93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB5723

 

Introduced 2/6/2004, by Michael J. Madigan

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
110 ILCS 947/35

    Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the Monetary Award Program.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT regarding financial 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 is
5 amended by changing Section 35 as follows:
 
6     (110 ILCS 947/35)
7     Sec. 35. Monetary award program.
8     (a) The Commission shall, each year, receive and consider
9 applications for grant assistance under this Section. Subject
10 to a separate appropriation for such purposes, an applicant is
11 eligible for a grant under this Section if when the Commission
12 finds that the applicant:
13         (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or
14     permanent resident of the United States; and
15         (2) in the absence of grant assistance, will be
16     deterred by financial considerations from completing an
17     educational program at the qualified institution of his or
18     her choice.
19     (b) The Commission shall award renewals only upon the
20 student's application and upon the Commission's finding that
21 the applicant:
22         (1) has remained a student in good standing;
23         (2) remains a resident of this State; and
24         (3) is in a financial situation that continues to
25     warrant assistance.
26     (c) All grants shall be applicable only to tuition and
27 necessary fee costs for 2 semesters or 3 quarters in an
28 academic year. Requests for summer term assistance will be made
29 separately and shall be considered on an individual basis
30 according to Commission policy. Each student who is awarded a
31 grant under this Section and is enrolled in summer school
32 classes shall be eligible for a summer school grant. The summer

 

 

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1 school grant amount shall not exceed the lesser of 50 percent
2 of the maximum annual grant amount authorized by this Section
3 or the actual cost of tuition and fees at the institution at
4 which the student is enrolled at least part-time. For the
5 regular academic year, the Commission shall determine the grant
6 amount for each full-time and part-time student, which shall be
7 the smallest of the following amounts:
8         (1) $4,968 for 2 semesters or 3 quarters of full-time
9     undergraduate enrollment or $2,484 for 2 semesters or 3
10     quarters of part-time undergraduate enrollment, or such
11     lesser amount as the Commission finds to be available; or
12         (2) the amount which equals the 2 semesters or 3
13     quarters tuition and other necessary fees required
14     generally by the institution of all full-time
15     undergraduate students, or in the case of part-time
16     students an amount of tuition and fees for 2 semesters or 3
17     quarters which shall not exceed one-half the amount of
18     tuition and necessary fees generally charged to full-time
19     undergraduate students by the institution; or
20         (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
21     appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
22     resources.
23 "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
24 include the customary charge for instruction and use of
25 facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
26 for specified purposes, which are required generally of
27 nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
28 grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
29 payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
30 deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
31 Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
32 Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
33 tuition and other necessary fees.
34     (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
35 scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for monetary
36 award program consideration under this Act after receiving a

 

 

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1 baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 10 semesters or 15
2 quarters of award payments. The Commission shall determine when
3 award payments for part-time enrollment or interim or summer
4 terms shall be counted as a partial semester or quarter of
5 payment.
6     (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to
7 be offered, shall take into consideration past experience with
8 the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The Commission
9 shall notify applicants that grant assistance is contingent
10 upon the availability of appropriated funds.
11     (f) The Commission may request appropriations for deposit
12 into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies deposited
13 into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may be expended
14 exclusively for one purpose: to make Monetary Award Program
15 grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in the Monetary
16 Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of the current
17 annual State appropriation for the Monetary Award Program.
18     The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is
19 to enable the Commission each year to assure as many students
20 as possible of their eligibility for a Monetary Award Program
21 grant and to do so before commencement of the academic year.
22 Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to enhance
23 the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program,
24 minimizing the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of
25 adjusting award amounts and ensuring that the annual Monetary
26 Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
27     (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of and
28 make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit
29 institutions in accordance with the criteria set forth in this
30 Section. The eligibility of applicants enrolled at such
31 for-profit institutions shall be limited as follows:
32         (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
33     eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
34     students who have attained an associate degree.
35         (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
36     eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have

 

 

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1     attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
2     grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
3     whose grants are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
4         (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
5     eligible students.
6 (Source: P.A. 91-249, eff. 7-22-99; 91-250, eff. 7-22-99;
7 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 91-747, eff. 7-1-00; 92-45, eff. 7-1-01.)