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91_HB3981ham001
LRB9111267NTsbam
1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3981
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend House Bill 3981 by replacing
3 the title with the following:
4 "AN ACT to amend the Higher Education Student Assistance
5 Act by adding Section 65.57."; and
6 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
7 following:
8 "Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act
9 is amended by adding Section 65.57 as follows:
10 (110 ILCS 947/65.57 new)
11 Sec. 65.57. The Higher Education for Real Opportunities
12 Pilot Program.
13 (a) In this Section:
14 "Accredited" means that an institution of post-secondary
15 education is authorized to do business as an educational
16 institution in this State by the Board of Higher Education
17 and is eligible to dispense federal and State need-based
18 student aid under the laws governing such aid.
19 "Institution of post-secondary education" means an
20 accredited school or program that provides educational
21 services and offers courses of study that require, as a
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1 prerequisite, that students have a high school diploma or an
2 equivalency certificate. This term includes accredited
3 community colleges, colleges, universities, and vocational
4 training programs and institutions.
5 "Low-income" means that a person is a member of a
6 household of one or more related individuals in which the
7 monthly income of all adult members is such that the family
8 is income-eligible for a State subsidy for child care in the
9 child care program operated by the Department of Human
10 Services.
11 "Post-secondary education" means education at an
12 institution of post-secondary education.
13 "Supporting minor children" means that a student is
14 either (i) the custodial parent of a minor child, as defined
15 by State law, or (ii) the noncustodial parent of a minor
16 child whose parentage is established under State law and who
17 is making current monthly child support payments to the
18 extent required by a child support order.
19 (b) The Higher Education for Real Opportunities Pilot
20 Program is hereby created. The purpose of the program is to
21 improve the ability of low-income adults who are supporting
22 minor children to acquire, through post-secondary education,
23 the skills necessary to qualify for higher paying job
24 opportunities. In addition, this program seeks to improve
25 the ability of this State to produce workers with skills
26 needed by employers in the current economy.
27 (c) The program shall provide grants to support the
28 pursuit of post-secondary education by low-income adults who
29 are supporting minor children. The program shall be
30 administered by the Commission through the financial aid
31 offices of participating institutions of post-secondary
32 education. The Commission shall operate the program in 3
33 locations, one of which shall be in a city with a population
34 of more than 1,000,000. In each location, the Commission
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1 shall select for participation in the program (i) one
2 accredited college or university and (ii) one or more other
3 accredited institutions of post-secondary education. The
4 program shall operate for 3 school years, beginning with the
5 fall term of 2000 and extending through the end of the spring
6 term of 2003.
7 (d) Students who meet all of the following eligibility
8 requirements, as calculated and determined at the beginning
9 of each term by the financial aid office of the participating
10 institution of post-secondary education and periodically
11 thereafter as specified by the Commission by rule, are
12 eligible for grants under the program.
13 (1) The student must be a low-income adult.
14 Current receipt of a child care subsidy under the child
15 care program operated by the Department of Human Services
16 shall be prima facie proof that the student is a
17 low-income adult. In other cases, financial eligibility
18 shall be determined by the same rules used by the
19 Department of Human Services for determining eligibility
20 for a child care subsidy. No federal or State student
21 assistance shall count as income under this subdivision
22 (1), except to the extent that the assistance is not a
23 loan and is available to the student to pay for living
24 expenses at the student's discretion. For purposes of
25 this subdivision (1), lump sum amounts made available to
26 students for living expenses during a school term shall
27 be prorated to monthly amounts for the months of the
28 school term covered by the student assistance.
29 (2) The student must be supporting at least one
30 minor child.
31 (3) The student must meet the work requirement
32 established under this subdivision (3), unless the
33 student is a custodial parent who is attending an
34 institution of post-secondary education on a full time
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1 basis. Unless the institution of post-secondary
2 education defines the term otherwise, "full time" means a
3 course load of at least 12 credit hours or the
4 equivalent. The work requirement shall consist of paid
5 employment or self-employment. College work-study or
6 other paid campus employment is employment under this
7 subdivision (3). There is no work requirement for the
8 first 24 months of a post-secondary vocational training
9 program. In any additional months, the work requirement
10 is 20 hours per week. The work requirement for 2-year or
11 4-year degree programs is 10 hours per week. This work
12 requirement may also be met with 20 hours per week of
13 unpaid campus employment, such as student teaching,
14 internships, or practicums, or any combination of paid
15 and unpaid work totaling 20 hours per week.
16 (4) The student must not be receiving cash public
17 assistance under any need-based program under the
18 Illinois Public Aid Code.
19 (5) The student must have a high school diploma or
20 an equivalency certificate, and the student may not
21 already have a bachelor's degree.
22 (6) The student must not have earned more than the
23 maximum amount allowed for eligibility for a State child
24 care subsidy, under the child care program operated by
25 the Department of Human Services, in either of the 2 tax
26 years for which returns were to have been filed prior to
27 the commencement of the school term, as evidenced by
28 State tax returns or other comparable evidence as
29 specified by rule.
30 (7) To be eligible in his or her first term, the
31 student must be accepted by the participating institution
32 of post-secondary education under its normal acceptance
33 criteria. To be eligible thereafter, the student must
34 maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative grade point average,
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1 on a 4.0 point scale, calculated at the conclusion of the
2 most recently completed term. The Commission shall
3 provide, by rule, a method by which institutions of
4 post-secondary education that do not have a 4.0 scale or
5 that do not grade on a traditional grade point scale
6 shall determine an equivalent measure by which the
7 student can meet this requirement.
8 (8) The student must be enrolled at a participating
9 institution of post-secondary education at least half
10 time, as defined by the institution of post-secondary
11 education.
12 (e) The following grants shall be paid to eligible
13 students under the program:
14 (1) An amount each term to cover the actual cost of
15 required books and supplies or $400, whichever is less.
16 The institution of post-secondary education may pay this
17 amount in cash, vouchers, credit arrangements with the
18 institutional bookstore, or any other means approved by
19 the Commission. This grant is available for all school
20 terms during the program's existence. If the program is
21 extended or made into a permanent program, this grant
22 shall be available for a maximum of 8 regular school year
23 semesters and 3 summer terms or the equivalent for
24 institutions of post-secondary education that use
25 different schedules, as determined by the Commission by
26 rule.
27 (2) A monthly cash stipend according to family
28 size. The amount shall be equal to one-third of the
29 monthly federal poverty level for the various family
30 sizes. An updated schedule of these amounts shall be
31 published each year by the Commission. This grant shall
32 be available in months in which students are eligible
33 throughout the program's existence. If the program is
34 extended or made into a permanent program, this grant
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1 shall be available for a maximum of 40 months, which need
2 not be consecutive.
3 (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of State law, as
4 to any month in which the student qualifies for a grant under
5 the program, the student shall be eligible for a State
6 subsidy for child care, subject to all other rules and
7 procedures for that child care program. Grants under this
8 Section shall be treated the same as other State student
9 assistance for purposes of eligibility for medical assistance
10 under the Illinois Public Aid Code. Grants under this
11 Section may not be counted to reduce the amount of student
12 assistance the student would receive under other State
13 student aid programs in the absence of the program created
14 under this Section. State and federal student assistance
15 available in cash for the basic living expenses of the
16 student may be counted in determining the student's
17 eligibility for grants under the program, but not in
18 determining the amount of assistance for eligible students
19 under the program.
20 (g) The Commission shall submit an interim report to the
21 Governor and the General Assembly by December 1, 2002,
22 covering the first 2 years of the program and any portion of
23 the third year that is feasible to be included. The
24 Commission shall submit a final report to the Governor and
25 the General Assembly by September 1, 2003. The report shall
26 include information on the number of students served each
27 term, the methods of administration, the impact of the grants
28 on completion of schooling, the performance of grant
29 recipients in obtaining employment after completion of
30 studies, and any other information relevant to the decision
31 on whether to renew, expand, or terminate the program upon
32 expiration of the program.
33 (h) The Commission shall adopt rules and procedures for
34 the administration of the program by financial aid offices of
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1 participating institutions of post-secondary education, enter
2 into such inter-agency agreements as may aid in
3 administration, and administer the program consistently with
4 other State student assistance programs.
5 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
6 becoming law.".