Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez

Filed: 4/9/2019

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2691

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2691, AS AMENDED,
3with reference to page and line numbers of House Amendment No.
41, as follows:
 
5on page 4, immediately below line 3, by inserting the
6following:
 
7    "Section 90. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
8amended by changing Section 35 as follows:
 
9    (110 ILCS 947/35)
10    Sec. 35. Monetary award program.
11    (a) The Commission shall, each year, receive and consider
12applications for grant assistance under this Section. Subject
13to a separate appropriation for such purposes, an applicant is
14eligible for a grant under this Section when the Commission
15finds that the applicant:

 

 

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1        (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or
2    permanent resident of the United States; and
3        (2) in the absence of grant assistance, will be
4    deterred by financial considerations from completing an
5    educational program at the qualified institution of his or
6    her choice.
7    (b) The Commission shall award renewals only upon the
8student's application and upon the Commission's finding that
9the applicant:
10        (1) has remained a student in good standing;
11        (2) remains a resident of this State; and
12        (3) is in a financial situation that continues to
13    warrant assistance.
14    (c) All grants shall be applicable only to tuition and
15necessary fee costs. The Commission shall determine the grant
16amount for each student, which shall not exceed the smallest of
17the following amounts:
18        (1) subject to appropriation, $5,468 for fiscal year
19    2009, $5,968 for fiscal year 2010, and $6,468 for fiscal
20    year 2011 and each fiscal year thereafter, or such lesser
21    amount as the Commission finds to be available, during an
22    academic year;
23        (2) the amount which equals 2 semesters or 3 quarters
24    tuition and other necessary fees required generally by the
25    institution of all full-time undergraduate students; or
26        (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be

 

 

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1    appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
2    resources.
3    Subject to appropriation, the maximum grant amount for
4students not subject to subdivision (1) of this subsection (c)
5must be increased by the same percentage as any increase made
6by law to the maximum grant amount under subdivision (1) of
7this subsection (c).
8    "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
9include the customary charge for instruction and use of
10facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
11for specified purposes, which are required generally of
12nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
13grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
14payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
15deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
16Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
17Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
18tuition and other necessary fees.
19    (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
20scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for monetary
21award program consideration under this Act after receiving a
22baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 135 semester credit
23hours of award payments. If a student receives the equivalent
24of 65 semester credit hours of award payments without yet
25attaining standing as a junior year student, the student's
26institution must provide the student a disclosure statement

 

 

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1that notifies the student of his or her remaining hours under
2the program and offers the student an appointment with the
3institution's financial aid office or an academic advisor for
4further guidance and information.
5    (d-5) In this subsection (d-5), "renewing applicant" means
6a student attending an institution of higher learning who
7received a Monetary Award Program grant during the prior
8academic year. Beginning with the processing of applications
9for the 2020-2021 academic year, the Commission shall annually
10publish a priority deadline date for renewing applicants.
11Subject to appropriation, a renewing applicant who files by the
12published priority deadline date shall receive a grant if he or
13she continues to meet the eligibility requirements under this
14Section. A renewing applicant's failure to apply by the
15priority deadline date established under this subsection (d-5)
16shall not disqualify him or her from receiving a grant if
17sufficient funding is available to provide awards after that
18date.
19    (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to
20be offered, shall take into consideration past experience with
21the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The Commission
22shall notify applicants that grant assistance is contingent
23upon the availability of appropriated funds.
24    (e-5) The General Assembly finds and declares that it is an
25important purpose of the Monetary Award Program to facilitate
26access to college both for students who pursue postsecondary

 

 

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1education immediately following high school and for those who
2pursue postsecondary education later in life, particularly
3Illinoisans who are dislocated workers with financial need and
4who are seeking to improve their economic position through
5education. For the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 academic years, the
6Commission shall give additional and specific consideration to
7the needs of dislocated workers with the intent of allowing
8applicants who are dislocated workers an opportunity to secure
9financial assistance even if applying later than the general
10pool of applicants. The Commission's consideration shall
11include, in determining the number of grants to be offered, an
12estimate of the resources needed to serve dislocated workers
13who apply after the Commission initially suspends award
14announcements for the upcoming regular academic year, but prior
15to the beginning of that academic year. For the purposes of
16this subsection (e-5), a dislocated worker is defined as in the
17federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
18    (f) (Blank).
19    (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of and
20make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit
21institutions in accordance with the criteria set forth in this
22Section. The eligibility of applicants enrolled at such
23for-profit institutions shall be limited as follows:
24        (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
25    eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
26    students who have attained an associate degree.

 

 

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1        (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
2    eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
3    attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
4    grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
5    whose grants are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
6        (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
7    eligible students.
8    (h) The Commission may adopt rules to implement this
9Section.
10(Source: P.A. 100-477, eff. 9-8-17; 100-621, eff. 7-20-18;
11100-823, eff. 8-13-18; revised 10-10-18.)".