Sen. Lawrence M. Walsh

Filed: 4/26/2004

 

 


 

 


 
09300HB4744sam001 LRB093 15097 NHT 50008 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 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

 

 

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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
15 not exceed be 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,
20 during an academic year; or
21         (2) the amount which equals the 2 semesters or 3
22 quarters tuition and other necessary fees required
23 generally by the institution of all full-time
24 undergraduate students, or in the case of part-time
25 students an amount of tuition and fees for 2 semesters or 3
26 quarters which shall not exceed one-half the amount of
27 tuition and necessary fees generally charged to full-time
28 undergraduate students by the institution; or
29         (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
30 appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
31 resources.
32 "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
33 include the customary charge for instruction and use of
34 facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged

 

 

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1 for specified purposes, which are required generally of
2 nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
3 grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
4 payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
5 deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
6 Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
7 Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
8 tuition and other necessary fees.
9     (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
10 scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for monetary
11 award program consideration under this Act after receiving a
12 baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 135 semester credit
13 hours 10 semesters or 15 quarters of award payments. The
14 Commission shall determine when award payments for part-time
15 enrollment or interim or summer terms shall be counted as a
16 partial semester or quarter of payment.
17     (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to
18 be offered, shall take into consideration past experience with
19 the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The Commission
20 shall notify applicants that grant assistance is contingent
21 upon the availability of appropriated funds.
22     (f) The Commission may request appropriations for deposit
23 into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies deposited
24 into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may be expended
25 exclusively for one purpose: to make Monetary Award Program
26 grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in the Monetary
27 Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of the current
28 annual State appropriation for the Monetary Award Program.
29     The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is
30 to enable the Commission each year to assure as many students
31 as possible of their eligibility for a Monetary Award Program
32 grant and to do so before commencement of the academic year.
33 Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to enhance
34 the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program,

 

 

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1 minimizing the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of
2 adjusting award amounts and ensuring that the annual Monetary
3 Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
4     (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of and
5 make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit
6 institutions in accordance with the criteria set forth in this
7 Section. The eligibility of applicants enrolled at such
8 for-profit institutions shall be limited as follows:
9         (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
10 eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
11 students who have attained an associate degree.
12         (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
13 eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
14 attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
15 grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
16 whose grants are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
17         (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
18 eligible students.
19 (Source: P.A. 91-249, eff. 7-22-99; 91-250, eff. 7-22-99;
20 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 91-747, eff. 7-1-00; 92-45, eff. 7-1-01.)
 
21     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
22 2004.".