[ Search ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
91_HB0418
LRB9102170NTsb
1 AN ACT to amend the Higher Education Student Assistance
2 Act by changing Section 35.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act
6 is amended by changing Section 35 as follows:
7 (110 ILCS 947/35)
8 Sec. 35. Monetary award program.
9 (a) The Commission shall, each year, receive and
10 consider applications for grant assistance under this
11 Section. Subject to a separate appropriation for such
12 purposes, an applicant is eligible for a grant under this
13 Section when the Commission finds that the applicant:
14 (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or
15 permanent resident of the United States; and
16 (2) in the absence of grant assistance, will be
17 deterred by financial considerations from completing an
18 educational program at the qualified institution of his
19 or her choice.
20 (b) The Commission shall award renewals only upon the
21 student's application and upon the Commission's finding that
22 the applicant:
23 (1) has remained a student in good standing;
24 (2) remains a resident of this State; and
25 (3) is in a financial situation that continues to
26 warrant assistance.
27 (c) All grants shall be applicable only to tuition and
28 necessary fee costs for 2 semesters or 3 quarters in an
29 academic year. Requests for summer term assistance will be
30 made separately and shall be considered on an individual
31 basis according to Commission policy. Subject to a separate
-2- LRB9102170NTsb
1 appropriation for this purpose beginning with fiscal year
2 2000, each student who is awarded a grant under this Section
3 and is enrolled in summer school classes shall be eligible
4 for a summer school grant. The summer school grant amount
5 shall not exceed the lesser of 50 percent of the maximum
6 annual grant amount authorized by this Section or the actual
7 cost of tuition and fees at the institution at which the
8 student is enrolled at least half-time. For the regular
9 academic year, the Commission shall determine the grant
10 amount for each full-time and part-time student, which shall
11 be the smallest of the following amounts:
12 (1) $4,320 for 2 semesters or 3 quarters of
13 full-time undergraduate enrollment or $2,160 for 2
14 semesters or 3 quarters of part-time undergraduate
15 enrollment, or such lesser amount as the Commission finds
16 to be available; or
17 (2) the amount which equals the 2 semesters or 3
18 quarters tuition and other necessary fees required
19 generally by the institution of all full-time
20 undergraduate students, or in the case of part-time
21 students an amount of tuition and fees for 2 semesters or
22 3 quarters which shall not exceed one-half the amount of
23 tuition and necessary fees generally charged to full-time
24 undergraduate students by the institution; or
25 (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
26 appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
27 resources.
28 "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
29 include the customary charge for instruction and use of
30 facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
31 for specified purposes, which are required generally of
32 nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
33 grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
34 payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
-3- LRB9102170NTsb
1 deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
2 Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
3 Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
4 tuition and other necessary fees.
5 (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
6 scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for
7 monetary award program consideration under this Act after
8 receiving a baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 10
9 semesters or 15 quarters of award payments. The Commission
10 shall determine when award payments for part-time enrollment
11 or interim or summer terms shall be counted as a partial
12 semester or quarter of payment.
13 (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants
14 to be offered, shall take into consideration past experience
15 with the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The
16 Commission shall notify applicants that grant assistance is
17 contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds.
18 (f) The Commission may request appropriations for
19 deposit into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies
20 deposited into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may be
21 expended exclusively for one purpose: to make Monetary Award
22 Program grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in
23 the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of
24 the current annual State appropriation for the Monetary Award
25 Program.
26 The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is
27 to enable the Commission each year to assure as many students
28 as possible of their eligibility for a Monetary Award Program
29 grant and to do so before commencement of the academic year.
30 Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to enhance
31 the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program,
32 minimizing the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of
33 adjusting award amounts and ensuring that the annual Monetary
34 Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
-4- LRB9102170NTsb
1 (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of
2 and make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified
3 for-profit institutions in accordance with the criteria set
4 forth in this Section. The eligibility of applicants
5 enrolled at such for-profit institutions shall be limited as
6 follows:
7 (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
8 eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
9 students who have attained an associate degree.
10 (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
11 eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
12 attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
13 grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
14 whose grants are being renewed for the academic year
15 1998.
16 (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
17 eligible students.
18 (h) The Commission shall annually present to the
19 Governor, the General Assembly, and the Board of Higher
20 Education recommendations regarding the additional funding
21 that would be needed to broaden eligibility for the Monetary
22 Award Program. These recommendations shall include but not
23 be limited to specific steps that could be taken to eliminate
24 existing rationing devices that make eligibility
25 progressively less likely as family income increases. The
26 anticipated cost of implementing any of those recommendations
27 shall be included in the report.
28 (Source: P.A. 89-163, eff. 7-19-95; 89-330, eff. 8-17-95;
29 89-512, eff. 7-11-96; 89-626, eff. 8-9-96; 90-122, eff.
30 7-17-97; 90-647, eff. 7-24-98; 90-769, eff. 8-14-98; revised
31 9-16-98.)
32 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July
33 1, 1999.