HB3116 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 10017 LNS 20088 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB3116

Introduced 2/18/2025, by Rep. Blaine Wilhour

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

110 ILCS 305/8

from Ch. 144, par. 29

Amends the University of Illinois Act. Beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year, provides that the Board of Trustees shall give priority admission to residents of this State. Based upon academic year, sets forth the percentage of the University's freshman class of undergraduate students that must be State residents. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The University of Illinois Act is amended by changing Section 8 as follows:

(110 ILCS 305/8) (from Ch. 144, par. 29)

Sec. 8. Admissions.

(a) (Blank).

(b) No new student shall be admitted to instruction in any of the departments or colleges of the University unless such student also has satisfactorily completed:

(1) at least 15 units of high school coursework from the following 5 categories:

(A) 4 years of English (emphasizing written and oral communications and literature), of which up to 2 years may be collegiate level instruction;

(B) 3 years of social studies (emphasizing history and government);

(C) 3 years of mathematics (introductory through advanced algebra, geometry, trigonometry, or fundamentals of computer programming);

(D) 3 years of science (laboratory sciences or agricultural sciences); and

(E) 2 years of electives in foreign language (which may be deemed to include American Sign Language), music, career and technical education, agricultural education, or art;

(2) except that institutions may admit individual applicants if the institution determines through assessment or through evaluation based on learning outcomes of the coursework taken, including career and technical education courses and courses taken in a charter school established under Article 27A of the School Code, that the applicant demonstrates knowledge and skills substantially equivalent to the knowledge and skills expected to be acquired in the high school courses required for admission. The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois shall not discriminate in the University's admissions process against an applicant for admission because of the applicant's enrollment in a charter school established under Article 27A of the School Code. Institutions may also admit 1) applicants who did not have an opportunity to complete the minimum college preparatory curriculum in high school, and 2) educationally disadvantaged applicants who are admitted to the formal organized special assistance programs that are tailored to the needs of such students, providing that in either case, the institution incorporates in the applicant's baccalaureate curriculum courses or other academic activities that compensate for course deficiencies; and

(3) except that up to 3 of the 15 units of coursework required by paragraph (1) of this subsection may be distributed by deducting no more than one unit each from the categories of social studies, mathematics, sciences and electives and completing those 3 units in any of the 5 categories of coursework described in paragraph (1).

(c) When allocating funds, local boards of education shall recognize their obligation to their students to offer the coursework required by subsection (b).

(d) A student who has graduated from high school and has scored within the University's accepted range on the ACT or SAT shall not be required to take a high school equivalency test as a prerequisite to admission.

(e) The Board of Trustees shall establish an admissions process in which honorably discharged veterans are permitted to submit an application for admission to the University as a freshman student enrolling in the spring semester if the veteran was on active duty during the fall semester. The University may request that the Department of Veterans' Affairs confirm the status of an applicant as an honorably discharged veteran who was on active duty during the fall semester.

(f) Beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year, the University shall provide all Illinois students transferring from a public community college in this State with the University's undergraduate transfer admissions application fee waiver policy and, if such a policy exists, any application or forms necessary to apply for a fee waiver as part of the University's transfer admissions process. The University is encouraged to develop a policy to automatically waive the undergraduate transfer admissions application fee for low-income Illinois students transferring from a public community college in this State. The University shall post this policy in an easily accessible place on the University's Internet website.

(g) Beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year, the Board of Trustees shall give priority admission to residents of this State as follows:

(1) for the 2026-2027 academic year, 79% of the University's freshman class of undergraduate students shall be residents of this State;

(2) for the 2027-2028 academic year, 82.5% of the University's freshman class of undergraduate students shall be residents of this State;

(3) for the 2028-2029 academic year, 86.5% of the University's freshman class of undergraduate students shall be residents of this State; and

(4) for the 2029-2030 academic year and each academic year thereafter, 90% of the University's freshman class of undergraduate students shall be residents of this State.

(Source: P.A. 102-403, eff. 1-1-22; 102-404, eff. 1-1-22; 103-936, eff. 8-9-24.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.