Allocation for students attending independent colleges

(1) Of the funds made available for higher education scholarship grants from the higher education scholarship grant allocation under Section 59-143-10 for any year, one-half shall be allocated for Need-based Grants and one-half shall be allocated for Palmetto Fellows Scholarships. (2) Of the total funds made available for higher education scholarship grants from the higher education scholarship grant allocation under Section 59-143-10 for any year, a percentage thereof must be allocated for students attending independent institutions of higher learning in this State. This percentage shall be equivalent to the percentage of the independent colleges' share of the total South Carolina resident undergraduate full-time (FTE) enrollment of all public and independent institutions of higher learning in this State based on the previous year's data as determined by the Commission on Higher Education and the South Carolina Tuition Grants Commission. This percentage shall be drawn from the funds allocated under item (1) for Need-based Grants. (3) The allocation each year to students at the South Carolina independent colleges under item (2) shall be used to provide tuition grants under Chapter 113. The funds allocated for South Carolina Tuition Grants to South Carolina independent colleges students under this subsection shall be included in the annual appropriation to the Commission on Higher Education and transferred annually into the budget of the South Carolina Tuition Grants Commission in the amount prescribed in item (2). (4) Independent colleges for purposes of this subsection means those institutions eligible to participate in the South Carolina Tuition Grants Program as defined by Section 59-113-50. (5) Public institutions shall receive the remaining allocation each year of the funds made available for higher education scholarship grants under Section 59-143-10. (6) The maximum amount of funding provided for awards to students attending South Carolina independent colleges from the Children's Education Endowment Fund for South Carolina Tuition Grants shall not exceed the percentage funding calculation described under item (2).