093_HB2904

 
                                     LRB093 06836 NHT 06982 b

 1        AN ACT regarding 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 changing Section 52 as follows:

 6        (110 ILCS 947/52)
 7        Sec. 52.  ITEACH Teacher Shortage Scholarship Program.
 8        (a)  In order to encourage academically talented Illinois
 9    students, especially minority students,  to  pursue  teaching
10    careers  in  teacher  shortage  disciplines,  the  Commission
11    shall,  each  year,  receive  and  consider  applications for
12    scholarship assistance under this Section.  An  applicant  is
13    eligible  for  a  scholarship  under  this  Section  when the
14    Commission finds that the applicant is:
15             (1)  a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen;
16             (2)  a resident of Illinois;
17             (3)  a high school graduate  or  a  person  who  has
18        received a General Educational Development Certificate;
19             (4)  enrolled  or  accepted  for  enrollment,  on at
20        least a half-time basis, at an  Illinois  institution  of
21        higher learning; and
22             (5)  pursuing   a   postsecondary  course  of  study
23        leading to initial certification in  a  teacher  shortage
24        discipline  or  pursuing additional course work needed to
25        gain  State  Board  of  Education  approval   to   teach,
26        including   alternative   teacher  certification,  in  an
27        approved specialized area in  which  a  teacher  shortage
28        exists.
29        (b)  Recipients  shall  be selected from among applicants
30    qualified pursuant to subsection (a) based on  a  combination
31    of the following criteria as set forth by the Commission: (1)
 
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 1    academic  excellence;  (2)  status  as  a minority student as
 2    defined in Section 50; and (3)  financial  need.   Preference
 3    may  be given to previous recipients of assistance under this
 4    Section, provided they continue to maintain  eligibility  and
 5    maintain  satisfactory academic progress as determined by the
 6    institution  of  higher  learning  at  which   they   enroll.
 7    Preference may also be given to qualified applicants enrolled
 8    at or above the junior level.
 9        (c)  Each scholarship awarded under this Section shall be
10    in  an amount sufficient to pay the tuition and fees and room
11    and  board  costs  of  the  Illinois  institution  of  higher
12    learning at which the recipient is enrolled, up to an  annual
13    maximum of $5,000; except that in the case of a recipient who
14    does  not  reside  on-campus  at  the  institution  of higher
15    learning at which he or she is enrolled, the  amount  of  the
16    scholarship  shall  be  sufficient  to  pay  tuition  and fee
17    expenses and a commuter allowance, up to an annual maximum of
18    $5,000.
19        The annual maximum amount set forth  in  this  subsection
20    (c)  shall be increased to $10,000 if the recipient agrees to
21    teach in one  of  the  following  critical  teacher  shortage
22    disciplines:
23             (1)  Mathematics.
24             (2)  Science.
25             (3)  Special education.
26             (4)  Transitional bilingual education.
27        (d)  The  total  amount of scholarship assistance awarded
28    by the Commission under this Section to an individual in  any
29    given  fiscal  year, when added to other financial assistance
30    awarded to that individual for that year,  shall  not  exceed
31    the  cost of attendance at the institution of higher learning
32    at which the student is enrolled.
33        (e)  A recipient may receive up  to  8  semesters  or  12
34    quarters of scholarship assistance under this Section.
 
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 1        (f)  All  applications  for  scholarship assistance to be
 2    awarded under this Section shall be made to the Commission in
 3    a  form  as  set  forth  by  the  Commission.   The  form  of
 4    application and the information  required  to  be  set  forth
 5    therein  shall  be  determined  by  the  Commission,  and the
 6    Commission shall require eligible applicants to  submit  with
 7    their   applications   such   supporting   documents  as  the
 8    Commission deems necessary.
 9        (g)  Subject to a separate appropriation  made  for  such
10    purposes,  payment  of  any  scholarship  awarded  under this
11    Section  shall  be  determined  by  the  Commission.      All
12    scholarship funds distributed in accordance with this Section
13    shall be paid to the institution on behalf of the recipients.
14    Scholarship  funds  are  applicable  toward  2 semesters or 3
15    quarters of enrollment within an academic year.
16        (h)  The Commission shall administer the  ITEACH  Teacher
17    Shortage  Scholarship Program established by this Section and
18    shall make all necessary and proper  rules  not  inconsistent
19    with this Section for its effective implementation.
20        (i)  Prior  to  receiving  scholarship assistance for any
21    academic year, each recipient of a scholarship awarded  under
22    this  Section  shall be required by the Commission to sign an
23    agreement under which the recipient pledges that, within  the
24    one-year  period  following  the  termination of the academic
25    program for which the recipient was  awarded  a  scholarship,
26    the recipient: (i) shall begin teaching in a teacher shortage
27    discipline  for  a  period of not less than one year for each
28    year of scholarship assistance awarded  under  this  Section,
29    (ii)  shall  fulfill  this teaching obligation at a nonprofit
30    Illinois  public,  private,   or   parochial   preschool   or
31    elementary or secondary school, and (iii) shall, upon request
32    of  the Commission, provide the Commission with evidence that
33    he or she is fulfilling or has fulfilled  the  terms  of  the
34    teaching agreement provided for in this subsection.
 
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 1        (j)  If  a  recipient of a scholarship awarded under this
 2    Section fails to fulfill the teaching obligation set forth in
 3    subsection (i) of this Section, the Commission shall  require
 4    the  recipient  to  repay  the  amount  of  the  scholarships
 5    received,  prorated according to the fraction of the teaching
 6    obligation not completed, plus interest at a rate of  5%  and
 7    if applicable, reasonable collection fees.  The Commission is
 8    authorized  to  establish  rules  relating  to its collection
 9    activities for repayment of scholarships under this Section.
10        (k)  A  recipient  of  a  scholarship  awarded   by   the
11    Commission  under  this  Section shall not be in violation of
12    the agreement entered into pursuant to subsection (i) if  the
13    recipient  (i)  enrolls  on  a  full-time basis as a graduate
14    student in a course of study related to the field of teaching
15    at an institution of higher learning; (ii) is  serving  as  a
16    member  of the armed services of the United States;  (iii) is
17    temporarily  totally  disabled,  as  established   by   sworn
18    affidavit  of  a  qualified physician; or (iv) is seeking and
19    unable to find full-time employment as a teacher at a  school
20    that  satisfies  the criteria set forth in subsection (i) and
21    is able to provide evidence of that fact.  Any such extension
22    of the period during which the teaching requirement  must  be
23    fulfilled  shall  be  subject  to  limitations of duration as
24    established by the Commission.
25    (Source: P.A. 91-670, eff. 12-22-99; 92-845, eff. 1-1-03.)

26        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act  takes  effect  on
27    July 1, 2003.