Full Text of SB2336 103rd General Assembly
SB2336 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024 SB2336 Introduced 2/10/2023, by Sen. Cristina Castro SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 110 ILCS 947/10 | | 110 ILCS 947/35 | |
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Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Removes a for-profit educational organization from the definition of "institution of higher learning", "qualified institution", and "institution". Provides that an applicant is eligible for a Monetary Award Program grant, including renewals of such grant, if the applicant, among other requirements, is not attending a for-profit institution of higher education. Removes a provision allowing Monetary Award Program grants to be made to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit institutions. Makes conforming changes.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | 5 | | amended by changing Sections 10 and 35 as follows:
| 6 | | (110 ILCS 947/10)
| 7 | | Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act, and except to the | 8 | | extent that any of the
following words or phrases is | 9 | | specifically qualified by its context:
| 10 | | "Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance | 11 | | Commission created by this
Act.
| 12 | | "Enrollment" means the establishment and maintenance of an | 13 | | individual's
status as a student in an institution of higher | 14 | | learning, regardless of the
terms used at the institution to | 15 | | describe that status.
| 16 | | "Approved high school" means any public high school | 17 | | located in this
State; and any high school, located in this | 18 | | State or elsewhere (whether
designated as a high school, | 19 | | secondary school, academy, preparatory school,
or otherwise) | 20 | | which in the judgment of the State Superintendent of
Education | 21 | | provides a course of instruction at the secondary level and | 22 | | maintains
standards of instruction substantially equivalent to | 23 | | those of the public high
schools located in this State.
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| 1 | | "Institution of higher learning", "qualified institution", | 2 | | or "institution"
means an educational organization located in | 3 | | this State which
| 4 | | (1) provides
at least an organized 2 year program of | 5 | | collegiate grade in the liberal arts or
sciences, or both, | 6 | | directly applicable toward the attainment of a | 7 | | baccalaureate
degree or a program in health
education
| 8 | | directly applicable toward the attainment of a | 9 | | certificate, diploma, or an
associate degree;
| 10 | | (2) either is
| 11 | | (A) operated by this State, or
| 12 | | (B) operated
publicly or privately, not for | 13 | | profit, or
| 14 | | (C) (blank); operated for profit, provided such | 15 | | for profit organization
| 16 | | (i) offers degree programs which have been | 17 | | approved by the Board of
Higher Education for a | 18 | | minimum of 3 years under the Academic Degree Act, | 19 | | and
| 20 | | (ii) enrolls a majority of its students in | 21 | | such degree programs, and
| 22 | | (iii) maintains an accredited status with the | 23 | | Commission on
Institutions of Higher Education of | 24 | | the North Central Association of Colleges
and | 25 | | Schools;
| 26 | | (3) in the judgment of the Commission
meets standards |
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| 1 | | substantially equivalent to those of comparable | 2 | | institutions
operated by this State; and
| 3 | | (4) if so required by the Commission, uses the
State | 4 | | as its primary guarantor of student loans made under the | 5 | | federal Higher
Education Act of 1965.
| 6 | | For otherwise eligible educational organizations which
provide | 7 | | academic programs for incarcerated students, the terms | 8 | | "institution of
higher learning", "qualified institutions", | 9 | | and "institution" shall
specifically exclude academic programs | 10 | | for incarcerated students.
| 11 | | "Academic year" means a 12 month period of time, normally | 12 | | but not
exclusively, from September 1 of any year through | 13 | | August 31 of the ensuing
year.
| 14 | | "Full-time student" means any undergraduate student | 15 | | enrolled in 12 or
more semester or quarter hours of credit | 16 | | courses in any given semester or
quarter or in the equivalent | 17 | | number of units of registration as determined
by the | 18 | | Commission.
| 19 | | "Part-time student" means any undergraduate student, other | 20 | | than a
full-time student, enrolled in 6 or more semester or | 21 | | quarter hours of
credit courses in any given semester or | 22 | | quarter or in the equivalent number
of units of registration | 23 | | as determined by the Commission. Beginning with
fiscal year | 24 | | 1999, the Commission may, on a program by program basis, | 25 | | expand
this definition of "part-time student" to include | 26 | | students who enroll in less
than 6 semester or quarter hours of |
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| 1 | | credit courses in any given semester or
quarter.
| 2 | | "Public university" means any public 4-year university in | 3 | | this State. | 4 | | "Public university campus" means any campus under the | 5 | | governance or supervision of a public university. | 6 | | (Source: P.A. 100-587, eff. 6-4-18; 100-1015, eff. 8-21-18.)
| 7 | | (110 ILCS 947/35)
| 8 | | Sec. 35. Monetary award program.
| 9 | | (a) The Commission shall, each year, receive and consider | 10 | | applications
for grant assistance under this Section. Subject | 11 | | to a separate
appropriation for such purposes, an applicant is | 12 | | eligible for a grant under
this Section when the Commission | 13 | | finds that the applicant:
| 14 | | (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or | 15 | | permanent resident
of the United States;
| 16 | | (2) is enrolled or has been accepted for enrollment in | 17 | | a qualified institution for the purpose of obtaining a | 18 | | degree, certificate, or other credential offered by the | 19 | | institution, as applicable; and | 20 | | (3) in the absence of grant assistance, will be | 21 | | deterred by
financial considerations from completing an | 22 | | educational program at the
qualified institution of his or | 23 | | her choice ; and .
| 24 | | (4) is not attending a for-profit institution of | 25 | | higher education. |
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| 1 | | (b) The Commission shall award renewals only upon the | 2 | | student's application
and upon the Commission's finding that | 3 | | the applicant:
| 4 | | (1) has remained a student in good standing;
| 5 | | (2) remains a resident of this State; and
| 6 | | (3) is in a financial situation that continues to | 7 | | warrant assistance ; and .
| 8 | | (4) is not attending a for-profit institution of | 9 | | higher education. | 10 | | (c) All grants shall be applicable only to tuition and | 11 | | necessary fee costs. The Commission shall determine the grant
| 12 | | amount for each student, which shall not exceed the smallest | 13 | | of
the following amounts:
| 14 | | (1) subject to appropriation, $5,468 for fiscal year | 15 | | 2009, $5,968 for fiscal year 2010, $6,468 for fiscal year | 16 | | 2011 and each fiscal year thereafter through fiscal year | 17 | | 2022, and $8,508 for fiscal year 2023 and each fiscal year | 18 | | thereafter, or such lesser amount as
the Commission finds | 19 | | to be available, during an 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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| 1 | | students not subject to subdivision (1) of this subsection (c) | 2 | | must be increased by the same percentage as any increase made | 3 | | by law to the maximum grant amount under subdivision (1) of | 4 | | this subsection (c). | 5 | | "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section | 6 | | include the
customary charge for instruction and use of | 7 | | facilities in general, and the
additional fixed fees charged | 8 | | for specified purposes, which are required
generally of | 9 | | nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the | 10 | | grant
applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees | 11 | | payable only once or
breakage fees and other contingent | 12 | | deposits which are refundable in whole or in
part. The | 13 | | Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
| 14 | | Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of | 15 | | tuition and other
necessary fees.
| 16 | | (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving | 17 | | scholarship
assistance under this Act, is eligible for | 18 | | monetary award program
consideration under this Act after | 19 | | receiving a baccalaureate degree or
the equivalent of 135 | 20 | | semester credit hours of award payments.
| 21 | | (d-5) In this subsection (d-5), "renewing applicant" means | 22 | | a student attending an institution of higher learning who | 23 | | received a Monetary Award Program grant during the prior | 24 | | academic year. Beginning with the processing of applications | 25 | | for the 2020-2021 academic year, the Commission shall annually | 26 | | publish a priority deadline date for renewing applicants. |
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| 1 | | Subject to appropriation, a renewing applicant who files by | 2 | | the published priority deadline date shall receive a grant if | 3 | | he or she continues to meet the eligibility requirements under | 4 | | this Section. A renewing applicant's failure to apply by the | 5 | | priority deadline date established under this subsection (d-5) | 6 | | shall not disqualify him or her from receiving a grant if | 7 | | sufficient funding is available to provide awards after that | 8 | | date. | 9 | | (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to | 10 | | be offered,
shall take into consideration past experience with | 11 | | the rate of grant funds
unclaimed by recipients. The | 12 | | Commission shall notify applicants that grant
assistance is | 13 | | contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds.
| 14 | | (e-5) The General Assembly finds and declares that it is | 15 | | an important purpose of the Monetary Award Program to | 16 | | facilitate access to college both for students who pursue | 17 | | postsecondary education immediately following high school and | 18 | | for those who pursue postsecondary education later in life, | 19 | | particularly Illinoisans who are dislocated workers with | 20 | | financial need and who are seeking to improve their economic | 21 | | position through education. For the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 | 22 | | academic years, the Commission shall give additional and | 23 | | specific consideration to the needs of dislocated workers with | 24 | | the intent of allowing applicants who are dislocated workers | 25 | | an opportunity to secure financial assistance even if applying | 26 | | later than the general pool of applicants. The Commission's |
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| 1 | | consideration shall include, in determining the number of | 2 | | grants to be offered, an estimate of the resources needed to | 3 | | serve dislocated workers who apply after the Commission | 4 | | initially suspends award announcements for the upcoming | 5 | | regular academic year, but prior to the beginning of that | 6 | | academic year. For the purposes of this subsection (e-5), a | 7 | | dislocated worker is defined as in the federal Workforce
| 8 | | Innovation and Opportunity Act. | 9 | | (f) (Blank).
| 10 | | (g) (Blank). The Commission shall determine the | 11 | | eligibility of and make grants to
applicants enrolled at | 12 | | qualified for-profit institutions in accordance with the
| 13 | | criteria set forth in this Section. The eligibility of | 14 | | applicants enrolled at
such for-profit institutions shall be | 15 | | limited as follows:
| 16 | | (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to | 17 | | eligible first-time
freshmen and
first-time transfer | 18 | | students who have attained an associate degree.
| 19 | | (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to | 20 | | eligible freshmen
students,
transfer students who have | 21 | | attained an associate degree, and students who
receive a | 22 | | grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and | 23 | | whose grants
are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
| 24 | | (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all | 25 | | eligible students.
| 26 | | (h) The Commission may award a grant to an eligible |
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| 1 | | applicant enrolled at an Illinois public institution of higher | 2 | | learning in a program that will culminate in the award of an | 3 | | occupational or career and technical certificate as that term | 4 | | is defined in 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1501.301. | 5 | | (i) The Commission may adopt rules to implement this | 6 | | Section. | 7 | | (Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 102-699, eff. 4-19-22.)
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