102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB3672

 

Introduced 1/21/2022, by Sen. Chapin Rose

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
110 ILCS 947/65.100

    Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act with respect to the AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program. Removes language referring to the program as a pilot program. Removes a provision requiring a partial match of non-loan financial aid. Removes the repealer provision. Effective immediately.


LRB102 22434 CMG 31574 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3672LRB102 22434 CMG 31574 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
5amended by changing Section 65.100 as follows:
 
6    (110 ILCS 947/65.100)
7    (Section scheduled to be repealed on October 1, 2024)
8    Sec. 65.100. AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program.
9    (a) The General Assembly makes all of the following
10findings:
11        (1) Both access and affordability are important
12    aspects of the Illinois Public Agenda for College and
13    Career Success report.
14        (2) This State is in the top quartile with respect to
15    the percentage of family income needed to pay for college.
16        (3) Research suggests that as loan amounts increase,
17    rather than an increase in grant amounts, the probability
18    of college attendance decreases.
19        (4) There is further research indicating that
20    socioeconomic status may affect the willingness of
21    students to use loans to attend college.
22        (5) Strategic use of tuition discounting can decrease
23    the amount of loans that students must use to pay for

 

 

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1    tuition.
2        (6) A modest, individually tailored tuition discount
3    can make the difference in a student choosing to attend
4    college and enhance college access for low-income and
5    middle-income families.
6        (7) Even if the federally calculated financial need
7    for college attendance is met, the federally determined
8    Expected Family Contribution can still be a daunting
9    amount.
10        (8) This State is the second largest exporter of
11    students in the country.
12        (9) When talented Illinois students attend
13    universities in this State, the State and those
14    universities benefit.
15        (10) State universities in other states have adopted
16    pricing and incentives that allow many Illinois residents
17    to pay less to attend an out-of-state university than to
18    remain in this State for college.
19        (11) Supporting Illinois student attendance at
20    Illinois public universities can assist in State efforts
21    to maintain and educate a highly trained workforce.
22        (12) Modest tuition discounts that are individually
23    targeted and tailored can result in enhanced revenue for
24    public universities.
25        (13) By increasing a public university's capacity to
26    strategically use tuition discounting, the public

 

 

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1    university will be capable of creating enhanced tuition
2    revenue by increasing enrollment yields.
3    (b) In this Section:
4    "Eligible applicant" means a student from any high school
5in this State, whether or not recognized by the State Board of
6Education, who is engaged in a program of study that in due
7course will be completed by the end of the school year and who
8meets all of the qualifications and requirements under this
9Section.
10    "Tuition and other necessary fees" includes the customary
11charge for instruction and use of facilities in general and
12the additional fixed fees charged for specified purposes that
13are required generally of non-grant recipients for each
14academic period for which the grant applicant actually
15enrolls, but does not include fees payable only once or
16breakage fees and other contingent deposits that are
17refundable in whole or in part. The Commission may adopt, by
18rule not inconsistent with this Section, detailed provisions
19concerning the computation of tuition and other necessary
20fees.
21    (c) Beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year, each
22public university may establish a merit-based scholarship
23pilot program known as the AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program. Each
24year, the Commission shall receive and consider applications
25from public universities under this Section. Subject to
26appropriation and any tuition waiver limitation established by

 

 

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1the Board of Higher Education, a public university campus may
2award a grant to a student under this Section if it finds that
3the applicant meets all of the following criteria:
4        (1) He or she is a resident of this State and a citizen
5    or eligible noncitizen of the United States.
6        (2) He or she files a Free Application for Federal
7    Student Aid and demonstrates financial need with a
8    household income no greater than 6 times the poverty
9    guidelines updated periodically in the Federal Register by
10    the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the
11    authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2). The household income of
12    the applicant at the time of initial application shall be
13    deemed to be the household income of the applicant for the
14    duration of the pilot program.
15        (3) He or she meets the minimum cumulative grade point
16    average or ACT or SAT college admissions test score, as
17    determined by the public university campus.
18        (4) He or she is enrolled in a public university as an
19    undergraduate student on a full-time basis.
20        (5) He or she has not yet received a baccalaureate
21    degree or the equivalent of 135 semester credit hours.
22        (6) He or she is not incarcerated.
23        (7) He or she is not in default on any student loan or
24    does not owe a refund or repayment on any State or federal
25    grant or scholarship.
26        (8) Any other reasonable criteria, as determined by

 

 

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1    the public university campus.
2    (d) Each public university campus shall determine grant
3renewal criteria consistent with the requirements under this
4Section.
5    (e) Each participating public university campus shall post
6on its Internet website criteria and eligibility requirements
7for receiving awards that use funds under this Section that
8include a range in the sizes of these individual awards. The
9criteria and amounts must also be reported to the Commission
10and the Board of Higher Education, who shall post the
11information on their respective Internet websites.
12    (f) After enactment of an appropriation for this Program,
13the Commission shall determine an allocation of funds to each
14public university in an amount proportionate to the number of
15undergraduate students who are residents of this State and
16citizens or eligible noncitizens of the United States and who
17were enrolled at each public university campus in the previous
18academic year. All applications must be made to the Commission
19on or before a date determined by the Commission and on forms
20that the Commission shall provide to each public university
21campus. The form of the application and the information
22required shall be determined by the Commission and shall
23include, without limitation, the total public university
24campus funds used to match funds received from the Commission
25in the previous academic year under this Section, if any, the
26total enrollment of undergraduate students who are residents

 

 

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1of this State from the previous academic year, and any
2supporting documents as the Commission deems necessary. Each
3public university campus shall match the amount of funds
4received by the Commission with financial aid for eligible
5students.
6    A public university in which an average of at least 49% of
7the students seeking a bachelor's degree or certificate
8received a Pell Grant over the prior 3 academic years, as
9reported to the Commission, shall match 20% of the amount of
10funds awarded in a given academic year with non-loan financial
11aid for eligible students. A public university in which an
12average of less than 49% of the students seeking a bachelor's
13degree or certificate received a Pell Grant over the prior 3
14academic years, as reported to the Commission, shall match 60%
15of the amount of funds awarded in a given academic year with
16non-loan financial aid for eligible students.
17    A public university campus is not required to claim its
18entire allocation. The Commission shall make available to all
19public universities, on a date determined by the Commission,
20any unclaimed funds and the funds must be made available to
21those public university campuses in the proportion determined
22under this subsection (f), excluding from the calculation
23those public university campuses not claiming their full
24allocations.
25    Each public university campus may determine the award
26amounts for eligible students on an individual or broad basis,

 

 

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1but, subject to renewal eligibility, each renewed award may
2not be less than the amount awarded to the eligible student in
3his or her first year attending the public university campus.
4Notwithstanding this limitation, a renewal grant may be
5reduced due to changes in the student's cost of attendance,
6including, but not limited to, if a student reduces the number
7of credit hours in which he or she is enrolled, but remains a
8full-time student, or switches to a course of study with a
9lower tuition rate.
10    An eligible applicant awarded grant assistance under this
11Section is eligible to receive other financial aid. Total
12grant aid to the student from all sources may not exceed the
13total cost of attendance at the public university campus.
14    (g) All money allocated to a public university campus
15under this Section may be used only for financial aid purposes
16for students attending the public university campus during the
17academic year, not including summer terms. Notwithstanding any
18other provision of law to the contrary, any funds received by a
19public university campus under this Section that are not
20granted to students in the academic year for which the funds
21are received may be retained by the public university campus
22for expenditure on students participating in the Program or
23students eligible to participate in the Program.
24    (h) Each public university campus that establishes a
25Program under this Section must annually report to the
26Commission, on or before a date determined by the Commission,

 

 

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1the number of undergraduate students enrolled at that campus
2who are residents of this State.
3    (i) Each public university campus must report to the
4Commission the total non-loan financial aid amount given by
5the public university campus to undergraduate students in the
62017-2018 academic year, not including the summer term. To be
7eligible to receive funds under the Program, a public
8university campus may not decrease the total amount of
9non-loan financial aid it gives to undergraduate students, not
10including any funds received from the Commission under this
11Section or any funds used to match grant awards under this
12Section, to an amount lower than the reported amount for the
132017-2018 academic year, not including the summer term.
14    (j) On or before a date determined by the Commission, each
15public university campus that participates in the Program
16under this Section shall annually submit a report to the
17Commission with all of the following information:
18        (1) The Program's impact on tuition revenue and
19    enrollment goals and increase in access and affordability
20    at the public university campus.
21        (2) Total funds received by the public university
22    campus under the Program.
23        (3) Total non-loan financial aid awarded to
24    undergraduate students attending the public university
25    campus.
26        (4) Total amount of funds matched by the public

 

 

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1    university campus.
2        (5) Total amount of claimed and unexpended funds
3    retained by the public university campus.
4        (6) The percentage of total financial aid distributed
5    under the Program by the public university campus.
6        (7) The total number of students receiving grants from
7    the public university campus under the Program and those
8    students' grade level, race, gender, income level, family
9    size, Monetary Award Program eligibility, Pell Grant
10    eligibility, and zip code of residence and the amount of
11    each grant award. This information shall include unit
12    record data on those students regarding variables
13    associated with the parameters of the public university's
14    Program, including, but not limited to, a student's ACT or
15    SAT college admissions test score, high school or
16    university cumulative grade point average, or program of
17    study.
18    On or before October 1, 2020 and annually on or before
19October 1 thereafter, the Commission shall submit a report
20with the findings under this subsection (j) and any other
21information regarding the AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program to (i)
22the Governor, (ii) the Speaker of the House of
23Representatives, (iii) the Minority Leader of the House of
24Representatives, (iv) the President of the Senate, and (v) the
25Minority Leader of the Senate. The reports to the General
26Assembly shall be filed with the Clerk of the House of

 

 

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1Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate in electronic
2form only, in the manner that the Clerk and the Secretary shall
3direct. The Commission's report may not disaggregate data to a
4level that may disclose personally identifying information of
5individual students.
6    The sharing and reporting of student data under this
7subsection (j) must be in accordance with the requirements
8under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of
91974 and the Illinois School Student Records Act. All parties
10must preserve the confidentiality of the information as
11required by law. The names of the grant recipients under this
12Section are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of
13Information Act.
14    Public university campuses that fail to submit a report
15under this subsection (j) or that fail to adhere to any other
16requirements under this Section may not be eligible for
17distribution of funds under the Program for the next academic
18year, but may be eligible for distribution of funds for each
19academic year thereafter.
20    (k) The Commission shall adopt rules to implement this
21Section.
22    (l) This Section is repealed on October 1, 2024.
23(Source: P.A. 100-587, eff. 6-4-18; 100-1015, eff. 8-21-18;
24100-1183, eff. 4-4-19; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-613, eff.
256-1-20; 101-643, eff. 6-18-20; 101-654, eff. 3-8-21.)
 
26    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon

 

 

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1becoming law.