Full Text of HB3447 100th General Assembly
HB3447eng 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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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 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Tuition Reduction Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Legislative intent. | 7 | | (a) The General Assembly recognizes that this State's | 8 | | higher education system plays a critical role in ensuring this | 9 | | State's continued leadership role in driving economic | 10 | | prosperity, innovation, and opportunity. By educating citizens | 11 | | for living wage jobs, producing world-class research, and | 12 | | helping to create vibrant communities, this State's | 13 | | institutions of higher education form a foundational component | 14 | | in ensuring prosperity for our citizens. | 15 | | (b) The General Assembly also recognizes the importance of | 16 | | prioritizing scarce resources for the core, front-line | 17 | | services that higher education institutions provide, namely | 18 | | instruction, research, and robust financial aid. During times | 19 | | of economic downturn, policymakers must focus on those areas of | 20 | | public service that have the most direct and immediate impact | 21 | | on students. Keeping class sections open, attracting the best | 22 | | professors and instructors, providing comprehensive support | 23 | | services, and offering meaningful financial help to offset the |
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| 1 | | costs of attending college must be the main concerns of | 2 | | policymakers. It is for these reasons that the General Assembly | 3 | | intends to refocus its commitment to direct aid to students and | 4 | | continue efforts to make college more affordable.
| 5 | | Section 10. Definitions. In this Act: | 6 | | "Student" means a full-time resident undergraduate student | 7 | | enrolled at a university. | 8 | | "University" means a public university located in this | 9 | | State. | 10 | | Section 15. Tuition grants.
| 11 | | (a) Beginning with the 2017-2018 academic year, each | 12 | | university must reimburse a portion of the tuition charged to | 13 | | students as provided in this subsection (a). Reimbursement | 14 | | shall be in the form of a grant applied directly to a student's | 15 | | financial aid account. To determine the per-pupil grant amount, | 16 | | the university shall calculate the difference, if any, between | 17 | | the current fiscal year's aggregate appropriations to the | 18 | | university for operations and fiscal year 2002's aggregate | 19 | | appropriations to the university for operations and divide that | 20 | | amount by the number of students enrolled on the tenth day of | 21 | | the previous academic year. Fifty percent of this calculation | 22 | | then equals the per-pupil grant amount, to be awarded to | 23 | | currently enrolled students to reduce their tuition costs. | 24 | | However, if the current fiscal year's aggregate appropriations |
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| 1 | | to the university for operations are equal to or less than | 2 | | fiscal year 2002's aggregate appropriations for operations, | 3 | | then the university is not required to award any grants under | 4 | | this subsection (a) in a given academic year.
| 5 | | (b) On or before September 1, 2018 and on or before | 6 | | September 1 each year thereafter, each university shall report | 7 | | updated estimates of the total amount in grants awarded under | 8 | | subsection (a) of this Section in an academic year to the | 9 | | Governor and the appropriate committees of the General | 10 | | Assembly.
| 11 | | (c) If the General Assembly increases funding for each | 12 | | university for 4 consecutive years, the Board of Higher | 13 | | Education shall report to the General Assembly on whether or | 14 | | not this Act should be repealed.
| 15 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 16 | | becoming law.
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