94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
HB1951

 

Introduced 2/14/2005, by Rep. Michael J. Madigan - Barbara Flynn Currie - Kevin A. McCarthy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
110 ILCS 947/35

    Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the Monetary Award Program.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning 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 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. The Commission shall determine the grant
28 amount for each student, which shall not exceed the smallest of
29 the following amounts:
30         (1) $4,968, or such lesser amount as the Commission
31     finds to be available, during an academic year; or
32         (2) the amount which equals 2 semesters or 3 quarters

 

 

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1     tuition and other necessary fees required generally by the
2     institution of all full-time undergraduate students; or
3         (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
4     appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
5     resources.
6 "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
7 include the customary charge for instruction and use of
8 facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
9 for specified purposes, which are required generally of
10 nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
11 grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
12 payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
13 deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
14 Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
15 Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
16 tuition and other necessary fees.
17     (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
18 scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for monetary
19 award program consideration under this Act after receiving a
20 baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 135 semester credit
21 hours of award payments.
22     (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to
23 be offered, shall take into consideration past experience with
24 the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The Commission
25 shall notify applicants that grant assistance is contingent
26 upon the availability of appropriated funds.
27     (f) The Commission may request appropriations for deposit
28 into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies deposited
29 into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may be expended
30 exclusively for one purpose: to make Monetary Award Program
31 grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in the Monetary
32 Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of the current
33 annual State appropriation for the Monetary Award Program.
34     The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is
35 to enable the Commission each year to assure as many students
36 as possible of their eligibility for a Monetary Award Program

 

 

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1 grant and to do so before commencement of the academic year.
2 Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to enhance
3 the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program,
4 minimizing the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of
5 adjusting award amounts and ensuring that the annual Monetary
6 Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
7     (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of and
8 make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit
9 institutions in accordance with the criteria set forth in this
10 Section. The eligibility of applicants enrolled at such
11 for-profit institutions shall be limited as follows:
12         (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
13     eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
14     students who have attained an associate degree.
15         (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
16     eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
17     attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
18     grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
19     whose grants are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
20         (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
21     eligible students.
22 (Source: P.A. 92-45, eff. 7-1-01; 93-1032, eff. 9-2-04.)