Section 2766.40  Institutional Procedures

a)         In addition to complying with Section 2766.30, the public university campus shall be responsible for administering and making awards to students in compliance with this Section, Section 2766.50 and the policies of the university campus.  For its own awards using its AIM HIGH allocation, a public university campus shall:

1)         determine the amount of the award based on an individual or broad basis in compliance with Section 2766.50 [110 ILCS 947/65.100];

2)         establish reasonable criteria consistent with eligibility criteria in Section 2766.50;

3)         use grant funds solely to fund awards of non-loan financial aid at that university campus during the academic year, not including summer terms;

4)         renew the award each year for each student who meets the renewal criteria established by the public university campus, consistent with the renewal eligibility criteria in Section 2766.50, in amounts usually not less than the amount provided in the student's first year at that university campus (see 110 ILCS 947/65.100);

5)         give preference to eligible renewal applicants in any academic year funding is insufficient to award to all eligible applicants;

6)         allow qualified part-time undergraduate students who are enrolling in their final semester to apply, at the discretion of the public university campus; [110 ILCS 947/65.100]

7)         use its best efforts to delegate grant funds amongst a racially diverse range of students and not use a student's race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, or genetic information to disqualify a student from receiving an AIM HIGH award (see P.A. 100-587 and P.A. 100-1015);

8)         post on its website the criteria and eligibility requirements and the amount of the AIM HIGH award and provide that information to ISAC and the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) to post on their respective websites (www.isac.org and www.ibhe.org);

9)         indicate that grants under the program come from AIM HIGH and use the words "AIM HIGH" in the name of any grant under the program and in any published or posted materials about the program; [110 ILCS 947/65.100]

10)       indicate in each initial student award application the renewal criteria for each academic year and not change those criteria for that recipient;

11)       make each renewal award contingent upon the availability of funding for the academic year in which the award is used; and

12)       reconcile the amount of claimed and unexpended AIM HIGH funds that were retained but not used for awards in the academic year for which funds were granted before receiving the distribution of its allocation for the next academic year.

b)         Each institution shall be responsible for meeting its statutorily-mandated matching requirement and MOE to remain eligible for its allocation.  (See Sections 2766.15 and 2766.20.)

c)         Annually, on or about the end of each academic year, but in no case later than June 30^th, in a format determined by ISAC, each participating public university campus shall report the following information to ISAC:

1)         the Program's impact on tuition revenue and enrollment goals and increase in access and affordability at the public university campus;

2)         total funds received by the public university campus under the Program;

3)         total non-loan financial aid awarded to undergraduate students attending the public university campus;

4)         total amount of funds matched by the public university campus;

5)         total amount of claimed and unexpended funds retained by the public university campus;

6)         the percentage of total financial aid, including awards made with matching funds, distributed under the Program by the public university campus; and

7)         the total number of students receiving awards from the public university campus under the Program including awards made with matching funds and those students' name, date of birth, grade level, race, ethnicity, gender, income level, family size, Monetary Award Program eligibility, Pell Grant eligibility, ZIP code of residence, and the amount of each award and the total cost of attendance for each student after non-loan financial aid.  This information shall include unit record data on those students regarding variables associated with the parameters of the public university campus' Program, including, but not limited to, a student's ACT or SAT college admissions test score, high school or university cumulative grade point average, or program of study.  [110 ILCS 947/65.100]

(Source:  Amended at 48 Ill. Reg. 4495, effective March 8, 2024)