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