HB1316eng 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1316 Engrossed LRB100 03001 NHT 13006 b

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. This Act may be referred to as the College Affordability Act.

Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Sections 5.878, 5.879, 5.880, and 5.881 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.878 new)

Sec. 5.878. The College Affordability Fund.

(30 ILCS 105/5.879 new)

Sec. 5.879. The Work-Study Fund.

(30 ILCS 105/5.880 new)

Sec. 5.880. The College Affordability Purchasing Fund.

(30 ILCS 105/5.881 new)

Sec. 5.881. The Illinois Excellence Fund.

Section 10. The Board of Higher Education Act is amended by adding Section 9.36 as follows:

(110 ILCS 205/9.36 new)

Sec. 9.36. Illinois Excellence Program.

(a) Subject to appropriation, the Board shall establish and administer a program, to be called the Illinois Excellence Program, to incentivize the recruitment and retention of promising faculty throughout the Illinois system of higher education through the award of faculty and department incentive grants.

The Program shall focus on personnel incentives designed to attract and retain sought-after faculty to the Illinois system of higher education.

(b) The Illinois Excellence Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund may be used, subject to appropriation, by the Board of Higher Education for the administration of the Illinois Excellence Program.

Section 15. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is amended by adding Section 23 as follows:

(110 ILCS 947/23 new)

Sec. 23. College Affordability programs.

(a) In this Section:

"Continuous enrollment" means a student has attended classes in the fall and spring semester of a single academic year; enrollment in summer semester or intersession terms is not required.

"Public institution" means the University of Illinois, Southern Illinois University, Chicago State University, Eastern Illinois University, Governors State University, Illinois State University, Northeastern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University, Western Illinois University, any public community college in this State, or any other public university, college, or community college now or hereafter established or authorized by the General Assembly.

"Student aid" means scholarships and grants, other than a College Affordability grant, awarded to the student from any source that does not require repayment and half of a student's federally calculated expected family contribution; "student aid" does not include student loans and work-study awards.

(b) The Commission shall implement and administer a program, beginning with the 2018-2019 academic year, to award College Affordability grants to all eligible Illinois residents seeking an associate or bachelor's degree, as applicable, from a public institution. The following terms and conditions shall apply to the program:

(1) To be eligible for a grant, a student must (i) have been an Illinois resident for at least 2 years immediately prior to applying for a grant, (ii) have graduated from an approved high school with a cumulative grade point average of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent, as determined by the Commission), (iii) have an annual family income of $125,000 or less, and (iv) be admitted to and enrolled full-time, as an Illinois resident, in a public institution in the fall term after graduating from high school. Exceptions to initial enrollment may be made for extenuating circumstances as provided in rules adopted by the Commission.

(2) Students applying for a grant shall complete the College Affordability grant application in their initial semester of enrollment. Students shall complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid each academic year in which they seek to receive a grant.

(3) To continue to receive a grant, a student must maintain Illinois residency, as well as a cumulative grade point average of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent, as determined by the Commission).

(4) Each academic year, subject to money appropriated by the General Assembly from the College Affordability Fund, a grant shall be equal to the cost of tuition and mandatory fees at the public institution attended less all other student aid, as determined by the Commission. For the 2018-2019 academic year, if grants are awarded under this Section, the total amount of institutional aid awarded directly by a public institution to its students in the form of scholarships, grants, and waivers must be no less than the total amount of such institutional aid awarded by that public institution for the 2017-2018 academic year. For the 2019-2020 academic year and each academic year thereafter for which grants are awarded under this Section, the total amount of institutional aid that must be awarded under this paragraph (4) shall be adjusted for inflation as determined by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers as determined by the United States Department of Labor. Student aid shall be credited first to the student's tuition and mandatory fees. The amount of the grant may be based on the annual family income of the student, as determined by the Commission, but in no event may a grant exceed $4,000. Each public institution shall annually report its undergraduate tuition rate for Illinois residents and the number of its undergraduates who are Illinois residents to the Commission.

(5) A student awarded a grant who has an approved medical or personal leave of absence from a public institution may continue to receive the grant upon resuming the student's education at the public institution so long as the student continues to meet all applicable eligibility requirements under this Section and as adopted by the Commission. The total of all approved leaves of absence may not exceed 6 months.

(6) A student is eligible for a grant until the occurrence of the first of the following events:

(A) the student has earned a bachelor's degree; or

(B) the sum of the number of years the student has attended a public institution equals 6 years from the date of the student's initial enrollment at a public institution, exclusive of approved leaves of absence, except that no more than 3 of those years may be for attendance at a public community college.

(7) Except for a medical or personal leave of absence, as approved by a public institution, a student awarded a grant under this Section shall maintain continuous enrollment at a public institution.

(8) A student awarded a grant under this Section shall participate in a student loan counseling program through the Commission. This program may be completed online.

(c) In awarding grants under this Section, the Commission shall, by rule, develop the selection and renewal criteria for students.

(d) Prior to receiving grant assistance for any academic year, each recipient of a grant awarded under this Section shall be required by the Commission to sign an agreement under which the recipient pledges that, beginning within the one-year period following the termination of the academic program for which the recipient was awarded a grant, the recipient shall reside in this State for a period of not less than 2 years. If the recipient is 26 years old or younger, his or her parent or guardian must also sign the agreement, agreeing to repay any amounts that the recipient does not repay under subsection (e) of this Section. Each recipient shall, upon request of the Commission, provide the Commission with evidence that he or she is fulfilling or has fulfilled the terms of the agreement provided for in this subsection (d).

(e) If a recipient of a grant awarded under this Section fails to fulfill the residency obligation set forth in subsection (d) of this Section, the Commission shall require the recipient to repay, without interest, the amount of the grants received, prorated according to the fraction of the obligation not completed, and, if applicable, reasonable collection fees. The Commission shall allow the recipient to repay one-tenth of the amount owed each year for 10 years. The Commission is authorized to establish rules relating to its collection activities for repayment of grants under this Section.

(f) A recipient of a grant awarded by the Commission under this Section is not in violation of the agreement entered into pursuant to subsection (d) of this Section if the recipient (i) is serving as a member of the armed services of the United States; (ii) is enrolled in a graduate program following graduation from a public university; (iii) is temporarily totally disabled, as established by sworn affidavit of a qualified physician; or (iv) cannot fulfill the residency obligation due to his or her death, disability, or incompetency, as established by sworn affidavit of a qualified physician. No claim for repayment may be filed against the estate of such a decedent or incompetent. Any extension of the period during which the residency requirement must be fulfilled is subject to limitations of duration as established by the Commission.

(g) The College Affordability Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. The Fund shall consist of money appropriated by the General Assembly and any gifts, bequests, or donations made to the Fund. All money in the Fund shall only be used, subject to appropriation, by the Commission for the purposes of awarding grants under this Section.

(h) Subject to appropriation from the Work-Study Fund, the Commission shall implement and administer a program in which the Commission shall award work-study stipends to applicants who are recipients of grants under this Section and who agree to work for 5 to 15 hours per week as peer mentors or tutors for other grant recipients under this Section under a work-study program established by the public institution. Eligibility for a stipend shall be based on the applicant's merit and the amount appropriated in a given fiscal year. The Commission shall establish an annual deadline for applying for a stipend.

The Work-Study Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, by the Commission for the purposes of this subsection (h).

(i) Subject to appropriation from the College Affordability Purchasing Fund, the Commission shall implement and administer a program in which the Commission shall buy out the private student loans of any eligible participant that the eligible participant incurred to attend a public institution. The Commission may establish its own separate repayment conditions, but the Commission must set a 0% interest rate on any loans it buys out. In order to be eligible to participate in the program established under this subsection (i), the participant (1) must have graduated from a public institution before the start of the 2018-2019 academic year with a cumulative grade point average of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent, as determined by the Commission) and (2) must be currently repaying any federal student loans incurred to attend a public institution on an income-based repayment plan.

The College Affordability Purchasing Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, by the Commission for the purposes of this subsection (i).

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2018, except that Section 15 and this Section take effect upon becoming law.