Full Text of SB2846 98th General Assembly
SB2846eng 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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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 Private College Act is amended by adding | 5 | | Section 1.5 as follows: | 6 | | (110 ILCS 1005/1.5 new) | 7 | | Sec. 1.5. Exemption from Act; nonprofit religious | 8 | | institution. | 9 | | (a) A nonprofit institution owned, controlled, and | 10 | | operated and
maintained by a bona fide church, religious | 11 | | denomination, or religious
organization comprised of | 12 | | multi-denominational members of the same
well-recognized | 13 | | religion, lawfully operating as a nonprofit religious
| 14 | | corporation pursuant to the Religious Corporation Act, is | 15 | | exempt from this Act if (i) the education is limited to | 16 | | instruction in the principles of that church, religious | 17 | | denomination, or
religious organization or to courses offered | 18 | | for the purpose of training the adherents of that church, | 19 | | religious denomination, or religious organization in the care | 20 | | of the sick in accordance with its religious tenets; (ii) the | 21 | | diploma or degree is limited
to evidence of completion of that | 22 | | education and the meritorious
recognition upon which any | 23 | | honorary degree is conferred is limited to
the principles of |
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| 1 | | that church, religious denomination, or religious
| 2 | | organization; and (iii) the institution's handbook for | 3 | | students includes the following statement: "This religious | 4 | | degree is not approved by the Illinois Board of Higher | 5 | | Education.". | 6 | | (b) Institutions exempt under this Section shall offer
| 7 | | degrees and diplomas only in the beliefs and practices of the | 8 | | church,
religious denomination, or religious organization. The | 9 | | enactment of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly | 10 | | expresses the legislative intent that this State must not | 11 | | involve itself in the content of degree programs awarded by any | 12 | | institution exempt under this Section, as long as the | 13 | | institution awards degrees
and diplomas only in the beliefs and | 14 | | practices of the church, religious
denomination, or religious | 15 | | organization. | 16 | | (c) Institutions exempt under this Section may not award | 17 | | degrees in any area other than religion. Any degree or diploma | 18 | | granted in any area of study under this Section shall contain | 19 | | on its face, under the written description of the title
of the | 20 | | degree being conferred, the statement, "Not Approved by the | 21 | | Illinois Board of Higher Education". The enactment of this | 22 | | amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly is intended to | 23 | | prevent any entity claiming to be a nonprofit institution | 24 | | owned, controlled, and operated and maintained by
a bona fide | 25 | | church, religious denomination, or religious organization
| 26 | | comprised of multi-denominational members of the same
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| 1 | | well-recognized religion, lawfully operating as a nonprofit | 2 | | religious
corporation pursuant to the Religious Corporation | 3 | | Act, from marketing and
granting degrees or diplomas that are | 4 | | represented as being linked to their
church, religious | 5 | | denomination, or religious organization, but which, in
| 6 | | reality, are degrees in secular areas of study. | 7 | | (d) An institution exempt under this Section shall annually | 8 | | file with the Board evidence to demonstrate its status as a | 9 | | nonprofit religious corporation under the
Religious | 10 | | Corporation Act. | 11 | | Section 10. The Academic Degree Act is amended by changing | 12 | | Section 11 as follows:
| 13 | | (110 ILCS 1010/11) (from Ch. 144, par. 241)
| 14 | | Sec. 11. Exemptions. | 15 | | (a) This Act shall not apply to any school or
educational | 16 | | institution regulated or approved under the Nurse Practice Act.
| 17 | | (b) This Act shall not apply to any of the following:
| 18 | | (1) (a) in-training programs by corporations or other | 19 | | business organizations
for the training of their | 20 | | personnel;
| 21 | | (2) (b) education or other improvement programs by | 22 | | business, trade and
similar organizations and associations | 23 | | for the benefit of their members
only; or
| 24 | | (3) (c) apprentice or other training programs by labor |
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| 1 | | unions.
| 2 | | (c) A nonprofit institution owned, controlled, and | 3 | | operated and
maintained by a bona fide church, religious | 4 | | denomination, or religious
organization comprised of | 5 | | multi-denominational members of the same
well-recognized | 6 | | religion, lawfully operating as a nonprofit religious
| 7 | | corporation pursuant to the Religious Corporation Act, is | 8 | | exempt from this Act if (i) the education is limited to | 9 | | instruction in the principles of that church, religious | 10 | | denomination, or
religious organization or to courses offered | 11 | | for the purpose of training the adherents of that church, | 12 | | religious denomination, or religious organization in the care | 13 | | of the sick in accordance with its religious tenets; (ii) the | 14 | | diploma or degree is limited
to evidence of completion of that | 15 | | education and the meritorious
recognition upon which any | 16 | | honorary degree is conferred is limited to
the principles of | 17 | | that church, religious denomination, or religious
| 18 | | organization; and (iii) the institution's handbook for | 19 | | students includes the following statement: "This religious | 20 | | degree is not approved by the Illinois Board of Higher | 21 | | Education.". | 22 | | Institutions exempt under this subsection (c) shall offer
| 23 | | degrees and diplomas only in the beliefs and practices of the | 24 | | church,
religious denomination, or religious organization. The | 25 | | enactment of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly | 26 | | expresses the legislative intent that this State must not |
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| 1 | | involve itself in the content of degree programs awarded by any | 2 | | institution exempt under this subsection (c), as long as the | 3 | | institution awards degrees
and diplomas only in the beliefs and | 4 | | practices of the church, religious
denomination, or religious | 5 | | organization. | 6 | | Institutions exempt under this subsection (c) may not award | 7 | | degrees in any area other than religion. Any degree or diploma | 8 | | granted in any area of study under this subsection (c) shall | 9 | | contain on its face, under the written description of the title
| 10 | | of the degree being conferred, the statement, "Not Approved by | 11 | | the Illinois Board of Higher Education". The enactment of this | 12 | | amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly is intended to | 13 | | prevent any entity claiming to be a nonprofit institution | 14 | | owned, controlled, and operated and maintained by
a bona fide | 15 | | church, religious denomination, or religious organization
| 16 | | comprised of multi-denominational members of the same
| 17 | | well-recognized religion, lawfully operating as a nonprofit | 18 | | religious
corporation pursuant to the Religious Corporation | 19 | | Act, from marketing and
granting degrees or diplomas that are | 20 | | represented as being linked to their
church, religious | 21 | | denomination, or religious organization, but which, in
| 22 | | reality, are degrees in secular areas of study. | 23 | | An institution exempt under this subsection (c) shall | 24 | | annually file with the Board evidence to demonstrate its status | 25 | | as a nonprofit religious corporation under the
Religious | 26 | | Corporation Act. |
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| 1 | | (Source: P.A. 95-639, eff. 10-5-07.)
| 2 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | 3 | | 2014.
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