Public Act 093-1032
 
SB1971 Enrolled LRB093 08913 RCE 09145 b

    AN ACT relating to higher education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
amended by changing Section 35 as follows:
 
    (110 ILCS 947/35)
    Sec. 35. Monetary award program.
    (a) The Commission shall, each year, receive and consider
applications for grant assistance under this Section. Subject
to a separate appropriation for such purposes, an applicant is
eligible for a grant under this Section when the Commission
finds that the applicant:
        (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or
    permanent resident of the United States; and
        (2) in the absence of grant assistance, will be
    deterred by financial considerations from completing an
    educational program at the qualified institution of his or
    her choice.
    (b) The Commission shall award renewals only upon the
student's application and upon the Commission's finding that
the applicant:
        (1) has remained a student in good standing;
        (2) remains a resident of this State; and
        (3) is in a financial situation that continues to
    warrant assistance.
    (c) All grants shall be applicable only to tuition and
necessary fee costs. for 2 semesters or 3 quarters in an
academic year. Requests for summer term assistance will be made
separately and shall be considered on an individual basis
according to Commission policy. Each student who is awarded a
grant under this Section and is enrolled in summer school
classes shall be eligible for a summer school grant. The summer
school grant amount shall not exceed the lesser of 50 percent
of the maximum annual grant amount authorized by this Section
or the actual cost of tuition and fees at the institution at
which the student is enrolled at least part-time. For the
regular academic year, The Commission shall determine the grant
amount for each full-time and part-time student, which shall
not exceed be the smallest of the following amounts:
        (1) $4,968 for 2 semesters or 3 quarters of full-time
    undergraduate enrollment or $2,484 for 2 semesters or 3
    quarters of part-time undergraduate enrollment, or such
    lesser amount as the Commission finds to be available,
    during an academic year; or
        (2) the amount which equals the 2 semesters or 3
    quarters tuition and other necessary fees required
    generally by the institution of all full-time
    undergraduate students, or in the case of part-time
    students an amount of tuition and fees for 2 semesters or 3
    quarters which shall not exceed one-half the amount of
    tuition and necessary fees generally charged to full-time
    undergraduate students by the institution; or
        (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
    appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
    resources.
"Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
include the customary charge for instruction and use of
facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
for specified purposes, which are required generally of
nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
tuition and other necessary fees.
    (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for monetary
award program consideration under this Act after receiving a
baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 135 semester credit
hours 10 semesters or 15 quarters of award payments. The
Commission shall determine when award payments for part-time
enrollment or interim or summer terms shall be counted as a
partial semester or quarter of payment.
    (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to
be offered, shall take into consideration past experience with
the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The Commission
shall notify applicants that grant assistance is contingent
upon the availability of appropriated funds.
    (f) The Commission may request appropriations for deposit
into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies deposited
into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may be expended
exclusively for one purpose: to make Monetary Award Program
grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in the Monetary
Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of the current
annual State appropriation for the Monetary Award Program.
    The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is
to enable the Commission each year to assure as many students
as possible of their eligibility for a Monetary Award Program
grant and to do so before commencement of the academic year.
Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to enhance
the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program,
minimizing the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of
adjusting award amounts and ensuring that the annual Monetary
Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
    (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of and
make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit
institutions in accordance with the criteria set forth in this
Section. The eligibility of applicants enrolled at such
for-profit institutions shall be limited as follows:
        (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
    eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
    students who have attained an associate degree.
        (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
    eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
    attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
    grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
    whose grants are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
        (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
    eligible students.
(Source: P.A. 91-249, eff. 7-22-99; 91-250, eff. 7-22-99;
91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 91-747, eff. 7-1-00; 92-45, eff. 7-1-01.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2004.