1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to education; excluding certain assets from 
  1.3             consideration in financial aid; proposing a new 
  1.4             formula for determining state grants; amending 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 136A.101, by adding 
  1.6             a subdivision; and 136A.121, subdivisions 5, 6, 7, 9a, 
  1.7             and by adding a subdivision. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 136A.101, is 
  1.10  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 5a.  [ASSIGNED FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY.] "Assigned 
  1.12  family responsibility" means the amount of a family contribution 
  1.13  to a student's cost of attendance, as determined by a federal 
  1.14  need analysis, except that up to $25,000 in savings and other 
  1.15  assets shall be subtracted from the federal calculation of net 
  1.16  worth before determining the contribution.  For dependent 
  1.17  students, the assigned family responsibility is the parental 
  1.18  contribution minus any savings adjustment; for independent 
  1.19  students, the assigned family responsibility is the student 
  1.20  contribution minus any savings adjustment. 
  1.21     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 136A.121, 
  1.22  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.23     Subd. 5.  [GRANT STIPENDS.] The grant stipend shall be 
  1.24  based on a sharing of responsibility for covering the recognized 
  1.25  cost of attendance by the applicant, the applicant's family, and 
  1.26  the government.  The amount of a financial stipend must not 
  2.1   exceed a grant applicant's recognized cost of attendance, as 
  2.2   defined in subdivision 6, after deducting ~~the following:~~  
  2.3      ~~(1) the assigned student responsibility of at least 50~~ 
  2.4   ~~percent of the cost of attending the institution of the~~ 
  2.5   ~~applicant's choosing;~~ 
  2.6      ~~(2)~~ the assigned family responsibility~~, as determined by~~ 
  2.7   ~~the federal need analysis, which for (i) dependent students, is~~ 
  2.8   ~~the parental contribution as calculated by the federal need~~ 
  2.9   ~~analysis, and for (ii) independent students, is the student~~ 
  2.10  ~~contribution as determined by the federal need analysis; and~~ 
  2.11     ~~(3) the amount of a federal Pell grant award for which the~~ 
  2.12  ~~grant applicant is eligible~~ as defined in section 136A.101, 
  2.13  subdivision 5a.  
  2.14     The minimum financial stipend is $300 per academic year. 
  2.15     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 136A.121, is 
  2.16  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.17     Subd. 5a.  [SHARED RESPONSIBILITY.] The policy of shared 
  2.18  responsibility distinguishes among the family responsibility, 
  2.19  the student responsibility, and the state responsibility in 
  2.20  paying for the costs of higher education.  The family 
  2.21  responsibility, as defined in section 136A.101, subdivision 5a, 
  2.22  is to pay all or part of the direct education costs of tuition, 
  2.23  fees, books, technology, and supplies.  The state's 
  2.24  responsibility is to provide state grants for the difference 
  2.25  between direct costs of attendance and the family's assigned 
  2.26  responsibility.  The student's responsibility is to pay for the 
  2.27  indirect costs of education including room, board, 
  2.28  transportation, and other miscellaneous expenses.  Students may 
  2.29  apply Pell grants, earnings, savings, and any financial aid 
  2.30  other than state grants to cover the student share. 
  2.31     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 136A.121, 
  2.32  subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  2.33     Subd. 6.  [COST OF ATTENDANCE.] (a) The recognized cost of 
  2.34  attendance consists of ~~allowances specified in law for room and~~ 
  2.35  ~~board and miscellaneous expenses~~ a $660 annual allowance for 
  2.36  books, technology, and other course supplies for the 1999-2000 
  3.1   academic year which the office shall inflate annually using the 
  3.2   higher education price index, and 
  3.3      (1) for public institutions, tuition and fees charged by 
  3.4   the institution; or 
  3.5      (2) for private baccalaureate institutions, an allowance 
  3.6   for tuition and fees equal to the lesser of the actual tuition 
  3.7   and fees charged by the institution, or the ~~private institution~~ 
  3.8   ~~tuition maximums established in law.~~ highest undergraduate 
  3.9   tuition and fees at a campus of the University of Minnesota; or 
  3.10     (3) for private subbaccalaureate institutions, an allowance 
  3.11  for tuition and fees equal to the lesser of the actual tuition 
  3.12  and fees charged by the institution, or the highest tuition and 
  3.13  fees at a technical or community college campus of the Minnesota 
  3.14  state colleges and universities. 
  3.15     (b) For the purpose of paragraph (a), clause (2), the 
  3.16  private institution tuition ~~maximum~~ allowance for two- and 
  3.17  four-year, private, residential, liberal arts, degree-granting 
  3.18  colleges and universities must be the same. 
  3.19     (c) For a student attending less than full time, the office 
  3.20  shall prorate the recognized cost of attendance to the actual 
  3.21  number of credits for which the student is enrolled. 
  3.22     ~~The recognized cost of attendance for a student who is~~ 
  3.23  ~~confined to a Minnesota correctional institution shall consist~~ 
  3.24  ~~of the tuition and fee component in paragraph (a), clause (1) or~~ 
  3.25  ~~(2), with no allowance for living expenses.~~ 
  3.26     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 136A.121, 
  3.27  subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
  3.28     Subd. 7.  [INSUFFICIENT APPROPRIATION.] If the amount 
  3.29  appropriated is determined by the office to be insufficient to 
  3.30  make full awards to applicants under subdivision 5, before any 
  3.31  award for that year has been disbursed, awards must be reduced 
  3.32  by ~~(1)~~ adding a surcharge to the ~~contribution of the applicant's~~ 
  3.33  ~~parents, and~~ assigned family responsibility. 
  3.34     ~~(2) a percentage increase in the applicant's contribution.~~  
  3.35     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 136A.121, 
  3.36  subdivision 9a, is amended to read: 
  4.1      Subd. 9a.  [FULL-YEAR GRANTS.] Students may receive state 
  4.2   grants for four consecutive quarters or three consecutive 
  4.3   semesters during the course of a single fiscal year.  In 
  4.4   calculating a state grant for the fourth quarter or third 
  4.5   semester, the office must use the same calculation as it would 
  4.6   for any other term~~, except that the calculation must subtract~~ 
  4.7   ~~any Pell grant for which a student would be eligible even if the~~ 
  4.8   ~~student has exhausted the Pell grant for that fiscal year~~. 
  4.9      Sec. 7.  [CONTINUING AID.] 
  4.10     Students who (1) receive state grants in the 1997-1998 
  4.11  academic year and (2) would not receive a grant or would receive 
  4.12  a reduced grant in the 1999-2000 academic solely because of the 
  4.13  actions in sections 2 to 6, shall be awarded a grant under the 
  4.14  provisions in effect in 1997-1998 as long as they continue to 
  4.15  meet all other state grant eligibility requirements. 
  4.16     Sec. 8.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.17     Section 1 is effective July 1, 1997.  Sections 2 to 7 are 
  4.18  effective July 1, 1999, for awards for the 1999-2000 academic 
  4.19  year.