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1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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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 52 as follows:
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6 | (110 ILCS 947/52)
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7 | Sec. 52. Illinois Future Teacher Corps Program.
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8 | (a) In order to encourage academically talented Illinois | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | students,
especially minority students, to pursue teaching | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | careers, especially in
teacher shortage
disciplines
(which | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | shall be defined to include early childhood education) or at
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12 | hard-to-staff schools (as defined by the Commission in | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | consultation with the
the
State Board of Education),
the | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | Commission shall, each year, receive and consider applications
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15 | for scholarship assistance under this Section. An applicant is | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | eligible for a
scholarship under this Section when the | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | Commission finds that the applicant is:
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18 | (1) a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen;
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19 | (2) a resident of Illinois;
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20 | (3) a high school graduate or a person who has received | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | a General
Educational Development Certificate;
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22 | (4) enrolled or accepted for enrollment at or above the | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | junior level,
on at least a half-time basis, at an Illinois |
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1 | institution of higher learning;
and
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2 | (5) pursuing a postsecondary course of study leading to | ||||||
3 | initial
certification or pursuing additional
course
work
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4 | needed to gain State Board of Education approval to teach, | ||||||
5 | including
alternative teacher certification.
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6 | (b) Recipients shall be selected from among applicants | ||||||
7 | qualified pursuant to
subsection (a) based on a combination of | ||||||
8 | the following criteria as set forth by
the Commission: (1) | ||||||
9 | academic excellence; (2) status as a minority student as
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10 | defined in Section 50; and (3) financial need. Preference may | ||||||
11 | be given to
previous recipients of assistance under this | ||||||
12 | Section, provided they continue to
maintain eligibility and | ||||||
13 | maintain satisfactory academic progress as determined
by the | ||||||
14 | institution of higher learning at which they enroll.
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15 | (c) Each scholarship awarded under this Section shall be in | ||||||
16 | an amount
sufficient to pay the tuition and fees and room and | ||||||
17 | board costs of the Illinois
institution of higher learning at | ||||||
18 | which the recipient is enrolled, up to
an annual maximum of | ||||||
19 | $5,000; except that in the case of a
recipient who
does not
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20 | reside
on-campus at the institution of higher learning at which | ||||||
21 | he or she is enrolled,
the amount of the scholarship shall be | ||||||
22 | sufficient to pay tuition and fee
expenses and a commuter | ||||||
23 | allowance, up to an annual maximum of $5,000.
For recipients | ||||||
24 | who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline or at a
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25 | hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this Section, the | ||||||
26 | Commission
may, by rule and subject to appropriation, increase |
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1 | the annual
maximum amount to $10,000. If a recipient agrees to | ||||||
2 | teach in both a
teacher shortage discipline and at a | ||||||
3 | hard-to-staff school under
subsection (i) of this Section, the | ||||||
4 | Commission may increase the amount of the
scholarship awarded
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5 | by up to an additional $5,000.
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6 | (d) The total amount of scholarship assistance awarded by | ||||||
7 | the Commission
under this Section to an individual in any given | ||||||
8 | fiscal year, when added to
other financial assistance awarded | ||||||
9 | to that individual for that year, shall not
exceed the cost of | ||||||
10 | attendance at the institution of higher learning at which
the | ||||||
11 | student is enrolled.
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12 | (e) A recipient may receive up to 4 semesters or 6
quarters | ||||||
13 | of scholarship
assistance under this Section.
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14 | (f) All applications for scholarship assistance to be | ||||||
15 | awarded under this
Section shall be made to the Commission in a | ||||||
16 | form as set forth by the
Commission. The form of application | ||||||
17 | and the information required to be set
forth therein shall be | ||||||
18 | determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall
require | ||||||
19 | eligible applicants to submit with their applications such | ||||||
20 | supporting
documents as the Commission deems necessary.
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21 | (g) Subject to a separate appropriation made for such | ||||||
22 | purposes, payment of
any
scholarship awarded under this Section | ||||||
23 | shall be determined by the Commission.
There shall be a | ||||||
24 | separate appropriation made for scholarships awarded
to | ||||||
25 | recipients who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline | ||||||
26 | or at a
hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this |
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1 | Section.
The Commission may use for scholarship assistance | ||||||
2 | under this Section
(i) all funds appropriated for scholarships | ||||||
3 | under this Section that were
formerly known as ITEACH Teacher | ||||||
4 | Shortage Scholarships and (ii) all
funds appropriated for | ||||||
5 | scholarships under Section 65.65 of this Act
(repealed by this | ||||||
6 | amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly), formerly
known as | ||||||
7 | Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarships.
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8 | All scholarship funds distributed in accordance with this | ||||||
9 | Section shall be
paid
to the institution on behalf of the | ||||||
10 | recipients. Scholarship funds are
applicable toward 2 | ||||||
11 | semesters or 3 quarters of enrollment within an academic
year.
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12 | (h) The Commission shall administer the
scholarship | ||||||
13 | program established by this Section and shall make all | ||||||
14 | necessary
and
proper rules not inconsistent with this Section | ||||||
15 | for its effective
implementation.
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16 | (i) Prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any | ||||||
17 | academic year, each
recipient of a scholarship awarded under | ||||||
18 | this
Section shall be required by the Commission to sign an | ||||||
19 | agreement under which
the
recipient pledges that, within the | ||||||
20 | one-year period following the
termination
of the academic | ||||||
21 | program for which the recipient was awarded a scholarship, the
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22 | recipient: (i) shall begin teaching for a period of not
less | ||||||
23 | than 5 years, (ii) shall fulfill this teaching obligation at a | ||||||
24 | nonprofit
Illinois public,
private, or parochial
preschool or | ||||||
25 | an Illinois public elementary or secondary school, and (iii)
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26 | shall, upon request of
the
Commission, provide the Commission |
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1 | with evidence that he or she is fulfilling
or has fulfilled the | ||||||
2 | terms of the teaching agreement provided for in this
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3 | subsection.
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4 | (j) If a recipient of a scholarship awarded under this | ||||||
5 | Section fails to
fulfill the teaching obligation set forth in | ||||||
6 | subsection (i) of this Section,
the Commission shall require | ||||||
7 | the recipient to repay the amount of the
scholarships received, | ||||||
8 | prorated according to the fraction of the teaching
obligation | ||||||
9 | not completed, plus interest at a rate of 5% and if applicable, | ||||||
10 | reasonable
collection fees. The Commission is authorized to | ||||||
11 | establish rules relating to
its collection activities for | ||||||
12 | repayment
of scholarships under this Section.
Payments | ||||||
13 | received by the Commission under this subsection (j)
shall be | ||||||
14 | remitted to the State Comptroller for deposit into
the General | ||||||
15 | Revenue Fund, except that that portion of a
recipient's | ||||||
16 | repayment that equals the amount in expenses that
the | ||||||
17 | Commission has reasonably incurred in attempting
collection | ||||||
18 | from that recipient shall be remitted to the State
Comptroller | ||||||
19 | for deposit into the Commission's Accounts
Receivable Fund. | ||||||
20 | (k) A recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Commission | ||||||
21 | under this
Section shall not be in violation of the agreement | ||||||
22 | entered into pursuant to
subsection (i) if the recipient (i) | ||||||
23 | enrolls on a full-time basis as a graduate
student in a course | ||||||
24 | of study related to the field of teaching at an institution
of | ||||||
25 | higher learning; (ii) is serving as a member of the armed | ||||||
26 | services of the
United States; (iii) is temporarily totally |
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1 | disabled, as established by sworn
affidavit of a qualified | ||||||
2 | physician; (iv) is seeking and unable to find
full-time | ||||||
3 | employment as a teacher at a school that satisfies the criteria | ||||||
4 | set
forth
in subsection (i) and is able to provide evidence of | ||||||
5 | that fact; (v) is taking additional courses, on at least a | ||||||
6 | half-time basis, needed to obtain certification as a teacher in | ||||||
7 | Illinois; or (vi) is fulfilling teaching requirements | ||||||
8 | associated with other programs administered by the Commission | ||||||
9 | and cannot concurrently fulfill them under this Section in a | ||||||
10 | period of time equal to the length of the teaching obligation. | ||||||
11 | Any such
extension of the period during which the teaching | ||||||
12 | requirement must be fulfilled
shall be subject to limitations | ||||||
13 | of duration as established by the Commission.
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14 | (Source: P.A. 93-21, eff. 7-1-03; 94-133, eff. 7-7-05.)
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