Rep. Kevin A. McCarthy

Filed: 03/31/04

 

 


 

 


 
09300HB4744ham001 LRB093 15097 NHT 49333 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4744

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4744 by replacing
3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4     "Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
5 amended by changing Section 35 as follows:
 
6     (110 ILCS 947/35)
7     Sec. 35. Monetary award program.
8     (a) The Commission shall, each year, receive and consider
9 applications for grant assistance under this Section. Subject
10 to a separate appropriation for such purposes, an applicant is
11 eligible for a grant under this Section if when the Commission
12 finds that the applicant:
13         (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or
14 permanent resident of the United States; and
15         (2) in the absence of grant assistance, will be
16 deterred by financial considerations from completing an
17 educational program at the qualified institution of his or
18 her choice.
19     (b) The Commission shall award renewals only upon the
20 student's application and upon the Commission's finding that
21 the applicant:
22         (1) has remained a student in good standing;
23         (2) remains a resident of this State; and
24         (3) is in a financial situation that continues to

 

 

09300HB4744ham001 - 2 - LRB093 15097 NHT 49333 a

1 warrant assistance.
2     (c) All grants shall be applicable only to tuition and
3 necessary fee costs for 2 semesters or 3 quarters in an
4 academic year. Requests for summer term assistance will be made
5 separately and shall be considered on an individual basis
6 according to Commission policy. Each student who is awarded a
7 grant under this Section and is enrolled in summer school
8 classes shall be eligible for a summer school grant. The summer
9 school grant amount shall not exceed the lesser of 50 percent
10 of the maximum annual grant amount authorized by this Section
11 or the actual cost of tuition and fees at the institution at
12 which the student is enrolled at least part-time. For the
13 regular academic year, the Commission shall determine the grant
14 amount for each full-time and part-time student, which shall be
15 the smallest of the following amounts:
16         (1) $4,968 for 2 semesters or 3 quarters of full-time
17 undergraduate enrollment or $2,484 for 2 semesters or 3
18 quarters of part-time undergraduate enrollment, or such
19 lesser amount as the Commission finds to be available; or
20         (2) the amount which equals the 2 semesters or 3
21 quarters tuition and other necessary fees required
22 generally by the institution of all full-time
23 undergraduate students, or in the case of part-time
24 students an amount of tuition and fees for 2 semesters or 3
25 quarters which shall not exceed one-half the amount of
26 tuition and necessary fees generally charged to full-time
27 undergraduate students by the institution; or
28         (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
29 appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
30 resources.
31 "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
32 include the customary charge for instruction and use of
33 facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
34 for specified purposes, which are required generally of

 

 

09300HB4744ham001 - 3 - LRB093 15097 NHT 49333 a

1 nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
2 grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
3 payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
4 deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
5 Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
6 Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
7 tuition and other necessary fees.
8     (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
9 scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for monetary
10 award program consideration under this Act after receiving a
11 baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 10 semesters or 15
12 quarters of award payments. The Commission shall determine when
13 award payments for part-time enrollment or interim or summer
14 terms shall be counted as a partial semester or quarter of
15 payment.
16     (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to
17 be offered, shall take into consideration past experience with
18 the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The Commission
19 shall notify applicants that grant assistance is contingent
20 upon the availability of appropriated funds.
21     (f) The Commission may request appropriations for deposit
22 into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies deposited
23 into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may be expended
24 exclusively for one purpose: to make Monetary Award Program
25 grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in the Monetary
26 Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of the current
27 annual State appropriation for the Monetary Award Program.
28     The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is
29 to enable the Commission each year to assure as many students
30 as possible of their eligibility for a Monetary Award Program
31 grant and to do so before commencement of the academic year.
32 Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to enhance
33 the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program,
34 minimizing the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of

 

 

09300HB4744ham001 - 4 - LRB093 15097 NHT 49333 a

1 adjusting award amounts and ensuring that the annual Monetary
2 Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
3     (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of and
4 make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit
5 institutions in accordance with the criteria set forth in this
6 Section. The eligibility of applicants enrolled at such
7 for-profit institutions shall be limited as follows:
8         (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
9 eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
10 students who have attained an associate degree.
11         (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
12 eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
13 attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
14 grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
15 whose grants are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
16         (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
17 eligible students.
18 (Source: P.A. 91-249, eff. 7-22-99; 91-250, eff. 7-22-99;
19 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 91-747, eff. 7-1-00; 92-45, eff.
20 7-1-01.)".