Rep. Kenneth Dunkin

Filed: 5/2/2012

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1967

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1967, AS AMENDED,
3by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
4following:
 
5    "Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
6amended by changing Section 35 as follows:
 
7    (110 ILCS 947/35)
8    Sec. 35. Monetary award program.
9    (a) The Commission shall, each year, receive and consider
10applications for grant assistance under this Section. Subject
11to a separate appropriation for such purposes, an applicant is
12eligible for a grant under this Section when the Commission
13finds that the applicant:
14        (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or
15    permanent resident of the United States; and
16        (2) in the absence of grant assistance, will be

 

 

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

 

 

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1students not subject to subdivision (1) of this subsection (c)
2must be increased by the same percentage as any increase made
3by law to the maximum grant amount under subdivision (1) of
4this subsection (c).
5    "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
6include the customary charge for instruction and use of
7facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
8for specified purposes, which are required generally of
9nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
10grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
11payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
12deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
13Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
14Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
15tuition and other necessary fees.
16    (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
17scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for monetary
18award program consideration under this Act after receiving a
19baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 135 semester credit
20hours of award payments.
21    (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to
22be offered, shall in no instance assume greater monetary award
23program funding than the program received during the previous
24fiscal year. The Commission shall also, in determining the
25number of grants to be offered, take into consideration past
26experience with the rate of grant funds unclaimed by

 

 

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1recipients. The Commission shall notify applicants that grant
2assistance is contingent upon the availability of appropriated
3funds.
4    (e-5) In the event that appropriations in any fiscal year
5prove insufficient to fulfill those monetary award program
6grants awarded by the Commission through notification, the
7Commission shall utilize necessary prorating equally between
8the fall and spring academic semesters.
9    (f) The Commission may request appropriations for deposit
10into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies deposited
11into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may be expended
12exclusively for one purpose: to make Monetary Award Program
13grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in the Monetary
14Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of the current
15annual State appropriation for the Monetary Award Program.
16    The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is
17to enable the Commission each year to assure as many students
18as possible of their eligibility for a Monetary Award Program
19grant and to do so before commencement of the academic year.
20Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to enhance
21the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program,
22minimizing the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of
23adjusting award amounts and ensuring that the annual Monetary
24Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
25    (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of and
26make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit

 

 

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1institutions in accordance with the criteria set forth in this
2Section. The eligibility of applicants enrolled at such
3for-profit institutions shall be limited as follows:
4        (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
5    eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
6    students who have attained an associate degree.
7        (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
8    eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
9    attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
10    grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
11    whose grants are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
12        (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
13    eligible students.
14(Source: P.A. 95-917, eff. 8-26-08.)
 
15    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
162012.".