93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB6623

 

Introduced 02/09/04, by Chapin Rose

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
110 ILCS 947/35

    Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Provides that Monetary Award Program grants also apply to the summer term (now, summer term assistance is made separately on an individual basis according to Illinois Student Assistance Commission policy). Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning 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 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 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 and a summer
28 term in an academic year. Requests for summer term assistance
29 will be made separately and shall be considered on an
30 individual basis according to Commission policy. Each student
31 who is awarded a grant under this Section and is enrolled in
32 summer school classes shall be eligible for a summer school

 

 

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1 grant. The summer school grant amount shall not exceed the
2 lesser of 50 percent of the maximum annual grant amount
3 authorized by this Section or the actual cost of tuition and
4 fees at the institution at which the student is enrolled at
5 least part-time. For the regular academic year, the Commission
6 shall determine the grant amount for each full-time and
7 part-time student, which shall be the smallest of the following
8 amounts:
9         (1) $4,968 for 2 semesters or 3 quarters and a summer
10     term (if applicable) of full-time undergraduate enrollment
11     or $2,484 for 2 semesters or 3 quarters and a summer term
12     (if applicable) of part-time undergraduate enrollment, or
13     such lesser amount as the Commission finds to be available;
14     or
15         (2) the amount which equals the 2 semesters or 3
16     quarters and a summer term (if applicable) tuition and
17     other necessary fees required generally by the institution
18     of all full-time undergraduate students, or in the case of
19     part-time students an amount of tuition and fees for 2
20     semesters or 3 quarters and a summer term (if applicable)
21     which shall not exceed one-half the amount of tuition and
22     necessary fees generally charged to full-time
23     undergraduate students by the institution; or
24         (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
25     appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
26     resources.
27 "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
28 include the customary charge for instruction and use of
29 facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
30 for specified purposes, which are required generally of
31 nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
32 grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
33 payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
34 deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
35 Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
36 Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of

 

 

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1 tuition and other necessary fees.
2     (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
3 scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for monetary
4 award program consideration under this Act after receiving a
5 baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 10 semesters or 15
6 quarters and 4 summer terms of award payments. The Commission
7 shall determine when award payments for part-time enrollment or
8 interim or summer terms shall be counted as a partial semester
9 or quarter of payment.
10     (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to
11 be offered, shall take into consideration past experience with
12 the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The Commission
13 shall notify applicants that grant assistance is contingent
14 upon the availability of appropriated funds.
15     (f) The Commission may request appropriations for deposit
16 into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies deposited
17 into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may be expended
18 exclusively for one purpose: to make Monetary Award Program
19 grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in the Monetary
20 Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of the current
21 annual State appropriation for the Monetary Award Program.
22     The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is
23 to enable the Commission each year to assure as many students
24 as possible of their eligibility for a Monetary Award Program
25 grant and to do so before commencement of the academic year.
26 Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to enhance
27 the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program,
28 minimizing the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of
29 adjusting award amounts and ensuring that the annual Monetary
30 Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
31     (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of and
32 make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit
33 institutions in accordance with the criteria set forth in this
34 Section. The eligibility of applicants enrolled at such
35 for-profit institutions shall be limited as follows:
36         (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to

 

 

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1     eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
2     students who have attained an associate degree.
3         (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
4     eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
5     attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
6     grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
7     whose grants are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
8         (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
9     eligible students.
10 (Source: P.A. 91-249, eff. 7-22-99; 91-250, eff. 7-22-99;
11 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 91-747, eff. 7-1-00; 92-45, eff. 7-1-01.)
 
12     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
13 becoming law.