Full Text of HB6940 93rd General Assembly
HB6940 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004 HB6940
Introduced 02/09/04, by James D. Brosnahan SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Provides that an applicant for a Merit Recognition Scholarship must complete at least 40 hours of volunteer service as of the end of the 6th semester of high school in order to be eligible. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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HB6940 |
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LRB093 15096 NHT 45213 b |
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| AN ACT concerning higher education student assistance.
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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 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | 5 |
| amended by changing Section 31 as follows:
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| (110 ILCS 947/31)
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| Sec. 31. Merit Recognition Scholarship program.
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| (a) As used in this Section:
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| "Eligible applicant" means a student from any high school | 10 |
| in this State,
either
approved by or not recognized by the | 11 |
| State Board of Education, (i) who is engaged
in a
program of | 12 |
| study that in due course will be completed by the end of the
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| academic year,
(ii) who has completed at least 40 hours of | 14 |
| volunteer service as of the end of the 6th semester of high | 15 |
| school, and (iii)
(i) whose cumulative high school grade point | 16 |
| average is at or above the
95th
percentile of his or her high | 17 |
| school class after completion of the 6th semester
of a high
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| school
program of instruction or (ii) whose score on a
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| standardized
examination determined by the Commission, taken | 20 |
| before or during the 6th
semester of high school, is at or | 21 |
| above the 95th percentile of
students
in the State who take the | 22 |
| standardized college entrance examination.
These high school | 23 |
| students are all eligible
to receive a
scholarship to be | 24 |
| awarded under this Section.
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| "Qualified student" means a person:
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| (1) who is a resident of this State and a citizen or | 27 |
| permanent resident of
the United States;
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| (2) who, as an eligible applicant, is in good academic | 29 |
| standing at the
high
school in which he or she is enrolled | 30 |
| and has made a timely application for a
Merit Recognition | 31 |
| Scholarship under this Section;
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| (3) who has successfully completed the program of |
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LRB093 15096 NHT 45213 b |
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| instruction at any high
school located in this State; and
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| (4) who enrolls or is enrolled in a qualified Illinois | 3 |
| institution of
higher
learning or a Service Academy as an | 4 |
| undergraduate student or cadet and has not
received a | 5 |
| baccalaureate degree.
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| "Merit Recognition Scholarship" means a $1,000 academic | 7 |
| scholarship
awarded under this Section during an academic year | 8 |
| to a qualified student,
without regard
to financial need, as a | 9 |
| scholarship to any qualified Illinois institution of
higher | 10 |
| learning or
a Service Academy in which the student is or will | 11 |
| be enrolled as an
undergraduate
student or cadet.
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| "Service Academy" means the U.S. Air Force Academy, the | 13 |
| U.S. Coast Guard
Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, or the | 14 |
| U.S. Naval Academy.
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| (b) In order to identify, encourage, promote, and reward | 16 |
| the distinguished
academic achievement of students from every | 17 |
| high school located in this State,
each
qualified student shall | 18 |
| be awarded a Merit Recognition Scholarship by the
Illinois
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| Student Assistance Commission to any qualified Illinois | 20 |
| institution of higher
learning or
to any Service Academy.
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| (c) No Merit Recognition Scholarship provided for a | 22 |
| qualified student
under this Section shall be considered in | 23 |
| evaluating the financial situation of
that student
or be deemed | 24 |
| a financial resource of or a form of financial aid or | 25 |
| assistance
to that
student, for purposes of determining the | 26 |
| eligibility of the student for any
scholarship,
grant, or | 27 |
| monetary assistance awarded by the Commission, the State, or | 28 |
| any
agency
thereof pursuant to the provisions of any other | 29 |
| Section of this Act or any
other law of this
State; nor shall | 30 |
| any Merit Recognition Scholarship provided for a
qualified
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| student under
this Section reduce the amount of any | 32 |
| scholarship, grant, or monetary
assistance that that
student is | 33 |
| eligible to be awarded by the Commission, the State, or any | 34 |
| agency
thereof in
accordance with the provisions of any other | 35 |
| Section of this Act or any other
law of this
State.
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| (d) The Illinois Student Assistance Commission is |
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| designated as
administrator of the Merit Recognition | 2 |
| Scholarship program. Each high
school
located in this State | 3 |
| shall certify to the Commission the names of its students
who | 4 |
| are
eligible applicants, specifying which of the students | 5 |
| certified as eligible
applicants have
completed the program of | 6 |
| instruction at that high school and the graduation
date fixed | 7 |
| for
their high school class and specifying for each of the | 8 |
| other eligible
applicants whose
names appear on the | 9 |
| certification the semester of high school last completed by
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| them.
The Commission shall promptly notify those eligible | 11 |
| applicants so certified who
are
reasonably assured of receiving | 12 |
| a Merit Recognition Scholarship in accordance
with
the annual | 13 |
| funding levels recommended in the Governor's budget of their
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| eligibility to
apply for a scholarship under this Section, | 15 |
| other than any eligible applicant
named on any
such | 16 |
| certification who, as an eligible applicant, has previously | 17 |
| made
application to the
Commission for a Merit Recognition | 18 |
| Scholarship under this Section. An
otherwise
eligible | 19 |
| applicant who fails to make a timely application (as determined | 20 |
| by the
Commission) for a Merit Recognition Scholarship under | 21 |
| this Section shall
no longer
be deemed an eligible applicant | 22 |
| and shall not qualify for the award.
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| (e) All applications for Merit Recognition Scholarships to | 24 |
| be awarded
under
this Section shall be made to the Commission | 25 |
| on forms that the Commission shall
provide for eligible | 26 |
| applicants. The form of applications and the information
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| required to
be set forth therein shall be determined by the | 28 |
| Commission, and the Commission
shall
require eligible | 29 |
| applicants to submit with their applications such supporting
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| documents
as the Commission deems necessary.
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| (f) The names and addresses of Merit Recognition | 32 |
| Scholarship recipients
are a matter of public record.
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| (g) Whenever an eligible applicant who has completed the | 34 |
| program of
instruction at any high school located in this State | 35 |
| thereafter makes timely
application to
the Commission for a | 36 |
| Merit Recognition Scholarship under this Section, the
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| Commission shall promptly determine whether that eligible | 2 |
| applicant is a
qualified
student as defined in subsection (a) | 3 |
| of this Section. Each such eligible
applicant so
determined by | 4 |
| the Commission to be a qualified student shall be awarded
a | 5 |
| Merit Recognition Scholarship in the amount of $1,000, | 6 |
| effective exclusively
during the
academic year following the | 7 |
| qualified student's high school graduation, subject
to | 8 |
| appropriation by the General Assembly.
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| (h) Subject to a separate appropriation for purposes of | 10 |
| this Section,
payment of
any Merit Recognition Scholarship | 11 |
| awarded under this Section shall be
determined
exclusively by | 12 |
| the Commission. All scholarship funds distributed in | 13 |
| accordance
with this
subsection (h) shall be paid to the | 14 |
| qualified Illinois
institution of higher
learning or Service | 15 |
| Academy and used only for payment of the educational
expenses
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| incurred by the student in connection with his or her | 17 |
| attendance as an
undergraduate
student or cadet at that | 18 |
| institution or Service Academy, including but not
limited to
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| tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, required | 20 |
| Service Academy
uniforms, and travel and personal expenses | 21 |
| related to the student's attendance
at that
institution or | 22 |
| Service Academy. Any Merit Recognition Scholarship awarded
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| under
this Section shall be applicable to 2 semesters or 3 | 24 |
| quarters of enrollment.
Should a
qualified student withdraw | 25 |
| from enrollment prior to completion of the first
semester or
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| quarter for which the Merit Recognition Scholarship is | 27 |
| applicable, the
student shall
refund to the Commission the | 28 |
| amount of the scholarship received.
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| (i) The Commission shall administer the Merit Recognition | 30 |
| Scholarship
program established by this Section and shall make | 31 |
| all necessary and proper
rules, not
inconsistent with this | 32 |
| Section, for its effective implementation.
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| (j) When an appropriation to the Commission for purposes of | 34 |
| this Section is
insufficient to provide scholarships to all | 35 |
| qualified students, the Commission
shall
allocate the | 36 |
| appropriation in accordance with this subsection (j). If funds
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| are insufficient to provide all qualified students with a | 2 |
| scholarship as
authorized by subsection (g) of this Section, | 3 |
| the Commission shall allocate the
scholarships to qualified | 4 |
| students in order of decreasing relative academic
rank, as | 5 |
| determined by the Commission using a formula based upon the | 6 |
| qualified
student's grade point average, score on the | 7 |
| appropriate statewide standardized
examination, or a | 8 |
| combination of grade point average and standardized test
score. | 9 |
| All Merit Recognition Scholarships awarded shall be in the | 10 |
| amount of
$1,000.
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| (k) The Commission, in determining the number of Merit | 12 |
| Recognition
Scholarships to be offered pursuant to subsection | 13 |
| (j) of this Section, shall
take into consideration past | 14 |
| experience with the rate of merit scholarship
funds unclaimed | 15 |
| by qualified students. To the extent necessary to avoid an
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| over-commitment of funds, the Commission may allocate | 17 |
| scholarship funds on
the basis of the date the Commission | 18 |
| receives a completed application form.
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| (Source: P.A. 91-128, eff. 7-1-00.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 21 |
| becoming law.
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