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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. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Public
5University Uniform Admission Pilot Program Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definition. In this Act, "institution" means,
7except for the University of Illinois, Illinois State
8University, Governors State University, Northeastern Illinois
9University, and Chicago State University, a public university
10in this State.
 
11    Section 10. Uniform admission system pilot program.
12Beginning with the 2020-2021 academic year, each institution
13shall create a 4-year uniform admission system pilot program
14under this Act to admit first-time freshman students for each
15semester of the pilot program.
 
16    Section 15. Automatic admission.
17    (a) Each institution shall admit an applicant for general
18admission to the institution as an undergraduate student if the
19applicant graduated with a grade point average in the top 10%
20or was certified to be in the top 10% of the student's high
21school graduating class in one of the 2 school years preceding

 

 

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1the academic year for which the applicant is applying for
2admission and:
3        (1) the applicant graduated from a public or private
4    high school in this State accredited by a generally
5    recognized accrediting organization or from a high school
6    operated by the United States Department of Defense;
7        (2) the applicant:
8            (A) successfully completed the minimum college
9        preparatory curriculum requirements established by law
10        for admission to the institution; and
11            (B) satisfied the ACT college admission assessment
12        or the SAT college admission assessment composite
13        score and subscores required for admission to the
14        institution to which the applicant applied as well as
15        any composite scores or subscores for colleges within
16        that institution; and
17        (3) if the applicant graduated from a high school
18    operated by the United States Department of Defense, the
19    applicant is a State resident or is entitled to pay tuition
20    fees at the rate provided for State residents for the term
21    or semester to which admitted.
22    (b) An applicant who does not satisfy the curriculum
23requirements prescribed by item (A) of subdivision (2) of
24subsection (a) of this Section is considered to have satisfied
25those requirements for the purposes of this Act if the student
26completed the portion of the college preparatory curriculum

 

 

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1that was available to the student but was unable to complete
2the remainder of the curriculum solely because courses
3necessary to complete the remainder were unavailable to the
4student at the appropriate times in the student's high school
5career as a result of course scheduling, lack of enrollment
6capacity, or another cause not within the student's control. An
7institution may require a student's successful completion of
8such curriculum requirements prior to or concurrently with
9enrollment at the institution.
10    (c) An applicant who graduates in a graduating class of a
11school, whether public or non-public, that has so few students
12that class rank does not make a reliable contribution toward
13assessing the student's college readiness is considered to have
14satisfied the requirements of subsection (a) of this Section if
15the student has a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a
164-point scale and has met the requirements of items (A) and (B)
17of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this Section.
 
18    Section 20. Admission requirements.
19     (a) To qualify for admission under this Act, an applicant
20must:
21        (1) submit an application before the expiration of any
22    application filing deadline established by the
23    institution; and
24        (2) provide a high school transcript or diploma that
25    satisfies the requirements of subsection (b) of this

 

 

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1    Section.
2    (b) For purposes of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of
3this Section, a student's official transcript or diploma must,
4not later than the end of the student's junior year, indicate:
5        (1) whether the student has satisfied or is on schedule
6    to satisfy the requirements of item (A) of subdivision (2)
7    of subsection (a) of Section 15 of this Act; or
8        (2) if subsection (b) of Section 15 of this Act applies
9    to the student, whether the student has completed the
10    portion of the college preparatory curriculum that was
11    available to the student.
 
12    Section 25. Graduates of nonaccredited private schools.
13    (a) As used in this Section, "nonaccredited secondary
14education" means a course of study at the secondary school
15level in a nonaccredited private school setting.
16    (b) Because the State of Illinois considers successful
17completion of a nonaccredited secondary education to be
18equivalent to graduation from a public high school, an
19institution, in complying with this Act and for all other
20purposes, must treat an applicant for admission to the
21institution as an undergraduate student who presents evidence
22that he or she has successfully completed a nonaccredited
23secondary education according to the same general standards,
24including specific standardized testing score requirements, as
25other applicants for undergraduate admission who have

 

 

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1graduated from a public high school.
2    (c) An institution may not require an applicant for
3admission to the institution as an undergraduate student who
4presents evidence that he or she has successfully completed a
5nonaccredited secondary education to:
6        (1) obtain or submit evidence that the person has
7    obtained a general educational development certificate,
8    certificate of high school equivalency, or other
9    credentials equivalent to a public high school degree; or
10        (2) take an examination or comply with any other
11    application or admission requirement not generally
12    applicable to other applicants for undergraduate admission
13    to the institution.
14    (d) In complying with this Act or otherwise, when an
15institution in its undergraduate admission review process
16sorts or is required to sort applicants by high school
17graduating class rank, the institution shall place any
18applicant who presents evidence that the applicant has
19successfully completed a nonaccredited secondary education
20that does not include a high school graduating class ranking at
21the average high school graduating class rank of undergraduate
22applicants to the institution who have equivalent standardized
23testing scores as the applicant.
24    (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, with
25respect to admission into the institution or any program within
26the institution, with respect to scholarship programs, and with

 

 

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1respect to other terms and conditions, and in complying with
2this Act, an institution may not treat an applicant who has
3successfully completed a nonaccredited secondary education
4that does not include a high school graduating class ranking
5differently than an applicant who graduated from an accredited
6public school.
 
7    Section 30. Admission for child of fallen police officer,
8firefighter, or Department of Corrections employee. Each
9institution shall admit an applicant for admission to the
10institution as an undergraduate student if the applicant:
11        (1) is the child of a police officer or firefighter
12    employed by or in the voluntary service of this State or
13    any local public entity in this State who was killed or
14    sustained a fatal injury in the line of duty or is the
15    child of an employee of the Department of Corrections who
16    was assigned to a security position with the Department
17    with responsibility for inmates of a correctional
18    institution under the jurisdiction of the Department and
19    who was killed or sustained a fatal injury in the line of
20    duty;
21        (2) meets the minimum requirements, if any,
22    established for purposes of this Section by the governing
23    board of the institution for high school or prior
24    college-level grade point average and performance on
25    standardized tests; and

 

 

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1        (3) satisfies the ACT college admission assessment or
2    the SAT college admission assessment composite score and
3    subscores required for admission to the institution to
4    which the applicant applied as well as any composite scores
5    or subscores for colleges within that institution.
 
6    Section 35. Additional preparation for college. After
7admitting an applicant under this Act, the institution shall
8review the applicant's record and any other factor the
9institution considers appropriate to determine whether the
10applicant may require additional preparation for college-level
11work or would benefit from inclusion in a retention program.
12The institution may require a student so identified to enroll
13during the summer immediately after the student is admitted
14under this Act to participate in appropriate enrichment courses
15and orientation programs. This Act does not prohibit a student
16who is not determined to need additional preparation for
17college-level work from enrolling, if the student chooses,
18during the summer immediately after the student is admitted
19under this Act.
 
20    Section 40. Student outreach program. The Illinois Student
21Assistance Commission, by rule, shall develop and implement a
22program to increase and enhance the efforts of institutions in
23conducting outreach to academically high-performing high
24school seniors in this State who are likely to be eligible for

 

 

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1automatic admission under Section 15 of this Act to provide to
2those students information and counseling regarding the
3operation of this Act and other opportunities, including
4financial assistance, available to those students for success
5at institutions.
 
6    Section 45. Fall or summer enrollment. An institution that
7admits, under this Act, an applicant qualified for automatic
8admission under Section 15 of this Act may admit the applicant
9for either the fall semester of the academic year for which the
10applicant applies or for the summer session preceding that fall
11semester, as determined by the institution.
 
12    Section 50. Admissions denial; reference to Act. If an
13institution denies admission to an applicant for an academic
14year, then, in any letter or other communication the
15institution provides to the applicant notifying the applicant
16of that denial, the institution may not reference the
17provisions of this Act, including using a description of a
18provision of this Act such as "the top 10% automatic admissions
19law", as a reason the institution is unable to offer admission
20to the applicant, unless the number of applicants for admission
21to the institution for that academic year who qualify for
22automatic admission under Section 15 of this Act is sufficient
23to fill 100% of the institution's enrollment capacity
24designated for first-time resident undergraduate students.
 

 

 

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1    Section 90. Rules. The Board of Higher Education and the
2Illinois Student Assistance Commission may adopt any rules
3necessary to implement this Act.
 
4    Section 95. Repeal. This Act is repealed on July 1, 2025.