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91_HB4265eng HB4265 Engrossed LRB9108848NTksD 1 AN ACT concerning career scholarships. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 5 Illinois Career Scholarship Act. 6 Section 5. Purpose. The General Assembly finds and 7 declares that the State of Illinois and its citizens will 8 benefit greatly from a highly skilled workforce that will 9 meet the technological needs of the twenty-first century. 10 The need for skilled workers has been growing at an ever 11 increasing rate, resulting in shortages of skilled workers in 12 some occupations. The State of Illinois recognizes its 13 responsibility to ensure that all Illinois citizens can 14 pursue educational and training opportunities that will 15 enable them to benefit fully from the economic system of the 16 next century. 17 While the State of Illinois appropriately devotes many 18 resources each year toward degree seeking students enrolled 19 in higher education, it is similarly important that the State 20 encourage non-baccalaureate degree seeking students to 21 successfully graduate from high school and receive some form 22 of post-secondary education or training. Consequently, the 23 intention of this Act is to encourage high school students 24 not seeking a baccalaureate degree to nonetheless obtain 25 their high school diplomas and subsequently pursue additional 26 career training. The Illinois Career Scholarship program, 27 therefore, is designed to provide those high school students 28 not seeking a baccalaureate degree with a financial incentive 29 to pursue alternative post-secondary training opportunities. 30 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: HB4265 Engrossed -2- LRB9108848NTksD 1 "Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance 2 Commission. 3 "Eligible program" means a program certified by the 4 Illinois Workforce Investment Board or an occupational or 5 vocational program certified by the Illinois Community 6 College Board, the State Board of Education, or the Board of 7 Higher Education. 8 "Eligible Tech Prep program" means a program of study, 9 developed by secondary schools, post-secondary institutions, 10 and private sector businesses, approved by the State Board of 11 Education, and implemented at the secondary school level and 12 continuing at a post-secondary institution, that consists of 13 a sequence of courses in one of the following career interest 14 areas: (i) agriculture and natural resources, (ii) arts and 15 communications, (iii) business and administrative services, 16 (iv) health care, (v) human and family services, or (vi) 17 industrial and engineering technology, leading to related 18 meaningful employment. 19 "Illinois Career Scholarship" means a non-renewable award 20 payable to a participating institution on behalf of the award 21 recipient, as provided under Section 20 of this Act. 22 "Jobs for Illinois Graduates program" means an in-school 23 program of study, affiliated with the federal Jobs for 24 America's Graduates, approved by the State Board of 25 Education, and implemented at the secondary school level, 26 that is designed to help Illinois' youth at risk of 27 underemployment and unemployment make the transition from 28 high school to work and that is required to adopt the model 29 program components and standards of employability skills, 30 career development skills, job attainment, job survival, and 31 basic competency skills to help ensure successful placement 32 upon high school graduation. 33 "Participating institution" means an institution that 34 operates an eligible program at which Illinois Career HB4265 Engrossed -3- LRB9108848NTksD 1 Scholarship recipients are enrolled. 2 Section 15. Creation of the Illinois Career Scholarship 3 program. There is created an Illinois Career Scholarship 4 program to be administered by the Commission. The Commission 5 shall receive initial and subsequent State appropriations for 6 distribution to eligible Illinois Career Scholarship 7 applicants. The Commission also shall receive appropriate 8 annual State appropriations for program administration and 9 shall be responsible for developing and implementing any 10 rules necessary for the efficient administration of the 11 program. 12 Section 20. Awards. Illinois Career Scholarships are 13 $1,000 non-renewable awards, payable to a participating 14 institution on behalf of the award recipient in one 15 disbursement. The Commission shall ensure that these 16 scholarships are disbursed no later than the close of the 17 academic term during which the recipient is currently 18 enrolled in an approved course of study. 19 Section 25. Eligibility; insufficient appropriation. 20 (a) An eligible applicant for an Illinois Career 21 Scholarship shall be a resident of this State and a citizen 22 or permanent resident of the United States under the age of 23 21 years who (i) as an eligible applicant, has made a timely 24 application to the Commission for an Illinois Career 25 Scholarship, (ii) has successfully completed the program of 26 instruction at any high school either approved by or 27 registered with the State Board of Education and located in 28 this State, and (iii) enrolls or is enrolled, within 6 months 29 after the applicant's high school graduation, in an approved 30 program of career instruction at an educational institution 31 or other organization authorized to provide such instruction HB4265 Engrossed -4- LRB9108848NTksD 1 under this Act. 2 Withdrawal by an award recipient from an approved program 3 that results in a full refund of the Illinois Career 4 Scholarship award shall not result in disqualification of 5 that student from future eligibility to receive an Illinois 6 Career Scholarship. 7 (b) In the event that an appropriation to the Commission 8 for the purposes of this Act is insufficient to provide 9 Illinois Career Scholarships to all eligible applicants, then 10 the Commission shall allocate the appropriation in accordance 11 with this Section. First preference for Illinois Career 12 Scholarship awards shall be provided to those applicants who 13 have completed the Jobs for Illinois Graduates program. 14 Second preference for Illinois Career Scholarship awards 15 shall be provided to those applicants who have participated 16 in an eligible Tech Prep program offered to Illinois high 17 school students. Third preference shall be accorded to all 18 other eligible applicants. 19 For the purposes of this Section, no later than July 1 of 20 each calendar year, the State Board of Education shall 21 provide to the Commission an approved list of eligible Jobs 22 for Illinois Graduates programs and Tech Prep programs 23 operating within the State during the previous academic year. 24 Section 25. Program management. The Commission is 25 responsible for administration of the Illinois Career 26 Scholarship program. Upon notification of the eligible 27 recipient's enrollment in an eligible program of study, the 28 Commission shall disburse the Illinois Career Scholarship 29 award directly to the participating institution on behalf of 30 the student, with the amount being credited to the student's 31 account for the purpose of paying for any approved 32 educational expense. An "approved educational expense" for 33 the purpose of this Act is any expense approved by Title IV HB4265 Engrossed -5- LRB9108848NTksD 1 of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965. These expenses 2 shall be deemed approved regardless of whether or not the 3 Illinois Career Scholarship recipient is currently receiving 4 federal Title IV funds. 5 Illinois Career Scholarship awards shall be disbursed 6 subject to guidelines and processes established by the 7 Commission. These guidelines may include, without 8 limitation, timing of disbursements, proration for less than 9 full-time enrollment, and refunds due based upon a 10 recipient's withdrawal from an approved course of study. 11 Illinois Career Scholarship awards may be applied only 12 toward eligible programs. For the purposes of this Section, 13 no later than July 1 of each calendar year, the Illinois 14 Workforce Investment Board, the State Board of Education, the 15 Illinois Community College Board, and the Board of Higher 16 Education shall provide to the Commission an approved list of 17 eligible programs. The Illinois Workforce Investment Board, 18 the State Board of Education, the Illinois Community College 19 Board, and the Board of Higher Education shall notify the 20 Commission throughout the year if any such programs have been 21 de-certified during the course of the academic year and, 22 therefore, are no longer eligible to receive Illinois Career 23 Scholarship funds. 24 Participating institutions shall be subject to Commission 25 audit procedures regarding the receipt and distribution of 26 State funds. 27 Section 30. Program evaluation. An evaluation to 28 determine if the Illinois Career Scholarship program is 29 achieving the goals and objectives enumerated in Section 5 of 30 this Act shall be conducted by the Commission. This 31 evaluation shall reference the first 3 years experience with 32 the program and shall be completed no later than April 1, 33 2004. When conducting this evaluation, the Commission shall HB4265 Engrossed -6- LRB9108848NTksD 1 solicit official commentary from the State Board of 2 Education, the Illinois Workforce Investment Board, the 3 Illinois Community College Board, and the Board of Higher 4 Education as part of this evaluation. The Commission shall 5 present this program evaluation to the Governor, the 6 President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of 7 Representatives, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the 8 Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the State 9 Superintendent of Education, the Executive Director of the 10 Board of Higher Education, and the Executive Director of the 11 Illinois Community College Board. 12 Section 35. Other scholarships, grants, or monetary 13 assistance. Receipt of an Illinois Career Scholarship 14 authorized by this Act shall not in any way preclude the 15 recipient from receiving other scholarship, grant, or 16 monetary assistance awarded by the Commission. 17 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on 18 July 1, 2000.