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92_HB3123
LRB9204696NTsbA
1 AN ACT relating to higher 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
5 is amended by adding Section 45.5 as follows:
6 (110 ILCS 947/45.5 new)
7 Sec. 45.5. Firefighter grant program.
8 (a) As used in this Section:
9 "State-controlled university or community college" means
10 those institutions under the administration of the Chicago
11 State University Board of Trustees, the Eastern Illinois
12 University Board of Trustees, the Governors State University
13 Board of Trustees, the Illinois State University Board of
14 Trustees, the Northeastern Illinois University Board of
15 Trustees, the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees,
16 the Western Illinois University Board of Trustees, the
17 Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees, the
18 University of Illinois Board of Trustees, or the Illinois
19 Community College Board.
20 "Tuition and fees" does not include expenses for any
21 sectarian or denominational instruction, the construction or
22 maintenance of sectarian or denominational facilities, or any
23 other sectarian or denominational purposes or activity.
24 "Fees" means matriculation, graduation, activity, term,
25 or incidental fees. Exemption shall not be granted from any
26 other fees, including book rental, service, laboratory,
27 supply, and union building fees, hospital and medical
28 insurance fees, and any fees established for the operation
29 and maintenance of buildings, the income of which is pledged
30 to the payment of interest and principal on bonds issued by
31 the governing board of any university or community college.
-2- LRB9204696NTsbA
1 (b) Any person who has served at least 3 years as an
2 active volunteer or paid on-call firefighter and who
3 possesses all necessary entrance requirements shall, upon
4 application and proper proof, be awarded a grant to the
5 State-controlled university or community college of his or
6 her choice, consisting of exemption from tuition and fees for
7 not more than the equivalent of 4 years of full-time
8 enrollment in relation to his or her course of study at that
9 State-controlled university or community college while he or
10 she serves as an active volunteer or paid on-call
11 firefighter. If the recipient of any grant awarded under
12 this Section ceases to serve as an active volunteer or paid
13 on-call firefighter while enrolled in a course of study under
14 that grant, the grant shall be terminated as of the date
15 service as an active volunteer or paid on-call firefighter
16 ended, and the recipient shall be permitted to complete the
17 school term in which he or she is then enrolled only upon
18 payment of tuition and other fees allocable to the part of
19 the term then remaining.
20 A grant awarded under this Section shall be considered an
21 entitlement that the State-controlled university or community
22 college in which the holder is enrolled shall honor without
23 any condition other than the holder's maintenance of minimum
24 grade levels and a satisfactory student loan repayment record
25 pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 20 of this Act.
26 (c) Subject to a separate appropriation for such
27 purposes, the Commission may reimburse the State-controlled
28 university or community college for grants authorized by this
29 Section.