Full Text of HB3974 99th General Assembly
HB3974ham001 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Reginald Phillips Filed: 3/23/2015
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3974
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3974 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) In this Section: | 9 | | "Dependent college student" means a traditional student | 10 | | attending an institution of higher learning who depends on his | 11 | | or her family for financial support. Students who are not | 12 | | presumed to be independent college students under this | 13 | | subsection (a) are presumed, for the purposes of this Section, | 14 | | to be dependent on their families for financial support. | 15 | | "Independent college student" means a non-traditional | 16 | | student attending an institution of higher learning who does |
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| 1 | | not depend on his or
her family for financial support. Students | 2 | | who are orphans, 24 years of age or older, married, or in the | 3 | | military or who have
a child and contribute to more than half | 4 | | of the child's support
are presumed, for the purposes of this | 5 | | Section, not to
be dependent on their families for financial | 6 | | support. | 7 | | "Tuition and other necessary fees" includes the customary | 8 | | charge for instruction and use of facilities in general and the | 9 | | additional fixed fees charged for specified purposes, which are | 10 | | required generally of nongrant recipients for each academic | 11 | | period for which the
grant applicant actually enrolls, but does | 12 | | not include fees
payable only once or breakage fees and other | 13 | | contingent
deposits that are refundable in whole or in part. | 14 | | The
Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with | 15 | | this
Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation | 16 | | of
tuition and other necessary fees. | 17 | | (a-5) The Commission shall, each year, receive and consider | 18 | | applications
for grant assistance under this Section. Subject | 19 | | to a separate
appropriation for such purposes, an applicant is | 20 | | eligible for a grant under
this Section when the Commission | 21 | | finds that the applicant:
| 22 | | (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or | 23 | | permanent resident
of the United States; and
| 24 | | (2) in the absence of grant assistance, will be | 25 | | deterred by
financial considerations from completing an | 26 | | educational program at the
qualified institution of his or |
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| 1 | | her choice ; and .
| 2 | | (3) beginning with the 2016-2017 academic year, with | 3 | | respect to an applicant who is a freshman dependent college | 4 | | student, has achieved at least an ACT college entrance exam | 5 | | composite score of 18 or a 3.0 cumulative grade point | 6 | | average on a 4.0 scale, or its equivalent, in high school. | 7 | | However, a freshman dependent college student in a | 8 | | technical or trade school must have a 2.0 cumulative grade | 9 | | point average on a 4.0 scale, or its equivalent. | 10 | | (b) The Commission shall award renewals only upon the | 11 | | student's application
and upon the Commission's finding that | 12 | | the applicant:
| 13 | | (1) has remained a student in good standing;
| 14 | | (2) remains a resident of this State; and
| 15 | | (3) is in a financial situation that continues to | 16 | | warrant assistance.
| 17 | | (c) All grants shall be applicable only to tuition and | 18 | | necessary fee costs. The Commission shall determine the grant
| 19 | | amount for each student, which shall not exceed the smallest of
| 20 | | the following amounts:
| 21 | | (1) subject to appropriation, $5,468 for fiscal year | 22 | | 2009, $5,968 for fiscal year 2010, and $6,468 for fiscal | 23 | | year 2011 and each fiscal year thereafter, or such lesser | 24 | | amount as
the Commission finds to be available, during an | 25 | | academic year;
| 26 | | (2) the amount which equals 2 semesters or 3 quarters |
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| 1 | | tuition
and other necessary fees required generally by the | 2 | | institution of all
full-time undergraduate students; or
| 3 | | (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be | 4 | | appropriate in view of
the applicant's financial | 5 | | resources.
| 6 | | Subject to appropriation, the maximum grant amount for | 7 | | students not subject to subdivision (1) of this subsection (c) | 8 | | must be increased by the same percentage as any increase made | 9 | | by law to the maximum grant amount under subdivision (1) of | 10 | | this subsection (c). | 11 | | "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section | 12 | | include the
customary charge for instruction and use of | 13 | | facilities in general, and the
additional fixed fees charged | 14 | | for specified purposes, which are required
generally of | 15 | | nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the | 16 | | grant
applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees | 17 | | payable only once or
breakage fees and other contingent | 18 | | deposits which are refundable in whole or in
part. The | 19 | | Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
| 20 | | Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of | 21 | | tuition and other
necessary fees.
| 22 | | (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving | 23 | | scholarship
assistance under this Act, is eligible for monetary | 24 | | award program
consideration under this Act after receiving a | 25 | | baccalaureate degree or
the equivalent of 135 semester credit | 26 | | hours of award payments.
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| 1 | | (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to | 2 | | be offered,
shall take into consideration past experience with | 3 | | the rate of grant funds
unclaimed by recipients. The Commission | 4 | | shall notify applicants that grant
assistance is contingent | 5 | | upon the availability of appropriated funds.
| 6 | | (e-5) The General Assembly finds and declares that it is an | 7 | | important purpose of the Monetary Award Program to facilitate | 8 | | access to college both for students who pursue postsecondary | 9 | | education immediately following high school and for those who | 10 | | pursue postsecondary education later in life, particularly | 11 | | Illinoisans who are dislocated workers with financial need and | 12 | | who are seeking to improve their economic position through | 13 | | education. For the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 academic years, the | 14 | | Commission shall give additional and specific consideration to | 15 | | the needs of dislocated workers with the intent of allowing | 16 | | applicants who are dislocated workers an opportunity to secure | 17 | | financial assistance even if applying later than the general | 18 | | pool of applicants. The Commission's consideration shall | 19 | | include, in determining the number of grants to be offered, an | 20 | | estimate of the resources needed to serve dislocated workers | 21 | | who apply after the Commission initially suspends award | 22 | | announcements for the upcoming regular academic year, but prior | 23 | | to the beginning of that academic year. For the purposes of | 24 | | this subsection (e-5), a dislocated worker is defined as in the | 25 | | federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998. | 26 | | (f) The Commission may request appropriations for deposit |
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| 1 | | into the
Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies deposited | 2 | | into the Monetary Award
Program Reserve Fund may be expended | 3 | | exclusively for one purpose: to make
Monetary Award Program | 4 | | grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in the
Monetary | 5 | | Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of the current | 6 | | annual
State appropriation for the Monetary Award Program. The | 7 | | Commission must reserve 25% of the Monetary Award Program Fund | 8 | | for community colleges until the May preceding the start of the | 9 | | next academic year.
| 10 | | The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is | 11 | | to enable the
Commission each year to assure as many students | 12 | | as possible of their
eligibility for a Monetary Award Program | 13 | | grant and to do so before commencement
of the academic year. | 14 | | Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to
enhance | 15 | | the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program, | 16 | | minimizing
the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of | 17 | | adjusting award amounts and ensuring
that the annual Monetary | 18 | | Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
| 19 | | (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of and | 20 | | make grants to
applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit | 21 | | institutions in accordance with the
criteria set forth in this | 22 | | Section. The eligibility of applicants enrolled at
such | 23 | | for-profit institutions shall be limited as follows:
| 24 | | (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to | 25 | | eligible first-time
freshmen and
first-time transfer | 26 | | students who have attained an associate degree.
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| 1 | | (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to | 2 | | eligible freshmen
students,
transfer students who have | 3 | | attained an associate degree, and students who
receive a | 4 | | grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and | 5 | | whose grants
are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
| 6 | | (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all | 7 | | eligible students.
| 8 | | (Source: P.A. 98-967, eff. 8-15-14.)".
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