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1 | AN ACT concerning higher education student assistance.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | amended by changing Section 31 as follows:
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6 | (110 ILCS 947/31)
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7 | Sec. 31. Merit Recognition Scholarship program.
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8 | (a) As used in this Section:
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9 | "Eligible applicant" means a student from any high school | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | in this State,
either
approved by or not recognized by the | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | State Board of Education, (i) who is engaged
in a
program of | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | study that in due course will be completed by the end of the
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13 | academic year,
(ii) who has completed at least 40 hours of | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | volunteer service as of the end of the 6th semester of high | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | school, and (iii)
(i) whose cumulative high school grade point | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | average is at or above the
95th
percentile of his or her high | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | school class after completion of the 6th semester
of a high
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18 | school
program of instruction or (ii) whose score on a
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19 | standardized
examination determined by the Commission, taken | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | before or during the 6th
semester of high school, is at or | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | above the 95th percentile of
students
in the State who take the | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | standardized college entrance examination.
These high school | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | students are all eligible
to receive a
scholarship to be | |||||||||||||||||||
24 | awarded under this Section.
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25 | "Qualified student" means a person:
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26 | (1) who is a resident of this State and a citizen or | |||||||||||||||||||
27 | permanent resident of
the United States;
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28 | (2) who, as an eligible applicant, is in good academic | |||||||||||||||||||
29 | standing at the
high
school in which he or she is enrolled | |||||||||||||||||||
30 | and has made a timely application for a
Merit Recognition | |||||||||||||||||||
31 | Scholarship under this Section;
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32 | (3) who has successfully completed the program of |
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1 | instruction at any high
school located in this State; and
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2 | (4) who enrolls or is enrolled in a qualified Illinois | ||||||
3 | institution of
higher
learning or a Service Academy as an | ||||||
4 | undergraduate student or cadet and has not
received a | ||||||
5 | baccalaureate degree.
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6 | "Merit Recognition Scholarship" means a $1,000 academic | ||||||
7 | scholarship
awarded under this Section during an academic year | ||||||
8 | to a qualified student,
without regard
to financial need, as a | ||||||
9 | scholarship to any qualified Illinois institution of
higher | ||||||
10 | learning or
a Service Academy in which the student is or will | ||||||
11 | be enrolled as an
undergraduate
student or cadet.
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12 | "Service Academy" means the U.S. Air Force Academy, the | ||||||
13 | U.S. Coast Guard
Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, or the | ||||||
14 | U.S. Naval Academy.
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15 | (b) In order to identify, encourage, promote, and reward | ||||||
16 | the distinguished
academic achievement of students from every | ||||||
17 | high school located in this State,
each
qualified student shall | ||||||
18 | be awarded a Merit Recognition Scholarship by the
Illinois
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19 | Student Assistance Commission to any qualified Illinois | ||||||
20 | institution of higher
learning or
to any Service Academy.
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21 | (c) No Merit Recognition Scholarship provided for a | ||||||
22 | qualified student
under this Section shall be considered in | ||||||
23 | evaluating the financial situation of
that student
or be deemed | ||||||
24 | a financial resource of or a form of financial aid or | ||||||
25 | assistance
to that
student, for purposes of determining the | ||||||
26 | eligibility of the student for any
scholarship,
grant, or | ||||||
27 | monetary assistance awarded by the Commission, the State, or | ||||||
28 | any
agency
thereof pursuant to the provisions of any other | ||||||
29 | Section of this Act or any
other law of this
State; nor shall | ||||||
30 | any Merit Recognition Scholarship provided for a
qualified
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31 | student under
this Section reduce the amount of any | ||||||
32 | scholarship, grant, or monetary
assistance that that
student is | ||||||
33 | eligible to be awarded by the Commission, the State, or any | ||||||
34 | agency
thereof in
accordance with the provisions of any other | ||||||
35 | Section of this Act or any other
law of this
State.
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36 | (d) The Illinois Student Assistance Commission is |
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1 | designated as
administrator of the Merit Recognition | ||||||
2 | Scholarship program. Each high
school
located in this State | ||||||
3 | shall certify to the Commission the names of its students
who | ||||||
4 | are
eligible applicants, specifying which of the students | ||||||
5 | certified as eligible
applicants have
completed the program of | ||||||
6 | instruction at that high school and the graduation
date fixed | ||||||
7 | for
their high school class and specifying for each of the | ||||||
8 | other eligible
applicants whose
names appear on the | ||||||
9 | certification the semester of high school last completed by
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10 | them.
The Commission shall promptly notify those eligible | ||||||
11 | applicants so certified who
are
reasonably assured of receiving | ||||||
12 | a Merit Recognition Scholarship in accordance
with
the annual | ||||||
13 | funding levels recommended in the Governor's budget of their
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14 | eligibility to
apply for a scholarship under this Section, | ||||||
15 | other than any eligible applicant
named on any
such | ||||||
16 | certification who, as an eligible applicant, has previously | ||||||
17 | made
application to the
Commission for a Merit Recognition | ||||||
18 | Scholarship under this Section. An
otherwise
eligible | ||||||
19 | applicant who fails to make a timely application (as determined | ||||||
20 | by the
Commission) for a Merit Recognition Scholarship under | ||||||
21 | this Section shall
no longer
be deemed an eligible applicant | ||||||
22 | and shall not qualify for the award.
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23 | (e) All applications for Merit Recognition Scholarships to | ||||||
24 | be awarded
under
this Section shall be made to the Commission | ||||||
25 | on forms that the Commission shall
provide for eligible | ||||||
26 | applicants. The form of applications and the information
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27 | required to
be set forth therein shall be determined by the | ||||||
28 | Commission, and the Commission
shall
require eligible | ||||||
29 | applicants to submit with their applications such supporting
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30 | documents
as the Commission deems necessary.
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31 | (f) The names and addresses of Merit Recognition | ||||||
32 | Scholarship recipients
are a matter of public record.
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33 | (g) Whenever an eligible applicant who has completed the | ||||||
34 | program of
instruction at any high school located in this State | ||||||
35 | thereafter makes timely
application to
the Commission for a | ||||||
36 | Merit Recognition Scholarship under this Section, the
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1 | Commission shall promptly determine whether that eligible | ||||||
2 | applicant is a
qualified
student as defined in subsection (a) | ||||||
3 | of this Section. Each such eligible
applicant so
determined by | ||||||
4 | the Commission to be a qualified student shall be awarded
a | ||||||
5 | Merit Recognition Scholarship in the amount of $1,000, | ||||||
6 | effective exclusively
during the
academic year following the | ||||||
7 | qualified student's high school graduation, subject
to | ||||||
8 | appropriation by the General Assembly.
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9 | (h) Subject to a separate appropriation for purposes of | ||||||
10 | this Section,
payment of
any Merit Recognition Scholarship | ||||||
11 | awarded under this Section shall be
determined
exclusively by | ||||||
12 | the Commission. All scholarship funds distributed in | ||||||
13 | accordance
with this
subsection (h) shall be paid to the | ||||||
14 | qualified Illinois
institution of higher
learning or Service | ||||||
15 | Academy and used only for payment of the educational
expenses
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16 | incurred by the student in connection with his or her | ||||||
17 | attendance as an
undergraduate
student or cadet at that | ||||||
18 | institution or Service Academy, including but not
limited to
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19 | tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, required | ||||||
20 | Service Academy
uniforms, and travel and personal expenses | ||||||
21 | related to the student's attendance
at that
institution or | ||||||
22 | Service Academy. Any Merit Recognition Scholarship awarded
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23 | under
this Section shall be applicable to 2 semesters or 3 | ||||||
24 | quarters of enrollment.
Should a
qualified student withdraw | ||||||
25 | from enrollment prior to completion of the first
semester or
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26 | quarter for which the Merit Recognition Scholarship is | ||||||
27 | applicable, the
student shall
refund to the Commission the | ||||||
28 | amount of the scholarship received.
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29 | (i) The Commission shall administer the Merit Recognition | ||||||
30 | Scholarship
program established by this Section and shall make | ||||||
31 | all necessary and proper
rules, not
inconsistent with this | ||||||
32 | Section, for its effective implementation.
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33 | (j) When an appropriation to the Commission for purposes of | ||||||
34 | this Section is
insufficient to provide scholarships to all | ||||||
35 | qualified students, the Commission
shall
allocate the | ||||||
36 | appropriation in accordance with this subsection (j). If funds
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1 | are insufficient to provide all qualified students with a | ||||||
2 | scholarship as
authorized by subsection (g) of this Section, | ||||||
3 | the Commission shall allocate the
scholarships to qualified | ||||||
4 | students in order of decreasing relative academic
rank, as | ||||||
5 | determined by the Commission using a formula based upon the | ||||||
6 | qualified
student's grade point average, score on the | ||||||
7 | appropriate statewide standardized
examination, or a | ||||||
8 | combination of grade point average and standardized test
score. | ||||||
9 | All Merit Recognition Scholarships awarded shall be in the | ||||||
10 | amount of
$1,000.
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11 | (k) The Commission, in determining the number of Merit | ||||||
12 | Recognition
Scholarships to be offered pursuant to subsection | ||||||
13 | (j) of this Section, shall
take into consideration past | ||||||
14 | experience with the rate of merit scholarship
funds unclaimed | ||||||
15 | by qualified students. To the extent necessary to avoid an
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16 | over-commitment of funds, the Commission may allocate | ||||||
17 | scholarship funds on
the basis of the date the Commission | ||||||
18 | receives a completed application form.
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19 | (Source: P.A. 91-128, eff. 7-1-00.)
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20 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
21 | becoming law.
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