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| 1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | ||||||
| 5 | amended by adding Section 62 as follows: | ||||||
| 6 | (110 ILCS 947/62 new) | ||||||
| 7 | Sec. 62. Grants for exonerated persons. | ||||||
| 8 | (a) In this Section: | ||||||
| 9 | "Exonerated person" means an individual who has received a | ||||||
| 10 | pardon from the Governor of the State of Illinois stating that | ||||||
| 11 | such a pardon is issued on the grounds of innocence of the | ||||||
| 12 | crime for which he or she was imprisoned or an individual who | ||||||
| 13 | has received a certificate of innocence from a circuit court | ||||||
| 14 | pursuant to Section 2-702 of the Code of Civil Procedure. | ||||||
| 15 | "Satisfactory academic progress" means the qualified | ||||||
| 16 | applicant's maintenance of minimum standards of academic | ||||||
| 17 | performance, consistent with requirements for maintaining | ||||||
| 18 | federal financial aid eligibility, as determined by the | ||||||
| 19 | institution of higher learning. | ||||||
| 20 | (b) Subject to a separate appropriation for this purpose, | ||||||
| 21 | the Commission shall, each year, receive and consider | ||||||
| 22 | applications for grant assistance under this Section. | ||||||
| 23 | Recipients of grants issued by the Commission in accordance | ||||||
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| 1 | with this Section must be exonerated persons. Provided that the | ||||||
| 2 | recipient is maintaining satisfactory academic progress, the | ||||||
| 3 | funds from the grant may be used to pay up to 8 semesters or 12 | ||||||
| 4 | quarters of full payment of tuition and mandatory fees at any | ||||||
| 5 | public university or public community college located in this | ||||||
| 6 | State for either full or part-time study. This benefit may be | ||||||
| 7 | used for undergraduate or graduate study. | ||||||
| 8 | In addition, an exonerated person who has not yet received | ||||||
| 9 | a high school diploma or a high school equivalency certificate | ||||||
| 10 | and completes a high school equivalency preparation course | ||||||
| 11 | through an Illinois Community College Board-approved provider | ||||||
| 12 | may use grant funds to pay costs associated with obtaining a | ||||||
| 13 | high school equivalency certificate, including payment of the | ||||||
| 14 | cost of the high school equivalency test and up to one retest | ||||||
| 15 | on each test module, and any additional fees that may be | ||||||
| 16 | required in order to obtain an Illinois High School Equivalency | ||||||
| 17 | Certificate or an official transcript of test scores after | ||||||
| 18 | successful completion of the high school equivalency test. | ||||||
| 19 | (c) An applicant for a grant under this Section need not | ||||||
| 20 | demonstrate financial need to qualify for the benefits. | ||||||
| 21 | (d) The Commission may adopt any rules necessary to | ||||||
| 22 | implement and administer this Section.
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