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92_HB4351enr HB4351 Enrolled LRB9214616NTpk 1 AN ACT regarding higher education student assistance. 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 changing Section 70 as follows: 6 (110 ILCS 947/70) 7 Sec. 70. Administration of scholarship and grant 8 programs. 9 (a) An applicant to whom the Commission has awarded a 10 scholarship or grant under this Act may apply for enrollment 11 as a student in any qualified institution of higher learning. 12 The institution is not required to accept the applicant for 13 enrollment, but is free to exact compliance with its own 14 admissions requirements, standards, and policies. The 15 institution may receive the payments of tuition and other 16 necessary fees provided by the scholarship or grant, for 17 credit against the student's obligation for such tuition and 18 fees, and for no other purpose, and shall be contractually 19 obligated: 20 (1) to provide facilities and instruction to the 21 student on the same terms as to other students generally; 22 (2) to provide the notices and information 23 described in this Act; and to maintain records and 24 documents which demonstrate the eligibility of the 25 students for whom scholarships and grants are claimed. 26 (b) If, in the course of any academic period, any 27 student enrolled in any institution pursuant to a scholarship 28 or grant awarded under this Act for any reason ceases to be a 29 student in good standing, the institution shall promptly give 30 written notice to the Commission concerning that change of 31 status and the reason therefor. For purposes of this Section, HB4351 Enrolled -2- LRB9214616NTpk 1 a student does not cease to be a student in good standing 2 merely because he or she is not classified as a full-time 3 student.In any case, a student must be enrolled for at least46 semester or 6 quarter hours for the term to maintain any5eligibility for grant benefits under subsection (c) of6Section 35.7 (c) A student to whom a renewal scholarship or grant has 8 been awarded may either re-enroll in the institution which he 9 or she attended during the preceding year, or enroll in any 10 other qualified institution of higher learning; and in either 11 event, the institution accepting the student for enrollment 12 or re-enrollment shall notify the Commission of that 13 acceptance and may receive payments and shall be 14 contractually obligated as provided with respect to a 15 first-year scholarship or grant. 16 (d) The Commission shall administer the scholarship and 17 grant accounts and related records of each student who is 18 attending an institution of higher learning under financial 19 assistance awarded pursuant to this Act, and at each proper 20 time shall certify to the State Comptroller, in the manner 21 prescribed by law, the current payment to be made to the 22 institution on account of such financial assistance, in 23 accordance with an appropriate certificate from the 24 institution. The Commission may require the participating 25 institution of higher learning to perform specific 26 eligibility evaluation procedures as a condition of 27 participation. 28 (e) The Commission shall conduct on-site audits of 29 educational institutions participating in Commission 30 administered programs. When institutions have claimed and 31 received funds on behalf of ineligible recipients, the 32 Commission may adjust subsequent institutional payments to 33 recover those funds. 34 (f) The Commission mayshall, upon the request of any HB4351 Enrolled -3- LRB9214616NTpk 1 institution which received payment for scholarship and grant 2 awards for each of the last 5 years, certify to the 3 Comptroller an advance payment for the current term to be 4 made to the institution on account of such financial 5 assistance in an amount not to exceed 75% of announced awards 6 for the institution for such financial assistance for the 7 current term, adjusted for attrition over the last 5 years. 8 For the purposes of this Section, "attrition" is the number 9 of announced award winners enrolled on the 10th class day as 10 a percentage of the total announced awards. The request for 11 an advance payment for the current term shall not be 12 submitted until 10 class days after the last day for 13 registration for that term. Upon appropriate certification 14 from the institution presented for each payment period, after 15 the standard tuition and mandatory fees have been established 16 for all students for the term of payment and the award 17 recipient has enrolled, the Commission shall certify to the 18 State Comptroller the balance of the current payment to be 19 made to the institution on account of such financial 20 assistance. If an advance payment received by an institution 21 exceeds the payment to which that institution is entitled, 22 the Commission shall reduce subsequent payments to that 23 institution for later terms within the same academic year as 24 the overpayment by an amount equal to the overpayment; if the 25 reduction cannot be made, the institution shall refund the 26 overpayment to the Commission. The Commission may deny or 27 reduce the advance payment provided to any institution under 28 this Section if it has reason to believe that the advance 29 payment for the current term may exceed the full payment the 30 institution is entitled to receive for such assistance for 31 that term. 32 (Source: P.A. 87-997.) 33 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon HB4351 Enrolled -4- LRB9214616NTpk 1 becoming law.