Bill Text: IL SB3138 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Children and Family Services Act. In a provision providing that post-secondary education scholarships and fee waivers awarded to eligible students by the Department of Children and Family Services shall be available to students for at least 5 years, provides that such scholarships shall be available so long as the eligible students are continuing to work toward graduation and completion of a certificate or degree program (rather than so long as the eligible students are continuing to work toward graduation). Removes a provision requiring a community college or public university that a scholarship applicant attends to waive any tuition and fee amounts that exceed the amounts paid to the applicant under the federal Pell Grant Program. Provides that tuition and fee waivers shall be available to a student for at least the first 5 years the student is enrolled in a community college, university, or college maintained by the State of Illinois so long as the student continues to work toward graduation and completion of a certificate or degree program (rather than makes satisfactory progress toward completing the student's degree). Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)

Status: (Passed) 2024-08-09 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 103-0943 [SB3138 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB3138-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning State government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended
by changing Section 8 as follows:
(20 ILCS 505/8) (from Ch. 23, par. 5008)
Sec. 8. Scholarships and fee waivers; tuition waiver.
(a) Each year the Department shall select a minimum of 53
students (at least 4 of whom shall be children of veterans) to
receive scholarships and fee waivers which will enable them to
attend and complete their post-secondary education at a
community college, university, or college. Youth shall be
selected from among the youth for whom the Department has
court-ordered legal responsibility, youth who aged out of care
at age 18 or older, or youth formerly under care who have been
adopted or who have been placed in private guardianship.
Recipients must have earned a high school diploma from an
accredited institution or a State of Illinois High School
Diploma or have met the State criteria for high school
graduation before the start of the school year for which they
are applying for the scholarship and waiver. Scholarships and
fee waivers shall be available to students for at least 5
years, provided they are continuing to work toward graduation

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and completion of a certificate or degree program. Unused
scholarship dollars and fee waivers shall be reallocated to
new recipients. No later than January 1, 2015, the Department
shall promulgate rules identifying the criteria for
"continuing to work toward graduation" and for reallocating
unused scholarships and fee waivers. Selection shall be made
on the basis of several factors, including, but not limited
to, scholastic record, aptitude, and general interest in
higher education. The selection committee shall include at
least 2 individuals formerly under the care of the Department
who have completed their post-secondary education. In
accordance with this Act, tuition scholarships and fee waivers
shall be available to such students at any university or
college maintained by the State of Illinois. The Department
shall provide maintenance and school expenses, except tuition
and fees, during the academic years to supplement the
students' earnings or other resources so long as they
consistently maintain scholastic records which are acceptable
to their schools and to the Department. Students may attend
other colleges and universities, if scholarships are awarded
to them, and receive the same benefits for maintenance and
other expenses as those students attending any Illinois State
community college, university, or college under this Section.
Beginning with recipients receiving scholarships and waivers
in August 2014, the Department shall collect data and report
annually to the General Assembly on measures of success,

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including (i) the number of youth applying for and receiving
scholarships or waivers, (ii) the percentage of scholarship or
waiver recipients who complete their college or university
degree within 5 years, (iii) the average length of time it
takes for scholarship or waiver recipients to complete their
college or university degree, (iv) the reasons that
scholarship or waiver recipients are discharged or fail to
complete their college or university degree, (v) when
available, youths' outcomes 5 years and 10 years after being
awarded the scholarships or waivers, and (vi) budget
allocations for maintenance and school expenses incurred by
the Department.
(b) Youth shall receive a tuition and fee waiver to assist
them in attending and completing their post-secondary
education at any community college, university, or college
maintained by the State of Illinois if they are youth for whom
the Department has court-ordered legal responsibility, youth
who aged out of care at age 18 or older, or youth formerly
under care who have been adopted and were the subject of an
adoption assistance agreement or who have been placed in
private guardianship and were the subject of a subsidized
guardianship agreement.
To receive a waiver under this subsection, an applicant
must:
(1) have earned a high school diploma from an
accredited institution or a State of Illinois High School

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Diploma or have met the State criteria for high school
graduation before the start of the school year for which
the applicant is applying for the waiver;
(2) enroll in a qualifying post-secondary education
before the applicant reaches the age of 26; and
(3) apply for federal and State grant assistance by
completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
The community college or public university that an
applicant attends must waive any tuition and fee amounts that
exceed the amounts paid to the applicant under the federal
Pell Grant Program or the State's Monetary Award Program.
Tuition and fee waivers shall be available to a student
for at least the first 5 years the student is enrolled in a
community college, university, or college maintained by the
State of Illinois so long as the student continues to work
toward graduation and completion of a certificate or degree
program. makes satisfactory progress toward completing the
student's degree. The age requirement and 5-year cap on
tuition and fee waivers under this subsection shall be waived
and eligibility for tuition and fee waivers shall be extended
for any applicant or student who the Department determines was
unable to enroll in a qualifying post-secondary school or
complete an academic term because the applicant or student:
(i) was called into active duty with the United States Armed
Forces; (ii) was deployed for service in the United States
Public Health Service Commissioned Corps; or (iii) volunteered

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in the Peace Corps or the AmeriCorps. The Department shall
extend eligibility for a qualifying applicant or student by
the total number of months or years during which the applicant
or student served on active duty with the United States Armed
Forces, was deployed for service in the United States Public
Health Service Commissioned Corps, or volunteered in the Peace
Corps or the AmeriCorps. The number of months an applicant or
student served on active duty with the United States Armed
Forces shall be rounded up to the next higher year to determine
the maximum length of time to extend eligibility for the
applicant or student.
The Department may provide the student with a stipend to
cover maintenance and school expenses, except tuition and
fees, during the academic years to supplement the student's
earnings or other resources so long as the student
consistently maintains scholastic records which are acceptable
to the student's school and to the Department.
The Department shall develop outreach programs to ensure
that youths who qualify for the tuition and fee waivers under
this subsection who are high school students in grades 9
through 12 or who are enrolled in a high school equivalency
testing program are aware of the availability of the tuition
and fee waivers.
(c) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall provide
eligible youth an apprenticeship stipend to cover those costs
associated with entering and sustaining through completion an

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apprenticeship, including, but not limited to fees, tuition
for classes, work clothes, rain gear, boots, and
occupation-specific tools. The following youth may be eligible
for the apprenticeship stipend provided under this subsection:
youth for whom the Department has court-ordered legal
responsibility; youth who aged out of care at age 18 or older;
or youth formerly under care who have been adopted and were the
subject of an adoption assistance agreement or who have been
placed in private guardianship and were the subject of a
subsidized guardianship agreement.
To receive a stipend under this subsection, an applicant
must:
(1) be enrolled in an apprenticeship training program
approved or recognized by the Illinois Department of
Employment Security or an apprenticeship program approved
by the United States Department of Labor;
(2) not be a recipient of a scholarship or fee waiver
under subsection (a) or (b); and
(3) be under the age of 26 before enrolling in a
qualified apprenticeship program.
Apprenticeship stipends shall be available to an eligible
youth for a maximum of 5 years after the youth enrolls in a
qualifying apprenticeship program so long as the youth makes
satisfactory progress toward completing the youth's
apprenticeship. The age requirement and 5-year cap on the
apprenticeship stipend provided under this subsection shall be

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extended for any applicant who the Department determines was
unable to enroll in a qualifying apprenticeship program
because the applicant: (i) was called into active duty with
the United States Armed Forces; (ii) was deployed for service
in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps;
or (iii) volunteered in the Peace Corps or the AmeriCorps. The
Department shall extend eligibility for a qualifying applicant
by the total number of months or years during which the
applicant served on active duty with the United States Armed
Forces, was deployed for service in the United States Public
Health Service Commissioned Corps, or volunteered in the Peace
Corps or the AmeriCorps. The number of months an applicant
served on active duty with the United States Armed Forces
shall be rounded up to the next higher year to determine the
maximum length of time to extend eligibility for the
applicant.
The Department shall develop outreach programs to ensure
that youths who qualify for the apprenticeship stipends under
this subsection who are high school students in grades 9
through 12 or who are enrolled in a high school equivalency
testing program are aware of the availability of the
apprenticeship stipend.
(Source: P.A. 102-1100, eff. 1-1-23; 103-22, eff. 8-8-23;
103-154, eff. 6-30-23.)