Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB2846
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Full Text of SB2846  100th General Assembly

SB2846eng 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
SB2846 EngrossedLRB100 18458 KTG 33673 b

1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
5amended by adding Section 65.105 as follows:
 
6    (110 ILCS 947/65.105 new)
7    Sec. 65.105. Grant for high risk students formerly in the
8care of the Department of Children and Family Services.
9    (a) Subject to the appropriation of funds for this purpose,
10the Commission shall each year receive and consider
11applications for grant assistance under this Section. An
12applicant is eligible for a grant under this Section if the
13Commission finds that the applicant:
14        (1) is a youth for whom the Department of Children and
15    Family Services has court-ordered legal responsibility, a
16    youth who aged out of care at age 18 or older, or a youth
17    formerly under care who has been adopted and was the
18    subject of an adoption assistance agreement or who has been
19    placed in private guardianship and was the subject of a
20    subsidized guardianship agreement;
21        (2) will have earned a high school diploma from an
22    accredited institution or a high school equivalency
23    certificate or will have met the State criteria for high

 

 

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1    school graduation, before the start of the academic year
2    for which the student is applying for the grant;
3        (3) if enrolling as a first-time freshman, has not yet
4    reached the age of 26; and
5        (4) will be, at the time of the payment of the grant,
6    enrolled in an Illinois public university or community
7    college.
8    (b) An applicant who is determined to be eligible for
9assistance under this Section shall receive, subject to
10appropriation, a grant to be applied to the applicant's tuition
11and fees and paid directly to the public institution of higher
12learning at which the applicant is enrolled. The amount of the
13grant shall be sufficient to pay the institution's tuition and
14fee costs that remain after applying any Monetary Award Program
15grant and federal Pell Grant to the student's account.
16    (c) A grant awarded under this Section may be renewed for a
17total of up to 5 years of full-time enrollment at a public
18institution of higher learning, including summer terms, so long
19as the student makes satisfactory progress toward completing
20his or her undergraduate degree. The age requirement and 5-year
21cap on grants under this Section shall be waived and
22eligibility for a grant shall be extended for any applicant or
23student whom the Commission determines was unable to enroll in
24a public institution of higher learning or complete an academic
25term because the applicant or student (i) was called into
26active duty with the United States Armed Forces, (ii) was

 

 

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1deployed for service in the United States Public Health Service
2Commissioned Corps, or (iii) volunteered in the Peace Corps or
3AmeriCorps. The Commission shall extend eligibility for a
4qualifying applicant or student by the total number of months
5or years during which the applicant or student served on active
6duty with the United States Armed Forces, was deployed for
7service in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned
8Corps, or volunteered in the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps. The
9number of months an applicant or student served on active duty
10with the United States Armed Forces shall be rounded up to the
11next higher year to determine the maximum length of time to
12extend eligibility for the applicant or student.
13    (d) The General Assembly encourages the Commission and the
14Department of Children and Family Services to coordinate to
15simplify, to the extent feasible, the process of confirming
16applicant eligibility for a grant under this Section.
17    (e) The Commission shall adopt rules to implement this
18Section.