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Public Act 101-0334
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| SB1467 Enrolled | LRB101 08315 CPF 53384 b |
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section |
30-14.2 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/30-14.2) (from Ch. 122, par. 30-14.2)
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Sec. 30-14.2. MIA/POW scholarships.
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(a) Any spouse, natural child, legally adopted child, or
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step-child of an eligible veteran or serviceperson who |
possesses all necessary
entrance requirements shall, upon |
application and proper proof, be awarded
a MIA/POW Scholarship |
consisting of the equivalent of 4 calendar years of
full-time |
enrollment including summer terms, to the state supported
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Illinois institution of higher learning of his choice, subject |
to the
restrictions listed below.
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"Eligible veteran or serviceperson" means any veteran or |
serviceperson, including an Illinois National Guard member who |
is on active duty or is active on a training assignment,
who |
has been declared by the U.S. Department of Defense or the
U.S. |
Department of Veterans Affairs to be a prisoner of war, be |
missing
in action, have died as the result of a |
service-connected disability or have become a person with a |
permanent disability from service-connected causes with 100% |
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disability and
who (i) at the time of entering service was an |
Illinois resident, (ii) was an
Illinois resident within 6 |
months after entering such service, or (iii) is a resident of |
Illinois at the time of application for the Scholarship and, at |
some point after leaving such service, was a resident of |
Illinois for at least 15 consecutive years until July 1, 2014, |
became an Illinois resident within 6 months after leaving the |
service and can establish at least 30 years of continuous |
residency in the State of Illinois.
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Full-time enrollment means 12 or more semester hours of |
courses per semester,
or 12 or more quarter hours of courses |
per quarter, or the equivalent thereof
per term. Scholarships |
utilized by dependents enrolled in less than full-time
study |
shall be computed in the proportion which the number of hours |
so carried
bears to full-time enrollment.
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Scholarships awarded under this Section may be used by a |
spouse or child
without regard to his or her age. The holder of |
a Scholarship
awarded under this Section shall be subject to |
all examinations and academic
standards, including the |
maintenance of minimum grade levels, that are
applicable |
generally to other enrolled students at the Illinois |
institution of
higher learning where the Scholarship is being |
used.
If the surviving spouse
remarries or if there is a |
divorce between the veteran or serviceperson and
his or her |
spouse while the dependent is pursuing his or her course of
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study, Scholarship benefits will be terminated at the end of |
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the term for
which he or she is presently enrolled. Such |
dependents shall also be
entitled, upon proper proof and |
application, to enroll in any extension
course offered by a |
State supported Illinois institution of higher learning
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without payment of tuition and approved fees.
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The holder of a MIA/POW Scholarship authorized under this |
Section shall
not be required to pay any matriculation or |
application fees, tuition,
activities fees, graduation fees or |
other fees, except multipurpose
building fees or similar fees |
for supplies and materials.
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Any dependent who has been or shall be awarded a MIA/POW |
Scholarship shall
be reimbursed by the appropriate institution |
of higher learning for any
fees which he or she has paid and |
for which exemption is granted under this
Section if |
application for reimbursement is made within 2 months following
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the end of the school term for which the fees were paid.
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(b) In lieu of the benefit provided in subsection (a), any |
spouse,
natural child, legally adopted child, or step-child of |
an eligible veteran
or serviceperson, which spouse or child has |
a physical, mental or
developmental disability, shall be |
entitled to receive, upon application and
proper proof, a |
benefit to be used for the purpose of defraying the cost of
the |
attendance or treatment of such spouse or child at one or more
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appropriate therapeutic, rehabilitative or educational |
facilities. The
application and proof may be made by the parent |
or legal guardian of the
spouse or child on his or her behalf.
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The total benefit provided to any beneficiary under this |
subsection shall
not exceed the cost equivalent of 4 calendar |
years of full-time enrollment,
including summer terms, at the |
University of Illinois. Whenever
practicable in the opinion of |
the Department of Veterans' Affairs, payment
of benefits under |
this subsection shall be made directly to the facility,
the |
cost of attendance or treatment at which is being defrayed, as |
such
costs accrue.
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(c) The benefits of this Section shall be administered by |
and paid for out
of funds made available to the Illinois |
Department of Veterans' Affairs.
The amounts that become due to |
any state supported Illinois institution of
higher learning |
shall be payable by the Comptroller to such institution on
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vouchers approved by the Illinois Department of Veterans' |
Affairs. The
amounts that become due under subsection (b) of |
this Section shall be
payable by warrant upon vouchers issued |
by the Illinois Department of
Veterans' Affairs and approved by |
the Comptroller. The Illinois Department
of Veterans' Affairs |
shall determine the eligibility of the persons
who make |
application for the benefits provided for in this Section.
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(Source: P.A. 99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 99-143, eff. 7-27-15; |
100-201, eff. 8-18-17.)
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Section 10. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is |
amended by changing Section 40 as follows:
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(110 ILCS 947/40)
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Sec. 40. Illinois Veteran grant program. |
(a) As used in this Section: |
"Qualified applicant" means a person who served in the |
Armed Forces of the United States, a Reserve component of the |
Armed Forces, or the Illinois National Guard, excluding members |
of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and those whose only |
service has been attendance at a service academy, and who meets |
all of the following qualifications of either paragraphs (1) |
through (4) or paragraphs (2), (3), and (5): |
(1) At the time of entering federal active duty service |
the person was one of the following: |
(A) An Illinois resident. |
(B) An Illinois resident within 6 months of |
entering such service. |
(C) Enrolled at a State-controlled university or |
public community college in this State. |
(2) The person meets one of the following requirements: |
(A) He or she served at least one year of federal |
active duty. |
(B) He or she served less than one year of federal |
active duty and received an honorable discharge for |
medical reasons directly connected with such service. |
(C) He or she served less than one year of federal |
active duty and was discharged prior to August 11, |
1967. |
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(D) He or she served less than one year of federal |
active duty in a foreign country during a time of |
hostilities in that foreign country. |
(3) The person received an honorable discharge after |
leaving each period of federal active duty service. |
(4) The person returned to this State within 6 months |
after leaving federal active duty service, or, if married |
to a person in continued military service stationed outside |
this State, returned to this State within 6 months after |
his or her spouse left service or was stationed within this |
State. |
(5) The person does not meet the requirements of |
paragraph (1), but (i) is a resident of Illinois at the |
time of application to the Commission and (ii) at some |
point after leaving federal active duty service, was a |
resident of Illinois for at least 15 consecutive years. |
"Time of hostilities" means any action by the Armed Forces |
of the United States that is recognized by the issuance of a |
Presidential proclamation or a Presidential executive order |
and in which the Armed Forces expeditionary medal or other |
campaign service medals are awarded according to Presidential |
executive order. |
(b) A person who otherwise qualifies under subsection (a) |
of this Section but has not left federal active duty service |
and has served at least one year of federal active duty or has |
served for less than one year of federal active duty in a |
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foreign country during a time of hostilities in that foreign |
country and who can provide documentation demonstrating an |
honorable service record is eligible to receive assistance |
under this Section. |
(c) A qualified applicant is not required to pay any |
tuition or mandatory fees while attending a State-controlled |
university or public community college in this State for a |
period that is equivalent to 4 years of full-time enrollment, |
including summer terms. |
A qualified applicant who has previously received benefits |
under this Section for a non-mandatory fee shall continue to |
receive benefits covering such fees while he or she is enrolled |
in a continuous program of study. The qualified applicant shall |
no longer receive a grant covering non-mandatory fees if he or |
she fails to enroll during an academic term, unless he or she |
is serving federal active duty service.
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(d) A qualified applicant who has been or is to be awarded |
assistance under this Section shall receive that assistance if |
the qualified applicant notifies his or her postsecondary |
institution of that fact by the end of the school term for |
which assistance is requested. |
(e) Assistance under this Section is considered an |
entitlement that the State-controlled college or public |
community college in which the qualified applicant is enrolled |
shall honor without any condition other than the qualified |
applicant's maintenance of minimum grade levels and a |
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satisfactory student loan repayment record pursuant to |
subsection (c) of Section 20 of this Act. |
(f) The Commission shall administer the grant program |
established by this Section and shall make all necessary and |
proper rules not inconsistent with this Section for its |
effective implementation. |
(g) All applications for assistance under this Section must |
be made to the Commission on forms that the Commission shall |
provide. The Commission shall determine the form of application |
and the information required to be set forth in the |
application, and the Commission shall require qualified |
applicants to submit with their applications any supporting |
documents that the Commission deems necessary. Upon request, |
the Department of Veterans' Affairs shall assist the Commission |
in determining the eligibility of applicants for assistance |
under this Section. |
(h) Assistance under this Section is available as long as |
the federal government provides educational benefits to |
veterans. Assistance must not be paid under this Section after |
6 months following the termination of educational benefits to |
veterans by the federal government, except for persons who |
already have begun their education with assistance under this |
Section. If the federal government terminates educational |
benefits to veterans and at a later time resumes those |
benefits, assistance under this Section shall resume.
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(Source: P.A. 94-583, eff. 8-15-05.)
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