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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. This Act may be referred to as the College
5Affordability Act.
 
6    Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
7Sections 5.878, 5.879, 5.880, and 5.881 as follows:
 
8    (30 ILCS 105/5.878 new)
9    Sec. 5.878. The College Affordability Fund.
 
10    (30 ILCS 105/5.879 new)
11    Sec. 5.879. The Work-Study Fund.
 
12    (30 ILCS 105/5.880 new)
13    Sec. 5.880. The College Affordability Purchasing Fund.
 
14    (30 ILCS 105/5.881 new)
15    Sec. 5.881. The Illinois Excellence Fund.
 
16    Section 10. The Board of Higher Education Act is amended by
17adding Section 9.36 as follows:
 

 

 

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1    (110 ILCS 205/9.36 new)
2    Sec. 9.36. Illinois Excellence Program.
3    (a) Subject to appropriation, the Board shall establish and
4administer a program, to be called the Illinois Excellence
5Program, to incentivize the recruitment and retention of
6promising faculty throughout the Illinois system of higher
7education through the award of faculty and department incentive
8grants.
9    The Program shall focus on personnel incentives designed to
10attract and retain sought-after faculty to the Illinois system
11of higher education.
12    (b) The Illinois Excellence Fund is created as a special
13fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund may be used,
14subject to appropriation, by the Board of Higher Education for
15the administration of the Illinois Excellence Program.
 
16    Section 15. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
17amended by adding Section 23 as follows:
 
18    (110 ILCS 947/23 new)
19    Sec. 23. College Affordability programs.
20    (a) In this Section:
21    "Continuous enrollment" means a student has attended
22classes in the fall and spring semester of a single academic
23year; enrollment in summer semester or intersession terms is
24not required.

 

 

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1    "Public institution" means the University of Illinois,
2Southern Illinois University, Chicago State University,
3Eastern Illinois University, Governors State University,
4Illinois State University, Northeastern Illinois University,
5Northern Illinois University, Western Illinois University, any
6public community college in this State, or any other public
7university, college, or community college now or hereafter
8established or authorized by the General Assembly.
9    "Student aid" means scholarships and grants, other than a
10College Affordability grant, awarded to the student from any
11source that does not require repayment and half of a student's
12federally calculated expected family contribution; "student
13aid" does not include student loans and work-study awards.
14    (b) The Commission shall implement and administer a
15program, beginning with the 2018-2019 academic year, to award
16College Affordability grants to all eligible Illinois
17residents seeking an associate or bachelor's degree, as
18applicable, from a public institution. The following terms and
19conditions shall apply to the program:
20        (1) To be eligible for a grant, a student must (i) have
21    been an Illinois resident for at least 2 years immediately
22    prior to applying for a grant, (ii) have graduated from an
23    approved high school with a cumulative grade point average
24    of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent, as
25    determined by the Commission), (iii) have an annual family
26    income of $125,000 or less, and (iv) be admitted to and

 

 

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1    enrolled full-time, as an Illinois resident, in a public
2    institution in the fall term after graduating from high
3    school. Exceptions to initial enrollment may be made for
4    extenuating circumstances as provided in rules adopted by
5    the Commission.
6        (2) Students applying for a grant shall complete the
7    College Affordability grant application in their initial
8    semester of enrollment. Students shall complete the Free
9    Application for Federal Student Aid each academic year in
10    which they seek to receive a grant.
11        (3) To continue to receive a grant, a student must
12    maintain Illinois residency, as well as a cumulative grade
13    point average of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (or its
14    equivalent, as determined by the Commission).
15        (4) Each academic year, subject to money appropriated
16    by the General Assembly from the College Affordability
17    Fund, a grant shall be equal to the cost of tuition and
18    mandatory fees at the public institution attended less all
19    other student aid, as determined by the Commission. For the
20    2018-2019 academic year, if grants are awarded under this
21    Section, the total amount of institutional aid awarded
22    directly by a public institution to its students in the
23    form of scholarships, grants, and waivers must be no less
24    than the total amount of such institutional aid awarded by
25    that public institution for the 2017-2018 academic year.
26    For the 2019-2020 academic year and each academic year

 

 

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1    thereafter for which grants are awarded under this Section,
2    the total amount of institutional aid that must be awarded
3    under this paragraph (4) shall be adjusted for inflation as
4    determined by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
5    Consumers as determined by the United States Department of
6    Labor. Student aid shall be credited first to the student's
7    tuition and mandatory fees. The amount of the grant may be
8    based on the annual family income of the student, as
9    determined by the Commission, but in no event may a grant
10    exceed $4,000. Each public institution shall annually
11    report its undergraduate tuition rate for Illinois
12    residents and the number of its undergraduates who are
13    Illinois residents to the Commission.
14        (5) A student awarded a grant who has an approved
15    medical or personal leave of absence from a public
16    institution may continue to receive the grant upon resuming
17    the student's education at the public institution so long
18    as the student continues to meet all applicable eligibility
19    requirements under this Section and as adopted by the
20    Commission. The total of all approved leaves of absence may
21    not exceed 6 months.
22        (6) A student is eligible for a grant until the
23    occurrence of the first of the following events:
24            (A) the student has earned a bachelor's degree; or
25            (B) the sum of the number of years the student has
26        attended a public institution equals 6 years from the

 

 

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1        date of the student's initial enrollment at a public
2        institution, exclusive of approved leaves of absence,
3        except that no more than 3 of those years may be for
4        attendance at a public community college.
5        (7) Except for a medical or personal leave of absence,
6    as approved by a public institution, a student awarded a
7    grant under this Section shall maintain continuous
8    enrollment at a public institution.
9        (8) A student awarded a grant under this Section shall
10    participate in a student loan counseling program through
11    the Commission. This program may be completed online.
12    (c) In awarding grants under this Section, the Commission
13shall, by rule, develop the selection and renewal criteria for
14students.
15    (d) Prior to receiving grant assistance for any academic
16year, each recipient of a grant awarded under this Section
17shall be required by the Commission to sign an agreement under
18which the recipient pledges that, beginning within the one-year
19period following the termination of the academic program for
20which the recipient was awarded a grant, the recipient shall
21reside in this State for a period of not less than 2 years. If
22the recipient is 26 years old or younger, his or her parent or
23guardian must also sign the agreement, agreeing to repay any
24amounts that the recipient does not repay under subsection (e)
25of this Section. Each recipient shall, upon request of the
26Commission, provide the Commission with evidence that he or she

 

 

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1is fulfilling or has fulfilled the terms of the agreement
2provided for in this subsection (d).
3    (e) If a recipient of a grant awarded under this Section
4fails to fulfill the residency obligation set forth in
5subsection (d) of this Section, the Commission shall require
6the recipient to repay, without interest, the amount of the
7grants received, prorated according to the fraction of the
8obligation not completed, and, if applicable, reasonable
9collection fees. The Commission shall allow the recipient to
10repay one-tenth of the amount owed each year for 10 years. The
11Commission is authorized to establish rules relating to its
12collection activities for repayment of grants under this
13Section.
14    (f) A recipient of a grant awarded by the Commission under
15this Section is not in violation of the agreement entered into
16pursuant to subsection (d) of this Section if the recipient (i)
17is serving as a member of the armed services of the United
18States; (ii) is enrolled in a graduate program following
19graduation from a public university; (iii) is temporarily
20totally disabled, as established by sworn affidavit of a
21qualified physician; or (iv) cannot fulfill the residency
22obligation due to his or her death, disability, or
23incompetency, as established by sworn affidavit of a qualified
24physician. No claim for repayment may be filed against the
25estate of such a decedent or incompetent. Any extension of the
26period during which the residency requirement must be fulfilled

 

 

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1is subject to limitations of duration as established by the
2Commission.
3    (g) The College Affordability Fund is created as a special
4fund in the State treasury. The Fund shall consist of money
5appropriated by the General Assembly and any gifts, bequests,
6or donations made to the Fund. All money in the Fund shall only
7be used, subject to appropriation, by the Commission for the
8purposes of awarding grants under this Section.
9    (h) Subject to appropriation from the Work-Study Fund, the
10Commission shall implement and administer a program in which
11the Commission shall award work-study stipends to applicants
12who are recipients of grants under this Section and who agree
13to work for 5 to 15 hours per week as peer mentors or tutors for
14other grant recipients under this Section under a work-study
15program established by the public institution. Eligibility for
16a stipend shall be based on the applicant's merit and the
17amount appropriated in a given fiscal year. The Commission
18shall establish an annual deadline for applying for a stipend.
19    The Work-Study Fund is created as a special fund in the
20State treasury. All money in the Fund shall be used, subject to
21appropriation, by the Commission for the purposes of this
22subsection (h).
23    (i) Subject to appropriation from the College
24Affordability Purchasing Fund, the Commission shall implement
25and administer a program in which the Commission shall buy out
26the private student loans of any eligible participant that the

 

 

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1eligible participant incurred to attend a public institution.
2The Commission may establish its own separate repayment
3conditions, but the Commission must set a 0% interest rate on
4any loans it buys out. In order to be eligible to participate
5in the program established under this subsection (i), the
6participant (1) must have graduated from a public institution
7before the start of the 2018-2019 academic year with a
8cumulative grade point average of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
9(or its equivalent, as determined by the Commission) and (2)
10must be currently repaying any federal student loans incurred
11to attend a public institution on an income-based repayment
12plan.
13    The College Affordability Purchasing Fund is created as a
14special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund shall
15be used, subject to appropriation, by the Commission for the
16purposes of this subsection (i).
 
17    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
182018, except that Section 15 and this Section take effect upon
19becoming law.