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91_HB3578
LRB9110933NTks
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. Each student who is
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1 awarded a grant under this Section and is enrolled in summer
2 school classes shall be eligible for a summer school grant.
3 The summer school grant amount shall not exceed the lesser of
4 50% 50 percent of the maximum annual grant amount authorized
5 by this Section or the actual cost of tuition and fees at the
6 institution at which the student is enrolled at least
7 part-time. For the regular academic year, the Commission
8 shall determine the grant amount for each full-time and
9 part-time student, which shall be the smallest of the
10 following amounts:
11 (1) $4,530 for 2 semesters or 3 quarters of
12 full-time undergraduate enrollment or $2,265 for 2
13 semesters or 3 quarters of part-time undergraduate
14 enrollment, or such lesser amount as the Commission finds
15 to be available; or
16 (2) the amount which equals the 2 semesters or 3
17 quarters tuition and other necessary fees required
18 generally by the institution of all full-time
19 undergraduate students, or in the case of part-time
20 students an amount of tuition and fees for 2 semesters or
21 3 quarters which shall not exceed one-half the amount of
22 tuition and necessary fees generally charged to full-time
23 undergraduate students by the institution; or
24 (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
25 appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
26 resources.
27 "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
28 include the customary charge for instruction and use of
29 facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
30 for specified purposes, which are required generally of
31 nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
32 grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
33 payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
34 deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
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1 Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
2 Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
3 tuition and other necessary fees.
4 (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
5 scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for
6 monetary award program consideration under this Act after
7 receiving a baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 10
8 semesters or 15 quarters of award payments. The Commission
9 shall determine when award payments for part-time enrollment
10 or interim or summer terms shall be counted as a partial
11 semester or quarter of payment.
12 (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants
13 to be offered, shall take into consideration past experience
14 with the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The
15 Commission shall notify applicants that grant assistance is
16 contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds.
17 (f) The Commission may request appropriations for
18 deposit into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies
19 deposited into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may be
20 expended exclusively for one purpose: to make Monetary Award
21 Program grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in
22 the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of
23 the current annual State appropriation for the Monetary Award
24 Program.
25 The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is
26 to enable the Commission each year to assure as many students
27 as possible of their eligibility for a Monetary Award Program
28 grant and to do so before commencement of the academic year.
29 Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to enhance
30 the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program,
31 minimizing the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of
32 adjusting award amounts and ensuring that the annual Monetary
33 Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
34 (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of
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1 and make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified
2 for-profit institutions in accordance with the criteria set
3 forth in this Section. The eligibility of applicants
4 enrolled at such for-profit institutions shall be limited as
5 follows:
6 (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
7 eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
8 students who have attained an associate degree.
9 (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
10 eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
11 attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
12 grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
13 whose grants are being renewed for the academic year
14 1998.
15 (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
16 eligible students.
17 (Source: P.A. 90-122, eff. 7-17-97; 90-647, eff. 7-24-98;
18 90-769, eff. 8-14-98; 91-249, eff. 7-22-99; 91-250, eff.
19 7-22-99; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; revised 8-27-99.)