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