SB1798sam001 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Edward D. Maloney

Filed: 3/8/2011

09700SB1798sam001 LRB097 09993 NHT 51818 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1798

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1798 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Eastern Illinois University Law is amended by adding Section 10-92 as follows:

(110 ILCS 665/10-92 new)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2015)

Sec. 10-92. Tuition waiver limitation pilot program.

(a) The General Assembly makes all of the following findings:

(1) Both access and affordability are important points in the Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career Success.

(2) This State is in the top quartile with respect to the percentage of family income needed to pay for college.

(3) Research suggests that as loan amounts increase, versus grants-in-aid, the probability of college attendance decreases.

(4) There is further research indicating socioeconomic status may affect the willingness of students to use loans to attend college.

(5) Strategic use of tuition waivers will decrease the amount of loans that students must use to pay for tuition.

(6) A modest, individually tailored tuition waiver can make the difference in choosing to attend college and would enhance college access for low (up to 150% of the federal poverty level) and middle income (151% to 300% of the federal poverty level) families.

(7) Even if the federally calculated financial need for college attendance is met, the federally determined Expected Family Contribution can still be a daunting amount.

(8) This State is the second largest exporter of students in the country.

(9) Illinois students need to be kept in this State. State universities in other states have adopted pricing and incentives that make college expenses for residents of this State less than in this State.

(10) A mechanism is needed to stop the outflow of Illinois students to institutions in other states, assisting in State efforts to maintain and educate a highly trained workforce.

(11) By being competitive on costs of attendance, this State can bring out-of-state students to this State.

(12) The pilot program established under this Section will allow Eastern Illinois University to compete for highly qualified students who may reside in other states by mitigating the effect of cost differences.

(13) Modest tuition waivers, individually targeted and tailored, result in enhanced revenue for university programs.

(14) By increasing Eastern Illinois University's capacity to strategically use tuition waivers, the University will be capable of creating enhanced tuition revenue by increasing enrollment yields.

(15) The Board of Higher Education's current institutional tuition waiver limitation is 3% of total available undergraduate tuition revenue.

(b) The Board shall establish a pilot program to increase the Board of Higher Education's institutional tuition waiver limitation for the university over a 4-year period to increase access to college and make college more affordable for undergraduate students. Under the pilot program, the institutional tuition waiver limitation shall be increased at a rate of 3 percentage points per academic year, beginning with the 2011-2012 academic year, resulting in an institutional tuition waiver limitation of 15% in the fourth year of the pilot program.

(c) The pilot program shall require that students who receive a tuition waiver under the pilot program be accepted to the university through normal admissions standards and processes and make satisfactory academic progress, as defined by the Board, to continue to receive a pilot program tuition waiver. Students participating in the pilot program who maintain satisfactory academic progress are eligible to continue receiving a tuition waiver after the expiration of the pilot program notwithstanding the Board of Higher Education's institution tuition waiver limitation.

(d) The Board shall annually report to the Board of Higher Education on the pilot program's impact on tuition revenue, enrollment goals, and increasing access and affordability on such dates as the Board of Higher Education shall determine.

(e) The Board of Higher Education may adopt any rules that are necessary to implement this Section.

(f) This Section is repealed on July 1, 2015.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2011.".