|
hostilities in that foreign country. |
(3) The person received an honorable discharge after |
leaving each period of federal active duty service. |
(4) The person returned to this State within 6 months |
after leaving federal active duty service, or, if married |
to a person in continued military service stationed outside |
this State, returned to this State within 6 months after |
his or her spouse left service or was stationed within this |
State. |
"Time of hostilities" means any action by the Armed Forces |
of the United States that is recognized by the issuance of a |
Presidential proclamation or a Presidential executive order |
and in which the Armed Forces expeditionary medal or other |
campaign service medals are awarded according to Presidential |
executive order. |
(b) A person who otherwise qualifies under subsection (a) |
of this Section but has not left federal active duty service |
and has served at least one year of federal active duty or has |
served for less than one year of federal active duty in a |
foreign country during a time of hostilities in that foreign |
country and who can provide documentation demonstrating an |
honorable service record is eligible to receive assistance |
under this Section. |
(c) A qualified applicant is not required to pay any |
tuition or mandatory fees while attending a State-controlled |
university or public community college in this State for a |
period that is equivalent to 4 years of full-time enrollment, |
including summer terms. |
A qualified applicant who has previously received benefits |
under this Section for a non-mandatory fee shall continue to |
receive benefits covering such fees while he or she is enrolled |
in a continuous program of study. The qualified applicant shall |
no longer receive a grant covering non-mandatory fees if he or |
she fails to enroll during an academic term, unless he or she |
is serving federal active duty service.
|
(d) A qualified applicant who has been or is to be awarded |
|
assistance under this Section shall receive that assistance if |
the qualified applicant notifies his or her postsecondary |
institution of that fact by the end of the school term for |
which assistance is requested. |
(e) Assistance under this Section is considered an |
entitlement that the State-controlled college or public |
community college in which the qualified applicant is enrolled |
shall honor without any condition other than the qualified |
applicant's maintenance of minimum grade levels and a |
satisfactory student loan repayment record pursuant to |
subsection (c) of Section 20 of this Act. |
(f) The Commission shall administer the grant program |
established by this Section and shall make all necessary and |
proper rules not inconsistent with this Section for its |
effective implementation. |
(g) All applications for assistance under this Section must |
be made to the Commission on forms that the Commission shall |
provide. The Commission shall determine the form of application |
and the information required to be set forth in the |
application, and the Commission shall require qualified |
applicants to submit with their applications any supporting |
documents that the Commission deems necessary. Upon request, |
the Department of Veterans' Affairs shall assist the Commission |
in determining the eligibility of applicants for assistance |
under this Section. |
(h) Assistance under this Section is available as long as |
the federal government provides educational benefits to |
veterans. Assistance must not be paid under this Section after |
6 months following the termination of educational benefits to |
veterans by the federal government, except for persons who |
already have begun their education with assistance under this |
Section. If the federal government terminates educational |
benefits to veterans and at a later time resumes those |
benefits, assistance under this Section shall resume.
Any |
person who served in the armed forces of the
United States, not |
including members of the Student Army Training Corps, who at
|
|
the time of entering service was an Illinois resident or was an |
Illinois
resident within 6 months of entering such service, and |
who returned to Illinois
within 6 months after leaving service |
or, if married to a person in continued
military service |
stationed outside Illinois, within 6 months after his or her
|
spouse has left service or has been stationed within Illinois, |
and who has been
honorably discharged from such service, and |
who possesses all necessary
entrance requirements shall, |
except as otherwise provided in this Act, upon
application and |
proper proof, be awarded an Illinois Veteran Grant consisting
|
of the equivalent of 4 calendar years of full-time enrollment,
|
including summer terms, to the State-controlled college or |
university or
community college of his choice. Such veterans |
shall also be entitled, upon
proper proof and application, to |
enroll in any extension course offered by a
State-controlled |
college or university or community college without the payment
|
of tuition or fees.
|
Any veteran who so served, and who, at the time of entering |
such service,
was a student at a State-controlled college or |
university or community
college, and who was honorably |
discharged from such service, shall, upon
application and |
proper proof be awarded a Veteran Grant entitling
him to |
complete his course of study at any State-controlled college or
|
university or community college of his choice, but shall not be |
entitled to
a grant consisting of more than the equivalent of 4 |
calendar years of
full-time enrollment including summer |
sessions.
|
Any member of the armed forces of the United States who |
either (i) has
served
in such armed forces at least one year, |
or (ii) has served in the armed
forces of the United States for |
less than one year in a time of
hostilities in a foreign |
country, and
who would be qualified for a grant under this |
Section if he had been discharged
from such service shall be |
eligible to receive a Veteran Grant under this
Section.
|
The holder of a Veteran Grant to the State-controlled |
college or
university or community college of his choice as |
|
authorized under this
Section shall not be required to pay any |
matriculation or application
fees, tuition, activities fees, |
graduation fees, or other fees except
multipurpose building |
fees or similar fees for supplies and materials.
|
Any veteran who has been or shall be awarded a Veteran |
Grant shall be
reimbursed by the appropriate college, |
university, or community college for any
fees which he has paid |
and for which exemption is granted under this Section,
if |
application for reimbursement is made within 2 months following
|
the school
term for which the fees were paid.
|
A Veteran Grant shall be considered an entitlement which |
the
State-controlled college or university or community |
college in which the
holder is enrolled shall honor without any |
condition other than the
holder's maintenance of minimum grade |
levels and a satisfactory student
loan repayment record |
pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 20.
|
A grant authorized under this Section shall not be awarded |
to
veterans who received a discharge from the armed forces of |
the United
States under dishonorable conditions, or to any |
veteran whose service with
the armed forces was for less than |
one year unless he received an honorable
discharge from such |
service for medical reasons directly connected with
such |
service, except for those veterans discharged prior to August |
11, 1967
whose service may be for less than one year, and |
except for those veterans
(i) who serve in the armed forces of |
the United
States for less
than one year in a time of |
hostilities in a foreign country and (ii) who receive an |
honorable discharge.
|
The amounts that become due to any State-controlled college |
or university
or community college shall be payable by the |
Comptroller to that
institution on vouchers approved by the |
Commission. The Commission, or its
designated representative |
at that institution, shall determine the
eligibility of the |
persons who make application for the benefits provided
for in |
this Section. The Department of Veterans' Affairs shall assist |
the
Commission in determining the eligibility of applicants. On |
|
July 29,
1986, the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs |
shall transfer and deliver
to the Commission all books, |
records, papers, documents, applications and
pending business |
in any way pertaining to the duties, responsibilities and
|
authority theretofore exercised or performed by the Illinois |
Department of
Veterans' Affairs under and pursuant to Section |
4.1 of the Department of
Veterans Affairs Act.
|
The benefits provided for in this Section shall be |
available as long as
the federal government provides |
educational benefits to veterans. No
benefits shall be paid |
under this Section, except for veterans who
already have begun |
their education under this Section, after 6 months following
|
the termination of educational benefits to veterans by the |
federal
government. If the federal government terminates |
educational benefits to
veterans and at a later time resumes |
those benefits, the benefits of this
Section shall resume.
|
As used in this Section, "time of hostilities in a foreign |
country" means
any action by the armed forces of the United |
States that is recognized by the
issuance of a Presidential |
proclamation or a Presidential executive order and
in which the |
armed forces expeditionary medal or other campaign service |
medals
are awarded according to Presidential executive order.
|
(Source: P.A. 90-752, eff. 8-14-98; 91-496, eff. 8-13-99.)
|
(110 ILCS 947/45)
|
Sec. 45. Illinois National Guard grant program.
|
(a) As used in this Section:
|
"State controlled university or community college" means |
those
institutions under the administration of the Chicago |
State University Board
of Trustees, the Eastern Illinois |
University Board of Trustees, the Governors
State University |
Board of Trustees, the Illinois State University Board of
|
Trustees, the Northeastern Illinois University Board of |
Trustees, the Northern
Illinois University Board of Trustees, |
the Western Illinois University Board of
Trustees, Southern |
Illinois University
Board of Trustees, University of Illinois |
|
Board of Trustees, or the Illinois
Community College Board.
|
"Tuition and fees" shall not include expenses for any |
sectarian
or denominational instruction, the construction or |
maintenance of sectarian
or denominational facilities, or any |
other sectarian or denominational
purposes or activity.
|
"Fees" means matriculation, graduation, activity, term, or |
incidental fees.
Exemption shall not be granted from any other |
fees, including book rental,
service, laboratory, supply, and |
union building fees, hospital and medical
insurance fees, and |
any fees established for the operation and maintenance of
|
buildings, the income of which is pledged to the payment of |
interest and
principal on bonds issued by the governing board |
of any university or community
college.
|
(b) Any enlisted person or
any company grade officer,
|
including warrant officers, First and Second Lieutenants, and |
Captains in
the Army and Air National Guard, who has served at |
least one
year in the
Illinois National Guard and who possesses |
all necessary
entrance requirements shall, upon application |
and proper proof, be
awarded a grant to the State-controlled |
university or community
college of his or her choice, |
consisting of exemption from tuition and
fees for not more than |
the equivalent of 4 years of full-time enrollment, including |
summer terms,
in relation to his or her course of study at that |
State controlled
university or community college while he or |
she is a member of the Illinois
National Guard. Except as |
otherwise provided in this Section, if the recipient of any |
grant awarded under this Section
ceases to be a member of the |
Illinois National Guard while enrolled in a
course of study |
under that grant, the grant shall be terminated as of the date
|
membership in the Illinois National Guard ended, and the |
recipient shall be
permitted to complete the school term in |
which he or she is then enrolled only
upon payment of tuition |
and other fees allocable to the part of the term then
|
remaining.
If the recipient of a grant awarded under this |
Section ceases to be a member of the Illinois National Guard |
while enrolled in a course of study under that grant but (i) |
|
has served in the Illinois National Guard for at least 5 years |
and (ii) has served a cumulative total of at least 6 months of |
active duty, then that recipient shall continue to be eligible |
for a grant for one year after membership in the Illinois |
National Guard ended, provided that the recipient has not |
already received the exemption from tuition and fees for the |
equivalent of 4 years of full-time enrollment, including summer |
terms, under this Section. If the recipient of the grant fails |
to complete his or her
military
service obligations or |
requirements for satisfactory participation, the
Department of |
Military Affairs shall require the recipient to repay the |
amount
of the grant received, prorated according to the |
fraction of the service
obligation not completed, and, if |
applicable, reasonable collection fees. The
Department of |
Military Affairs may adopt rules relating to its
collection |
activities for repayment of the grant under this Section.
|
Unsatisfactory participation shall be defined by rules adopted
|
by the Department of Military Affairs. Repayments shall be |
deposited
in the National Guard Grant Fund. The National Guard |
Grant Fund is created as
a special fund in the State treasury. |
All money in the National Guard Grant
Fund shall be used, |
subject to appropriation, by the Illinois Student Assistance |
Commission for the purposes of this Section.
|
A grant awarded under this Section shall be considered an |
entitlement
which the State-controlled university or community |
college in which the
holder is enrolled shall honor without any |
condition other than the
holder's maintenance of minimum grade |
levels and a satisfactory student
loan repayment record |
pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 20 of this
Act.
|
(c) Subject to a separate appropriation for such purposes, |
the
Commission may reimburse the State-controlled university |
or community
college for grants authorized by this Section.
|
(Source: P.A. 92-589, eff. 7-1-02; 93-838, eff. 7-30-04; |
93-856, eff. 8-3-04; revised 10-22-04.)
|
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, |