State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_HB4351eng

 
HB4351 Engrossed                               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,
 
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 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 least
 4    6 semester or 6 quarter hours for the term  to  maintain  any
 5    eligibility  for  grant  benefits  under  subsection  (c)  of
 6    Section 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 may shall, upon the  request  of  any
 
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 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
 
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 1    becoming law.

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