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90_HB2805
110 ILCS 947/35
Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act.
Requires the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to
present an annual report to the Governor, General Assembly,
and Board of Higher Education recommending funds needed to
broaden eligibility for the monetary award program.
Effective July 1, 1998.
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1 AN ACT to amend the Higher Education Student Assistance
2 Act by changing Section 35.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act
6 is amended by changing Section 35 as follows:
7 (110 ILCS 947/35)
8 Sec. 35. Monetary award program.
9 (a) The Commission shall, each year, receive and
10 consider applications for grant assistance under this
11 Section. Subject to a separate appropriation for such
12 purposes, an applicant is eligible for a grant under this
13 Section when the Commission finds that the applicant:
14 (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or
15 permanent resident of the United States; and
16 (2) in the absence of grant assistance, will be
17 deterred by financial considerations from completing an
18 educational program at the qualified institution of his
19 or her choice.
20 (b) The Commission shall award renewals only upon the
21 student's application and upon the Commission's finding that
22 the applicant:
23 (1) has remained a student in good standing;
24 (2) remains a resident of this State; and
25 (3) is in a financial situation that continues to
26 warrant assistance.
27 (c) All grants shall be applicable only to tuition and
28 necessary fee costs for 2 semesters or 3 quarters in an
29 academic year. Requests for summer term assistance will be
30 made separately and shall be considered on an individual
31 basis according to Commission policy. The Commission shall
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1 determine the grant amount for each full-time and part-time
2 student, which shall be the smallest of the following
3 amounts:
4 (1) $4,120 for 2 semesters or 3 quarters of
5 full-time undergraduate enrollment or $2,060 for 2
6 semesters or 3 quarters of part-time undergraduate
7 enrollment, or such lesser amount as the Commission finds
8 to be available; or
9 (2) the amount which equals the 2 semesters or 3
10 quarters tuition and other necessary fees required
11 generally by the institution of all full-time
12 undergraduate students, or in the case of part-time
13 students an amount of tuition and fees for 2 semesters or
14 3 quarters which shall not exceed one-half the amount of
15 tuition and necessary fees generally charged to full-time
16 undergraduate students by the institution; or
17 (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
18 appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
19 resources.
20 "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
21 include the customary charge for instruction and use of
22 facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
23 for specified purposes, which are required generally of
24 nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
25 grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
26 payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
27 deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
28 Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
29 Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
30 tuition and other necessary fees.
31 (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
32 scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for
33 monetary award program consideration under this Act after
34 receiving a baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 10
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1 semesters or 15 quarters of award payments. The Commission
2 shall determine when award payments for part-time enrollment
3 or interim or summer terms shall be counted as a partial
4 semester or quarter of payment.
5 (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants
6 to be offered, shall take into consideration past experience
7 with the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The
8 Commission shall notify applicants that grant assistance is
9 contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds.
10 (f) The Commission may request appropriations for
11 deposit into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies
12 deposited into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may be
13 expended exclusively for one purpose: to make Monetary Award
14 Program grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in
15 the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of
16 the current annual State appropriation for the Monetary Award
17 Program.
18 The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is
19 to enable the Commission each year to assure as many students
20 as possible of their eligibility for a Monetary Award Program
21 grant and to do so before commencement of the academic year.
22 Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to enhance
23 the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program,
24 minimizing the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of
25 adjusting award amounts and ensuring that the annual Monetary
26 Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
27 (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of
28 and make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified
29 for-profit institutions in accordance with the criteria set
30 forth in this Section. The eligibility of applicants
31 enrolled at such for-profit institutions shall be limited as
32 follows:
33 (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
34 eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
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1 students who have attained an associate degree.
2 (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
3 eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
4 attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
5 grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
6 whose grants are being renewed for the academic year
7 1998.
8 (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
9 eligible students.
10 (h) The Commission shall annually present to the
11 Governor, the General Assembly, and the Board of Higher
12 Education recommendations regarding the additional funding
13 that would be needed to broaden eligibility for the Monetary
14 Award Program. These recommendations shall include but not
15 be limited to specific steps that could be taken to eliminate
16 existing rationing devices that make eligibility
17 progressively less likely as family income increases. The
18 anticipated cost of implementing any of those recommendations
19 shall be included in the report.
20 (Source: P.A. 89-163, eff. 7-19-95; 89-330, eff. 8-17-95;
21 89-512, eff. 7-11-96; 89-626, eff. 8-9-96; 90-122, eff.
22 7-17-97.)
23 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July
24 1, 1998.