persons other than a parent with
22 whom a minor child has lived and been in the continuous direct
23 care and control of for a period not less than two years for
24 purposes of domicile.
25 "Half time." The equivalent of six semester credits a
26 semester at an institution using credits or 12 clock hours of
27 instruction a week at an institution using clock hours.
28 "Part-time student." An eligible applicant under this act.
29 "Part-time student grant." A grant to an eligible applicant
30 under this act.
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1 Section 4. State Part-Time Student Grant Program.
2 (a) Creation and administration.--The Part-Time Student
3 Grant Program is hereby created and is to be administered by the
4 agency.
5 (b) Powers of agency.--The agency shall prepare and
6 supervise the issuance of public information concerning the
7 provisions of the Part-Time Student Grant Program and prescribe
8 the form and regulate the submission of applications; calculate
9 the financial need and determine the eligibility of applicants;
10 select qualified recipients; award appropriate grants; and
11 determine eligibility for renewal of grants. The agency is
12 authorized to make all necessary and proper regulations,
13 consistent with this act, for the efficient exercise and
14 implementation of the foregoing functions and other activities
15 under this act. The agency is authorized to conduct
16 investigations to determine whether applications or income tax
17 and other data submitted to the agency contain
18 misrepresentations or false statements made for the purpose of
19 cheating or defrauding. The agency is also authorized to conduct
20 necessary research and report to the General Assembly and the
21 Governor on the continuing need for assistance to part-time
22 students and on the effectiveness of this act.
23 Section 5. Eligibility.
24 (a) Qualifications.--Any student is eligible for
25 consideration for a part-time student grant providing:
26 (1) The student meets the domicile requirements as
27 follows:
28 (i) A student who is under 18 years of age at the
29 time the student makes application for an award or to
30 renew an award must have a supporting parent or guardian
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1 who has been a bona fide domiciliary of this Commonwealth
2 for at least 12 months immediately preceding the date of
3 application for a grant or to renew a grant.
4 (ii) A student who is 18 years of age or older must
5 have been a bona fide domiciliary of this Commonwealth
6 for a period of at least 12 months prior to the time this
7 student makes application for a grant or to renew a
8 grant.
9 (iii) Any period of time during which a person is
10 enrolled as a student in an educational institution may
11 not be counted as a part of the 12 months' domicile
12 herein required when the student came into this
13 Commonwealth or remained in the Commonwealth for the
14 purpose of attending a school or college as determined by
15 the agency.
16 (iv) The agency shall make the final decision in all
17 matters pertaining to domicile and guardianship.
18 (v) In view of the fact that Pennsylvania
19 domiciliaries attending approved institutions of higher
20 learning located outside of Pennsylvania may exercise
21 their right of franchise by absentee ballot, a student
22 who registers to vote in a state other than this
23 Commonwealth shall be deemed to have abandoned domicile
24 in Pennsylvania and shall be ineligible for consideration
25 for a State grant or renewal thereof or any further
26 payments thereon. At such time as the student again
27 registers to vote in this Commonwealth, further
28 eligibility insofar as voter registration is concerned
29 shall be restored.
30 (2) The student is a graduate of, or is attending, an
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1 approved high school or is a recipient of a Commonwealth
2 secondary school diploma.
3 (3) The student is enrolled or will be enrolled as a
4 part-time student at an institution of higher learning in an
5 approved program.
6 (4) The student shall satisfactorily meet the
7 qualifications of financial need, academic promise, academic
8 achievement and such other standards as established by the
9 agency.
10 (5) The part-time student grant recipient shall be free
11 to attend any approved institution of higher learning of the
12 student's choice and apply the scholarship toward the
13 tuition, room, board, books and fees of any approved program.
14 The institution is not required to accept the grant recipient
15 for enrollment, but is free to exact compliance with its own
16 admission requirements, standards and policies of admission.
17 (6) The student is enrolled, as set forth in section
18 11(b)(1) or (2).
19 (b) Nondiscrimination.--The grants will be made without
20 regard to the applicant's race, creed, color, sex, age, national
21 origin or ancestry.
22 Section 6. Award value.
23 All part-time student grant awards will be based on the
24 applicant's financial need. The minimum grant award shall be
25 $100 per academic year and the maximum grant shall not exceed
26 the limitations established by the board so as to keep
27 expenditures within the funds available from Federal, State or
28 other sources for such purpose and appropriations shall be
29 reenacted annually as provided for under the act of March 28,
30 1974 (P.L.228, No.50), referred to as the Higher Education
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1 Assistance Continuation Law, relating to the forward funding of
2 PHEAA for grants during any fiscal year.
3 Section 7. Qualifications for renewal of part-time grant.
4 (a) Qualifications.--Qualifications for renewal will include
5 maintaining satisfactory academic standing, making normal
6 progress toward completion of the program of study and continued
7 eligibility as determined by the agency, including continuous
8 Pennsylvania domicile. The part-time student grant may be
9 renewed from academic year to academic year until the student
10 has completed the approved program, but the total of the grants
11 shall not exceed the full-time equivalent number and dollar
12 value of grants to which the student would have been entitled
13 had the program been completed on a full-time basis.
14 (b) Transfers.--In the event that a part-time grant
15 recipient transfers from one institution to another, the grant
16 shall be transferrable only with the approval of the agency and
17 shall be based upon costs of the approved program at the new
18 institution as approved by the agency.
19 (c) Use of unused funds.--The agency shall have the right to
20 use any or all of the unused part-time grant funds for
21 additional grants in any fiscal year and in any grant program
22 administered by the agency.
23 (d) Payments.--Payments of part-time grants will be made by
24 the agency in accordance with the rules and regulations
25 established by the agency. Should the recipient terminate
26 enrollment for any reason during the academic year, the unused
27 portion of the grant shall be returned at the request of the
28 agency by the institution according to the institution's
29 approved policy for issuing refunds.
30 Section 8. Minors may receive grant.
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1 Any person otherwise qualifying for any grant under this act
2 shall not be disqualified by reason of the person being under 18
3 years of age. For the purpose of applying for, receiving or
4 making restitution of part-time grants, any person under 18
5 years of age shall be deemed to have full legal capacity to act
6 and shall have all the rights, powers, privileges and
7 obligations of a person of full age with respect to such
8 actions.
9 Section 9. Powers and duties of agency.
10 In addition to the other powers and duties, the agency is
11 authorized and empowered to exercise and perform any and all of
12 the powers and duties granted to the agency under the laws of
13 this Commonwealth to implement and carry out the provisions of
14 this act.
15 Section 10. Civil penalty.
16 A person who, by false pretense, knowingly and with intent to
17 defraud, procures, obtains, attempts to obtain or aids or abets
18 in obtaining or attempting to obtain, from or through the agency
19 under this act, money or grants shall be liable to the agency
20 for an amount equal to three times the amount obtained.
21 Section 11. Appropriations.
22 (a) Specific appropriation.--The sum of $20,000,000 is
23 hereby specifically appropriated to the Pennsylvania Higher
24 Education Assistance Agency and transferred at the request of
25 the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency to the
26 Higher Education Assistance Fund for funding and administration
27 of part-time student grants.
28 (b) Allocation of appropriation.--The appropriation in
29 subsection (a) shall be allocated as follows:
30 (1) The sum of $13,000,000 is to be utilized for
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1 eligible students enrolled less than full time but at least
2 half time in an undergraduate program of study approved under
3 the regulations promulgated under the act of January 25, 1966
4 (1965 P.L.1546, No.541), entitled "An act providing
5 scholarships and providing funds to secure Federal funds for
6 qualified students of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who
7 need financial assistance to attend postsecondary
8 institutions of higher learning, making an appropriation, and
9 providing for the administration of this act."
10 (2) The sum of $7,000,000 is to be utilized for eligible
11 students enrolled at least half time in an undergraduate,
12 nondegree program of study that is the equivalent of at least
13 900 but less than 1,800 clock hours of instruction at an
14 institution using clock hours or the equivalent of at least
15 30 but less than 60 semester credits at institutions using
16 credits.
17 (c) Construction.--This appropriation shall be in addition
18 to and separate from any amount appropriated for State grants,
19 made under the provisions of the act of January 25, 1966 (1965
20 P.L.1546, No.541), for the 1989-1990 academic year.
21 (d) Separate account.--Appropriations for the purpose of
22 part-time grants shall be placed in a separate account of the
23 Higher Education Assistance Fund.
24 (e) Awards to full-time students.--If, in any year, the
25 appropriation to fund State grants to full-time students, as
26 provided for under the act of January 25, 1966 (1965 P.L.1546,
27 No.541), does not equal or exceed the level of funds
28 appropriated for State grants for full-time students for the
29 previous fiscal year and there are funds appropriated
30 specifically for State grants for part-time students, the
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1 agency's board of directors shall determine if sufficient funds
2 are available from part-time grants funding to permit awards to
3 be made to full-time students under the act of January 25, 1966
4 (1965 P.L.1546, No.541), and the board shall have the power to
5 utilize such funds to make and administer grants to students
6 enrolled on either a full-time or part-time basis.
7 Section 12. Severability.
8 The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of
9 this act or its application to any person or circumstance is
10 held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions
11 or applications of this act which can be given effect without
12 the invalid provision or application.
13 Section 13. Effective date.
14 This act shall take effect July 1, 1989.
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