Section 2732.30  Program Procedures

a)         All first-time applicants shall complete an application which includes biographical information regarding the deceased or disabled officer (e.g., name, where employed, position title, date of death or disability, etc.) and the application shall be accompanied by a certified death certificate or the certified statement of a licensed physician.

1)         The physician's statement must certify that there is a mental or physical condition that is reasonably certain to continue throughout the lifetime of the officer, resulting in a 90% to 100% incapacity from performing substantial and material duties previously discharged.

2)         Documentation must be submitted to prove that the death or disability occurred in the line of duty.

b)         Once eligibility in relation to the qualifying death or disability has been established for one member of a family, it is established for all qualified applicants in the family.  Thereafter, a simplified application will be required from each student on an annual basis.  Also, students must indicate the institution to be attended.

c)         The deadline for applications will be October 1 for consideration for all terms, March 1 for consideration for second semester/second and third quarter and summer term, and June 15 for consideration for the summer term only.

d)         If an application is incomplete, notice will be sent to the applicant. The applicant will then have an opportunity to furnish the missing information; however, the application will only be considered for processing as of the date it was completed and received in ISAC's Deerfield office.

e)         Grants are applicable toward tuition and mandatory fees.

1)         A recipient attending a public institution in Illinois shall receive a grant that shall not exceed the cost of tuition and mandatory fees at that institution.  This includes the difference between in-district and out-of-district tuition.

2)         A recipient attending a private institution in Illinois may receive a grant sufficient to pay the costs of tuition and mandatory fees, provided the award does not exceed the maximum grant payable to a student enrolled in the most expensive comparable program of study at a public institution.

f)         Notice of the grant award will be sent to each recipient.  Applicants not receiving awards will also be notified.

g)         Benefits are limited to the full-time enrollment equivalent of eight semesters or twelve quarters of payment for undergraduate or graduate study.  Recipients may accumulate up to 48 eligibility units.

1)         To determine the amount of eligibility a recipient has used, credit hours (and noncredit hours for which benefits are used) will be converted to eligibility units according to the following table:

2)         Full program benefits may be extended for one additional term if the recipient has accumulated fewer than 48 eligibility units but does not have enough units remaining for the number of hours in which the recipient is enrolled for the term.

h)         A student who receives a grant under this program and who is subsequently determined to be ineligible shall repay the institution the total amount of the funds received during the period in which the student was ineligible.

i)          Recipients receive payment through their institution of record.

j)          If a recipient withdraws from enrollment after the expiration of the tuition refund/withdrawal adjustment period, the recipient shall receive a grant for costs incurred up to the term award provided that the institution's tuition refund policy indicates the recipient had incurred such charges.

k)         A recipient shall agree to notify ISAC, in writing, within 15 days of any change affecting enrollment status, name or address.

l)          ISAC pays grant funds directly to the institution of record in the name of the recipient.

m)        ISAC will disburse grant funds in multiple installments, depending upon the number of terms financed by the grant; except that multiple disbursements will not be required in cases where the applicant's eligibility is not determined until the final term of the academic year for which the grant is being awarded or when a student is attending only one term and the maximum award does not exceed the student's cost of attendance.

n)         Grant payment is subject to the limits of dollars appropriated for this program by the General Assembly.

o)         In the event that funds are insufficient to make awards to all eligible applicants, ISAC will make award determinations on the basis of the dates that the completed applications were received and the following:

1)         first semester and first quarter awards will be paid, or prorated if funding is insufficient to pay all grants in full;

2)         if funds remain after first semester and first quarter awards are paid, then second semester/second and third quarter awards will be paid, or prorated if funds remaining are insufficient to pay all grants in full;

3)         if funds remain after second semester/second and third quarter awards are paid, summer term awards will be paid, or prorated if funding is insufficient to pay all grants in full; and

4)         timely claims for the difference between in-district and out-of-district tuition for recipients who do not qualify for charge backs will be considered for payment at the same time and in the same priority order as all other timely claims, in accordance with the provisions of this subsection (o).

(Source:  Amended at 45 Ill. Reg. 8455, effective July 1, 2021)