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Public Act 095-0760
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| HB4567 Enrolled |
LRB095 17794 RAS 43873 b |
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is |
amended by changing Section 25 as follows:
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(110 ILCS 947/25)
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Sec. 25. State scholar program.
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(a) An applicant is eligible to be designated a State |
Scholar when the
Commission finds the candidate:
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(1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or |
permanent resident of the
United States;
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(2) has successfully completed the program of |
instruction at an
approved high school, or is a student in |
good standing at such a school and
is engaged in a program |
which in due course will be completed by the end of
the |
academic year, and in either event that the candidate's |
academic
standing is above the class median; and that the |
candidate has not had any
university, college, normal |
school, private junior college or public community
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college, or other advanced training subsequent to |
graduation from high school;
and
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(3) has superior capacity to profit by a higher |
education.
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(b) In determining an applicant's superior capacity to |
profit by a
higher education, the Commission shall consider the |
candidate's
scholastic record in high school and the results of |
the examination conducted
under the provisions of this Act. The |
Commission shall establish by rule the
minimum conditions of |
eligibility in terms of the foregoing factors, and the
relative |
weight to be accorded to those factors.
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(c) The Commission shall base its State Scholar |
designations upon the
eligibility formula prescribed in its |
rules, except that notwithstanding
those rules or any other |
provision of this Section, a student nominated by
his or her |
school shall be designated a State Scholar if that student
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achieves an Illinois Standard Test Score at or above the 95th |
percentile
among students taking the designated examinations |
in Illinois that year, as
determined by the Commission.
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(d) The Commission shall obtain the results of a |
competitive examination
from the applicants this Act. The |
examination shall provide a measure of each
candidate's ability |
to perform college work and shall have demonstrated utility
in |
such a selection program. The Commission shall select, and |
designate by
rule, the specific examinations to be used in |
determining the applicant's
superior capacity to profit from a |
higher education. Candidates may be asked by
the Commission to |
take those steps necessary to provide results of the
designated |
examination as part of their applications. Any nominal cost of
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obtaining or providing the examination results shall be paid by |
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the candidate
to the agency designated by the Commission to |
provide the examination service.
In the event that a candidate |
or candidates are unable to participate in the
examination for |
financial reasons, the Commission may choose to pay the
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examination fee on the candidate's or candidates' behalf. Any |
notary fee which
may also be required as part of the total |
application shall be paid by the
applicant.
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(e) The Commission shall award to each State Scholar a |
certificate or other
suitable form of recognition. The decision |
to attend a non-qualified
institution of higher learning shall |
not disqualify applicants who are
otherwise fully qualified.
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(f) The Commission shall conduct a study detailing all of |
the following information: |
(1) The number of students designated State Scholars in |
2008 and 2009. |
(2) The number of State Scholars who applied to State |
universities in 2008 and 2009. |
(3) The number of State Scholars who were denied |
admittance into the State universities to which they |
applied in 2008 and 2009. |
All data collected from a State university in regards to |
the study conducted under this subsection (f) must be verified |
by that university. |
On or before January 1, 2010, the Commission must submit a |
report to the General Assembly that contains the findings of |
the study conducted under this subsection (f) and the |