Full Text of SB3032 102nd General Assembly
SB3032enr 102ND 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 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Student Debt Assistance Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Definitions. In this Act: | 7 | | "Debt" means any money, obligation, claim, or sum due or | 8 | | owing or alleged to be due or owing from a student to an | 9 | | institution of higher education. "Debt" does not include the | 10 | | fee, if any, that is charged to students by an applicable | 11 | | provider for the actual cost of providing an academic | 12 | | transcript to a student. | 13 | | "Institution of higher education" includes, but is not | 14 | | limited to, an institution to which the Private Business and | 15 | | Vocational Schools Act of 2012 or the Private College Act | 16 | | applies and a public institution of higher education included | 17 | | in the definition of "public institutions of higher education" | 18 | | under the Board of Higher Education Act. "Institution of | 19 | | higher education" also includes a person engaged in the | 20 | | business of providing postsecondary education, via | 21 | | correspondence or online or in this State, to an individual | 22 | | located in this State, regardless of whether the person has | 23 | | obtained authorization from the Board of Higher Education to |
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| 1 | | operate in this State or is accredited. | 2 | | "Official transcript" means the academic transcript or a | 3 | | similar academic record of each current or former student of | 4 | | an institution of higher education that is deemed official, | 5 | | authenticated, certified, or bona fide and that contains | 6 | | information customarily provided on an official academic | 7 | | transcript, including, but not limited to, courses taken, | 8 | | terms, grades, degrees or credentials conferred, and any other | 9 | | similar information.
| 10 | | "Unofficial transcript" means the academic transcript or a | 11 | | similar academic record of each current or former student of | 12 | | an institution of higher education that contains information | 13 | | customarily provided on an official transcript, but cannot be | 14 | | used to transfer academic credits to another institution of | 15 | | higher education.
| 16 | | Section 10. Withholding of unofficial transcripts | 17 | | prohibited. An institution of higher education may not do any | 18 | | of the following: | 19 | | (1) Refuse to provide an unofficial transcript to a | 20 | | current or former student on the grounds that the student | 21 | | owes a debt.
| 22 | | (2) Condition the provision of an unofficial | 23 | | transcript on the payment of a debt, other than a fee | 24 | | charged to provide the transcript.
| 25 | | (3) Charge a higher fee for obtaining an unofficial |
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| 1 | | transcript or provide less favorable treatment of a | 2 | | request for an unofficial transcript because a current or | 3 | | former student owes a debt.
| 4 | | Section 15. Withholding of official transcripts. An | 5 | | institution of higher education: | 6 | | (1) must provide an official transcript of a current | 7 | | or former student to a current or potential employer, even | 8 | | if the current or former student owes a debt;
| 9 | | (2) may not condition the provision of an official | 10 | | transcript to a current or potential employer on the | 11 | | payment of a debt, other than a fee charged to provide the | 12 | | transcript; and | 13 | | (3) may not charge a higher fee for transferring an | 14 | | official transcript to a current or potential employer or | 15 | | provide less favorable treatment for such a request | 16 | | because a current or former student owes a debt.
| 17 | | Section 20. Physical or financial hardship policy. | 18 | | (a) Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, every | 19 | | institution of higher education must have a policy instituting | 20 | | a financial or physical hardship withdrawal process. The | 21 | | process must work to limit debt owed by students who have to | 22 | | withdraw from the institution due to a significant financial | 23 | | or physical hardship and to assist those students if and when | 24 | | they choose to re-enroll. Types of hardship shall include, but |
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| 1 | | are not limited to: | 2 | | (1) serious injury or illness; | 3 | | (2) chronic illness; | 4 | | (3) a medical issue of a family member in which the | 5 | | student has to become a part-time or full-time caretaker | 6 | | of that family member; | 7 | | (4) a mental health condition; | 8 | | (5) a sudden or consistent lack of transportation | 9 | | issue; and | 10 | | (6) a significant cost of living increase. | 11 | | (b) Information regarding the existence of the financial | 12 | | or physical hardship withdrawal process shall be publicized on | 13 | | the institution of higher education's website, and information | 14 | | must be given to students as part of any school orientation | 15 | | process. | 16 | | Section 25. Student debt and credit report. If an | 17 | | institution of higher education chooses to send a current or | 18 | | former student's past due debt to a debt collection agency, | 19 | | the past due debt may not be reported to any credit reporting | 20 | | agencies, except as provided by federal law.
| 21 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 22 | | becoming law. |
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