Bill Text: IL SB1709 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. With respect to the Monetary Award Program, removes a provision that requires the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to determine the eligibility of and make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit institutions in accordance with specified criteria. Instead, prohibits the Commission from making grants to applicants enrolled at for-profit institutions. Effective July 1, 2016.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-27 - Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments [SB1709 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-SB1709-Introduced.html

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99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2015 and 2016 SB1709 Introduced 2/20/2015, by Sen. Chapin Rose SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
110 ILCS 947/35
Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. With respect to the Monetary Award Program, removes a provision that requires the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to determine the eligibility of and make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit institutions in accordance with specified criteria. Instead, prohibits the Commission from making grants to applicants enrolled at for-profit institutions. Effective July 1, 2016.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
amended by changing Section 35 as follows:
(110 ILCS 947/35)
Sec. 35. Monetary award program.
(a) The Commission shall, each year, receive and consider
applications for grant assistance under this Section. Subject
to a separate appropriation for such purposes, an applicant is
eligible for a grant under this Section when the Commission
finds that the applicant:
(1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or
permanent resident of the United States; and
(2) in the absence of grant assistance, will be
deterred by financial considerations from completing an
educational program at the qualified institution of his or
her choice.
(b) The Commission shall award renewals only upon the
student's application and upon the Commission's finding that
the applicant:
(1) has remained a student in good standing;
(2) remains a resident of this State; and

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(3) is in a financial situation that continues to
warrant assistance.
(c) All grants shall be applicable only to tuition and
necessary fee costs. The Commission shall determine the grant
amount for each student, which shall not exceed the smallest of
the following amounts:
(1) subject to appropriation, $5,468 for fiscal year
2009, $5,968 for fiscal year 2010, and $6,468 for fiscal
year 2011 and each fiscal year thereafter, or such lesser
amount as the Commission finds to be available, during an
academic year;
(2) the amount which equals 2 semesters or 3 quarters
tuition and other necessary fees required generally by the
institution of all full-time undergraduate students; or
(3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
resources.
Subject to appropriation, the maximum grant amount for
students not subject to subdivision (1) of this subsection (c)
must be increased by the same percentage as any increase made
by law to the maximum grant amount under subdivision (1) of
this subsection (c).
"Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
include the customary charge for instruction and use of
facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
for specified purposes, which are required generally of

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nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
tuition and other necessary fees.
(d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for monetary
award program consideration under this Act after receiving a
baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 135 semester credit
hours of award payments.
(e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to
be offered, shall take into consideration past experience with
the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The Commission
shall notify applicants that grant assistance is contingent
upon the availability of appropriated funds.
(e-5) The General Assembly finds and declares that it is an
important purpose of the Monetary Award Program to facilitate
access to college both for students who pursue postsecondary
education immediately following high school and for those who
pursue postsecondary education later in life, particularly
Illinoisans who are dislocated workers with financial need and
who are seeking to improve their economic position through
education. For the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 academic years, the
Commission shall give additional and specific consideration to

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the needs of dislocated workers with the intent of allowing
applicants who are dislocated workers an opportunity to secure
financial assistance even if applying later than the general
pool of applicants. The Commission's consideration shall
include, in determining the number of grants to be offered, an
estimate of the resources needed to serve dislocated workers
who apply after the Commission initially suspends award
announcements for the upcoming regular academic year, but prior
to the beginning of that academic year. For the purposes of
this subsection (e-5), a dislocated worker is defined as in the
federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
(f) The Commission may request appropriations for deposit
into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund. Monies deposited
into the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund may be expended
exclusively for one purpose: to make Monetary Award Program
grants to eligible students. Amounts on deposit in the Monetary
Award Program Reserve Fund may not exceed 2% of the current
annual State appropriation for the Monetary Award Program.
The purpose of the Monetary Award Program Reserve Fund is
to enable the Commission each year to assure as many students
as possible of their eligibility for a Monetary Award Program
grant and to do so before commencement of the academic year.
Moneys deposited in this Reserve Fund are intended to enhance
the Commission's management of the Monetary Award Program,
minimizing the necessity, magnitude, and frequency of
adjusting award amounts and ensuring that the annual Monetary

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Award Program appropriation can be fully utilized.
(g) The Commission may not make grants to applicants
enrolled at for-profit institutions. The Commission shall
determine the eligibility of and make grants to applicants
enrolled at qualified for-profit institutions in accordance
with the criteria set forth in this Section. The eligibility of
applicants enrolled at such for-profit institutions shall be
limited as follows:
(1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
students who have attained an associate degree.
(2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
whose grants are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
(3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
eligible students.
(Source: P.A. 98-967, eff. 8-15-14.)