Full Text of HB0150 96th General Assembly
HB0150eng 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 21st | 5 |
| Century Scholars Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Findings and purpose. | 7 |
| (a) The General Assembly finds that one of the greatest | 8 |
| barriers to access to college and success in college is | 9 |
| adequate preparation for academic work at the college-level. | 10 |
| The General Assembly also finds that large numbers of students | 11 |
| are required to take remedial education courses before they are | 12 |
| ready for college-level courses, particularly in writing and | 13 |
| mathematics. The General Assembly further acknowledges that | 14 |
| poor academic preparation may create an often insurmountable | 15 |
| barrier to college or career success and result in limited, | 16 |
| needs-based, financial aid being used on substantial remedial | 17 |
| coursework. | 18 |
| (b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to provide an | 19 |
| incentive for low-income Illinois students to improve their | 20 |
| academic preparation for postsecondary education. The General | 21 |
| Assembly acknowledges that, in addition to the poor academic | 22 |
| preparation of low-income students, the lack of information and | 23 |
| support services on financial aid and college and career |
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| readiness create significant barriers to college and career | 2 |
| success. | 3 |
| (c) This Act is intended to leverage this State's | 4 |
| successful, needs-based Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants to | 5 |
| low-income students with a voluntary, school district-based, | 6 |
| incentive program for improved academic preparation. | 7 |
| Section 10. Definitions. | 8 |
| "Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance | 9 |
| Commission. | 10 |
| "Eligible student" means a student who meets all of the | 11 |
| following requirements at the time of eligibility:
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| (1) Is a resident of this State.
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| (2) Is enrolled in grade 8 at a public or an | 14 |
| accredited, nonpublic school. | 15 |
| (3) Is eligible for free or reduced-price lunches under | 16 |
| the National School Lunch Program. | 17 |
| (4) Agrees in writing, together with the student's | 18 |
| custodial parents or guardian, that the student will do the | 19 |
| following: | 20 |
| (A) graduate from an approved high school, as | 21 |
| defined in the Higher Education Student Assistance | 22 |
| Act; | 23 |
| (B) complete the 21st Century Scholars Curriculum; | 24 |
| (C) have no felony convictions; | 25 |
| (D) apply (i) to an institution of higher learning |
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| for admission and (ii) for any federal and State | 2 |
| student financial assistance available to the student | 3 |
| to attend an institution of higher learning; and | 4 |
| (E) achieve a cumulative grade point average upon | 5 |
| graduation of at least a 2.0 on a 4.0 grading scale (or | 6 |
| its equivalent if another grading scale is used) for | 7 |
| courses taken during grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. | 8 |
| "Institution of higher learning" means "institution of | 9 |
| higher learning" as defined in the Higher Education Student | 10 |
| Assistance Act. | 11 |
| "Program" means the 21st Century Scholars Program | 12 |
| established under this Act. | 13 |
| "Scholarship applicant" means a student who meets all of | 14 |
| the following requirements: | 15 |
| (1) Was an eligible student. | 16 |
| (2) Is a resident of this State. | 17 |
| (3) Has graduated from an approved high school, as | 18 |
| defined in the Higher Education Student Assistance Act, and | 19 |
| completed the 21st Century Scholars Curriculum. | 20 |
| (4) Has been accepted to attend an institution of | 21 |
| higher learning in this State as a full-time student. | 22 |
| (5) Has timely filed an application for other types of | 23 |
| financial assistance available to the student from the | 24 |
| State and federal government. | 25 |
| "Tuition scholarship" means financial assistance provided | 26 |
| under Section 15 of this Act to a student to offset the costs |
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| of tuition and other mandatory fees incurred by the student in | 2 |
| attending an institution of higher learning. A full-tuition | 3 |
| scholarship includes the undergraduate tuition and other | 4 |
| mandatory service and activity fees, rounded to the nearest | 5 |
| whole dollar and as further defined in Section 15 of this Act.
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| "21st Century Scholars Curriculum" includes no less than 15 | 7 |
| units of high school coursework from the following 5 | 8 |
| categories: | 9 |
| (1) at least 4 years of English, including written and | 10 |
| oral communications and literature, of which up to 2 years | 11 |
| may be collegiate level instruction; | 12 |
| (2) at least 3 years of social studies, including | 13 |
| history and government; | 14 |
| (3) at least 3 years of mathematics (introductory | 15 |
| through advanced algebra, geometry, or trigonometry); | 16 |
| (4) at least 3 years of science (laboratory sciences); | 17 |
| and | 18 |
| (5) at least 2 years of electives in foreign language, | 19 |
| music, vocational education, or art. | 20 |
| "21st Century Scholars" means students who have been | 21 |
| awarded a tuition scholarship by the Commission to attend an | 22 |
| institution of higher learning under this Act. | 23 |
| "Participating school district" means a school district | 24 |
| that meets the requirements of Section 25 of this Act. | 25 |
| Section 15. Scholarship amount; total award. |
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| (a) Subject to appropriation, the Commission shall provide | 2 |
| annual tuition scholarships to scholarship applicants who | 3 |
| qualify under Section 20 of this Act in an amount that is equal | 4 |
| to the lowest of the following amounts: | 5 |
| (1) If the scholarship applicant attends a public | 6 |
| institution of higher learning and: | 7 |
| (A) receives no other financial assistance | 8 |
| specifically designated for tuition and other | 9 |
| mandatory fees, a full-tuition scholarship to the | 10 |
| institution of higher learning shall be awarded; or | 11 |
| (B) receives other financial assistance | 12 |
| specifically designated for tuition and other | 13 |
| mandatory fees, the balance required to attend the | 14 |
| institution of higher learning shall be awarded, not to | 15 |
| exceed the amount described in clause (A) of this | 16 |
| subdivision (1). | 17 |
| (2) If the scholarship applicant attends a private | 18 |
| institution of higher learning and: | 19 |
| (A) receives no other financial assistance | 20 |
| specifically designated for tuition and other | 21 |
| mandatory fees, an average of the full-tuition | 22 |
| scholarship amounts for all public universities in | 23 |
| this State, as determined by the Commission, shall be | 24 |
| awarded; or | 25 |
| (B) receives other financial assistance | 26 |
| specifically designated for tuition and other |
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| mandatory fees, the balance required to attend the | 2 |
| institution of higher learning shall be awarded, not to | 3 |
| exceed the amount described in clause (A) of this | 4 |
| subdivision (2). | 5 |
| (b) Each tuition scholarship awarded under this Act is | 6 |
| renewable under Section 20 of this Act for a total scholarship | 7 |
| award that does not exceed the equivalent of 135 credit hours. | 8 |
| Section 20. Application and renewal of tuition | 9 |
| scholarship. | 10 |
| (a) To initially qualify for a tuition scholarship under | 11 |
| this Act, a scholarship applicant must do all of the following: | 12 |
| (1) Demonstrate acceptance as a full-time student by an | 13 |
| institution of higher learning. | 14 |
| (2) Submit to the Commission all of the information and | 15 |
| evidence required by the Commission to determine | 16 |
| eligibility as a scholarship applicant. | 17 |
| (3) Agree to release student record information, such | 18 |
| as grades and his or her chosen field of study, to the | 19 |
| Commission for the purpose of assessing the educational | 20 |
| persistence of 21st Century Scholars. | 21 |
| (b) To qualify for tuition scholarship renewal under this | 22 |
| Act, a scholarship recipient must do all of the following: | 23 |
| (1) Submit to the Commission a renewal application and | 24 |
| evidence required by the Commission.
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| (2) Continue to comply with the requirements set forth |
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| in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of this Section. | 2 |
| (3) Continue to be a student in good standing at the | 3 |
| institution of higher learning. | 4 |
| Section 25. Responsibilities and obligations. The State, | 5 |
| the participating school district, and the student shall enter | 6 |
| into a 3-part compact as follows: | 7 |
| (1) At a minimum, the school district shall agree to | 8 |
| provide a 21st Century Scholars Curriculum to eligible | 9 |
| students and offer all of the following: | 10 |
| (A) Academic support for satisfactory completion | 11 |
| of courses. | 12 |
| (B) Guidance to eligible students enrolled in | 13 |
| rigorous courses that will prepare them for | 14 |
| college-level classes and ameliorate the need for | 15 |
| remedial coursework at institutions of higher | 16 |
| learning. | 17 |
| (C) Assistance in applying for applicable State | 18 |
| and federal financial aid opportunities.
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| (D) Information about the full range of higher | 20 |
| education options. | 21 |
| (E) Assistance with applying and enrolling at an | 22 |
| institution of higher learning. | 23 |
| (F) Individualized support as necessary to | 24 |
| facilitate the purpose of this Act. | 25 |
| (G) Opportunities for parents or legal guardians |
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| to participate in activities designed to support the | 2 |
| academic preparation and collegiate aspirations of | 3 |
| their children. | 4 |
| The participating school district shall report | 5 |
| annually to the Commission on the number of eligible | 6 |
| students enrolled in the Program. | 7 |
| (2) The eligible student agrees to do all of the | 8 |
| following: | 9 |
| (A) Enroll in a 21st Century Scholars Curriculum | 10 |
| consisting of the courses delineated in Section 10 of | 11 |
| this Act. | 12 |
| (B) Maintain at least a 2.0 on a 4.0 grading scale | 13 |
| (or its equivalent). | 14 |
| (C) Participate in academic support services, such | 15 |
| as mentoring and tutoring, as developed by the school | 16 |
| district. | 17 |
| (D) Participate in activities designed to assist | 18 |
| in the college search, application, and financial aid | 19 |
| processes. | 20 |
| (E) Apply to at least one institution of higher | 21 |
| learning.
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| (3) The Commission agrees to certify school districts | 23 |
| that provide the 21st Century Curriculum and meet the | 24 |
| requirements of subdivision (1) of this Section. Subject to | 25 |
| State appropriations, the Commission shall also provide a | 26 |
| tuition scholarship to 21st Century Scholars. |
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| Section 90. Rules. The Commission shall adopt rules to | 2 |
| implement this Act, including all of the following: | 3 |
| (1) Rules establishing additional criteria for the | 4 |
| tuition scholarships and an appeals process for students | 5 |
| denied tuition scholarships.
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| (2) Notwithstanding the definition of "eligible | 7 |
| students" under Section 5 of this Act, rules that may | 8 |
| include students who are in grades other than grade 8 as | 9 |
| eligible students. | 10 |
| (3) Rules regarding mentoring, outreach, and student | 11 |
| services programs and partnerships with school districts | 12 |
| and institutions of higher learning. | 13 |
| Section 95. Reports on awards. The Commission shall | 14 |
| prepare a statistical report on a fiscal year basis that | 15 |
| describes awards to 21st Century Scholars attending | 16 |
| institutions of higher learning and assessing the educational | 17 |
| persistence of 21st Century Scholars under this Act. The report | 18 |
| shall be filed with the General Assembly on or before August 15 | 19 |
| of the year following the fiscal year covered in the report.
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