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90_HB0972eng
110 ILCS 947/30
Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act.
Increases the amount of the merit scholarship award to $3,000
from $1,000 for the 1998-99 and subsequent academic years.
Reduces the $3,000 award to an amount equal to the
educational expenses that the award recipient will incur
during the academic year in which the award is effective if
those educational expenses are less than the amount of the
increased merit scholarship award. Effective July 1, 1997.
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1 AN ACT to amend the Higher Education Student Assistance
2 Act by changing Section 30.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act
6 is amended by changing Section 30 as follows:
7 (110 ILCS 947/30)
8 Sec. 30. Merit recognition scholarship program.
9 (a) As used in this Section:
10 "Eligible applicant" means a student from any
11 approved high school located in this State whose 7th
12 semester cumulative high school grade point average is at
13 or above the 95th percentile, or 90th percentile with
14 respect to students who graduated from such an approved
15 high school during the 1986-1987 or 1987-1988 school
16 year, of his or her high school class, and who by reason
17 thereof is entitled to apply for scholarships to be
18 awarded under this Section.
19 "Qualified student" means a person: (i) of good
20 moral character who is a resident of this State and a
21 citizen or permanent resident of the United States, (ii)
22 who, as an eligible applicant, has made a timely
23 application for a merit recognition scholarship under
24 this Section, (iii) who has successfully completed the
25 program of instruction at any approved high school
26 located in this State, and (iv) who enrolls or is
27 enrolled in a qualified Illinois institution of higher
28 learning or a Service Academy as an undergraduate student
29 or cadet and has not received a baccalaureate degree.
30 "Merit recognition scholarship" means a $1,000
31 academic scholarship awarded to a qualified student under
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1 this Section during an academic year prior to the 1998-99
2 academic year or a $3,000 academic scholarship awarded to
3 a qualified student under this Section during the 1998-99
4 or a subsequent academic year to a qualified student,
5 without regard to financial need, as a scholarship to any
6 qualified Illinois institution of higher learning or a
7 Service Academy in which that student is or will be
8 enrolled as an undergraduate student or cadet, except
9 that a merit recognition scholarship awarded under
10 subsection (k) shall be in the amount of $500.
11 "Service Academy" means the U.S. Air Force Academy,
12 the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the U.S. Military Academy,
13 or the U.S. Naval Academy.
14 (b) In order to identify, encourage, promote, and reward
15 the distinguished academic achievement of students from every
16 approved high school located in this State, each qualified
17 student shall be awarded a merit recognition scholarship to
18 any qualified Illinois institution of higher learning or to
19 any Service Academy.
20 (c) No merit recognition scholarship provided for a
21 qualified student under this Section shall be considered in
22 evaluating the financial situation of that student, or be
23 deemed a financial resource of or a form of financial aid or
24 assistance to that student, for purposes of determining the
25 eligibility of the student for any scholarship, grant, or
26 monetary assistance awarded by the Commission, the State or
27 any agency thereof pursuant to the provisions of any other
28 Section of this Act or any other law of this State; nor shall
29 any merit recognition scholarship provided for a qualified
30 student under this Section reduce the amount of any
31 scholarship, grant, or monetary assistance which that student
32 is eligible to be awarded by the Commission, the State, or
33 any agency thereof in accordance with the provisions of any
34 other Section of this Act or any other law of this State.
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1 (d) Each approved high school located in this State
2 shall certify to the Commission the names of its students who
3 are eligible applicants, specifying which of the students
4 certified as eligible applicants have completed the program
5 of instruction at that high school and the graduation date
6 fixed for their high school class, and specifying for each of
7 the other eligible applicants whose names appear on the
8 certification the semester of high school last completed by
9 them. The Commission shall promptly notify those eligible
10 applicants so certified who are reasonably assured of
11 receiving a Merit Recognition Scholarship in accordance with
12 the annual funding levels recommended in the Governor's
13 Budget -- other than any eligible applicant named on any such
14 certification who, as an eligible applicant, has previously
15 made application to the Commission for a merit recognition
16 scholarship under this Section -- of their eligibility to
17 apply for a scholarship under this Section. An otherwise
18 eligible applicant who fails to make a timely application (as
19 determined by the Commission) for a merit recognition
20 scholarship under this Section shall no longer be deemed an
21 eligible applicant and shall not qualify for the award of any
22 merit recognition scholarship.
23 (e) All applications for merit recognition scholarships
24 to be awarded under this Section shall be made to the
25 Commission on forms which the Commission shall provide for
26 eligible applicants. The form of applications and the
27 information required to be set forth therein shall be
28 determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall
29 require eligible applicants to submit with their applications
30 such supporting documents or recommendations as the
31 Commission deems necessary.
32 (f) Whenever an eligible applicant who has completed the
33 program of instruction at any approved high school located in
34 this State thereafter makes timely application to the
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1 Commission for a merit recognition scholarship under this
2 Section, the Commission shall promptly determine whether that
3 eligible applicant is a qualified student as defined in
4 subsection (a) of this Section. Each such eligible applicant
5 so determined by the Commission to be a qualified student
6 shall be designated as such by the Commission and, except as
7 otherwise provided under subsection (k), shall be awarded a
8 merit recognition scholarship in the amount of $1,000,
9 effective during the academic year following the qualified
10 student's high school graduation or, should the General
11 Assembly specifically so provide in an appropriation under
12 this Section, effective for a subsequent academic year. The
13 amount of the merit recognition scholarship shall be $1,000
14 if awarded and effective for an academic year prior to the
15 1998-99 academic year, or $3,000 if awarded and effective for
16 the 1998-99 or a subsequent academic year.
17 (g) Subject to a separate appropriation for purposes, of
18 this Section other than subsection (k), and subject to a
19 separate appropriation for purposes of subsection (k),
20 payment of any merit recognition scholarship awarded under
21 this Section shall be determined by the Commission. All
22 scholarship funds distributed in accordance with this
23 subsection or subsection (k) shall be paid to the qualified
24 Illinois institution of higher learning or Service Academy
25 and used only for payment of the educational expenses
26 incurred by the student in connection with his or her
27 attendance as an undergraduate student or cadet at that
28 institution or Service Academy, including but not limited to
29 tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies,
30 required Service Academy uniforms, and travel and personal
31 expenses related to the student's attendance at that
32 institution or Service Academy. Any merit recognition
33 scholarship awarded under this Section shall be applicable to
34 2 semesters or 3 quarters of enrollment. Should a qualified
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1 student withdraw from enrollment prior to completion of the
2 first semester or quarter for which the merit recognition
3 scholarship is applicable, the student shall refund to the
4 Commission the full amount of the merit recognition
5 scholarship.
6 (h) The Commission shall administer the merit
7 recognition scholarship aid program established by this
8 Section and shall make all necessary and proper rules, not
9 inconsistent with this Section, for its effective
10 implementation.
11 (i) When an appropriation to the Commission for purposes
12 of this Section other than for purposes of subsection (k) is
13 insufficient to provide scholarships to all qualified
14 students (excluding qualified students under subsection (k)),
15 the Commission shall allocate the appropriation in accordance
16 with this subsection. If funds are insufficient to provide
17 all qualified students (excluding qualified students under
18 subsection (k)), with a scholarship as authorized by
19 subsection (f), the Commission shall allocate the
20 scholarships to qualified students (excluding qualified
21 students under subsection (k)) in order of decreasing
22 percentile as determined by the eligible applicant's
23 cumulative grade point average. All merit recognition
24 scholarships, other than merit recognition scholarships
25 awarded under subsection (k), shall be in the amount of
26 $1,000 if awarded and effective for an academic year prior to
27 the 1998-99 academic year, or $3,000 if awarded and effective
28 for the 1998-99 or a subsequent academic year.
29 (j) The Commission, in determining the number of
30 scholarships to be offered pursuant to subsection (i), shall
31 take into consideration past experience with the rate of
32 scholarship funds unclaimed by qualified students. To the
33 extent necessary to avoid an overcommitment of funds, the
34 Commission may allocate scholarship funds on the basis of the
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1 date the Commission receives a complete application form.
2 (k) A $500 merit recognition scholarship shall be
3 awarded under this subsection to those qualified students
4 graduating from any approved high school located in this
5 Section whose 7th semester cumulative high school grade point
6 average was at or above the 90th percentile of their high
7 school class and who graduated from any such high school
8 during the 1986-1987 or 1987-1988 school year and have not
9 already received an initial award under this Section due to
10 insufficient appropriations. Funds for merit recognition
11 scholarships awarded under this subsection shall be provided
12 by a separate appropriation made for purposes of this
13 subsection. If the funds so appropriated are insufficient to
14 provide all qualified students under this subsection with an
15 initial award, the Commission shall allocate the merit
16 recognition scholarships awarded under this subsection to
17 those qualified students in order of decreasing percentile as
18 determined by their 7th semester cumulative high school grade
19 point average.
20 (l) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section,
21 if the amount of a merit scholarship that is to be awarded to
22 a qualified student and effective for the 1998-99 or a
23 subsequent academic year is greater than the aggregate amount
24 of the educational expenses that the Commission determines
25 the qualified student will incur during that academic year as
26 an enrolled student at the institution or Service Academy to
27 which the scholarship funds are to be paid, the Commission
28 shall reduce the amount of the merit scholarship award to an
29 amount equal to the aggregate amount of those educational
30 expenses and shall pay only that reduced amount to the
31 institution or Service Academy in which the qualified student
32 is enrolled. As used in this Section, "educational expenses"
33 means and includes the educational expenses that are
34 described in subsection (g) of this Section.
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1 (Source: P.A. 87-997; 88-69; 88-203; 88-670, eff. 12-2-94.)
2 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July
3 1, 1997.