100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB5122

 

Introduced , by Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
20 ILCS 505/8  from Ch. 23, par. 5008

    Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Makes post-secondary education tuition and fee waivers available to youth for whom the Department of Children and Family Services 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. Requires applicants to have earned a high school diploma from an accredited institution or a high school equivalency certificate or have met the State criteria for high school graduation before the start of the school year for which they are applying for the waivers. Limits the tuition and fee waivers to persons under the age of 26 and provides that 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. Provides that the age requirement and 5-year cap on tuition and fee waivers shall be waived and eligibility extended for applicants or students who were unable to enroll in a qualifying post-secondary school or complete an academic term because the 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 in the Peace Corps or the AmeriCorps. Permits the Department to provide the student with a stipend to cover maintenance and school expenses during the academic years to supplement the student's earnings. Requires the Department to develop outreach programs to ensure qualifying youths are aware of the availability of the tuition and fee waivers.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended
5by changing Section 8 as follows:
 
6    (20 ILCS 505/8)  (from Ch. 23, par. 5008)
7    Sec. 8. Scholarships and fee waivers; tuition waiver.
8    (a) Each year the Department shall select a minimum of 53
9students (at least 4 of whom shall be children of veterans) to
10receive scholarships and fee waivers which will enable them to
11attend and complete their post-secondary education at a
12community college, university, or college. Youth shall be
13selected from among the youth for whom the Department has
14court-ordered legal responsibility, youth who aged out of care
15at age 18 or older, or youth formerly under care who have been
16adopted or who have been placed in private guardianship.
17Recipients must have earned a high school diploma from an
18accredited institution or a high school equivalency
19certificate or diploma or have met the State criteria for high
20school graduation before the start of the school year for which
21they are applying for the scholarship and waiver. Scholarships
22and fee waivers shall be available to students for at least 5
23years, provided they are continuing to work toward graduation.

 

 

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1Unused scholarship dollars and fee waivers shall be reallocated
2to new recipients. No later than January 1, 2015, the
3Department shall promulgate rules identifying the criteria for
4"continuing to work toward graduation" and for reallocating
5unused scholarships and fee waivers. Selection shall be made on
6the basis of several factors, including, but not limited to,
7scholastic record, aptitude, and general interest in higher
8education. The selection committee shall include at least 2
9individuals formerly under the care of the Department who have
10completed their post-secondary education. In accordance with
11this Act, tuition scholarships and fee waivers shall be
12available to such students at any university or college
13maintained by the State of Illinois. The Department shall
14provide maintenance and school expenses, except tuition and
15fees, during the academic years to supplement the students'
16earnings or other resources so long as they consistently
17maintain scholastic records which are acceptable to their
18schools and to the Department. Students may attend other
19colleges and universities, if scholarships are awarded them,
20and receive the same benefits for maintenance and other
21expenses as those students attending any Illinois State
22community college, university, or college under this Section.
23Beginning with recipients receiving scholarships and waivers
24in August 2014, the Department shall collect data and report
25annually to the General Assembly on measures of success,
26including (i) the number of youth applying for and receiving

 

 

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1scholarships or waivers, (ii) the percentage of scholarship or
2waiver recipients who complete their college or university
3degree within 5 years, (iii) the average length of time it
4takes for scholarship or waiver recipients to complete their
5college or university degree, (iv) the reasons that scholarship
6or waiver recipients are discharged or fail to complete their
7college or university degree, (v) when available, youths'
8outcomes 5 years and 10 years after being awarded the
9scholarships or waivers, and (vi) budget allocations for
10maintenance and school expenses incurred by the Department.
11    (b) Youth who are not selected to receive a scholarship or
12fee waiver under subsection (a) shall receive a waiver of all
13tuition and fees to attend and complete their post-secondary
14education at any community college, university, or college
15maintained by the State of Illinois if they are youth for whom
16the Department has court-ordered legal responsibility, youth
17who aged out of care at age 18 or older, or youth formerly
18under care who have been adopted and were the subject of an
19adoption assistance agreement or who have been placed in
20private guardianship and were the subject of a subsidized
21guardianship agreement.
22    Applicants for the tuition and fee waivers provided under
23this subsection must have earned a high school diploma from an
24accredited institution or a high school equivalency
25certificate or have met the State criteria for high school
26graduation before the start of the school year for which they

 

 

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1are applying for the waivers. Applicants must enroll in a
2qualifying post-secondary education before they reach the age
3of 26.
4    Tuition and fee waivers shall be available to a student for
5at least the first 5 years the student is enrolled in a
6community college, university, or college maintained by the
7State of Illinois so long as the student makes satisfactory
8progress toward completing his or her degree. The age
9requirement and 5-year cap on tuition and fee waivers under
10this subsection shall be waived and eligibility for tuition and
11fee waivers shall be extended for any applicant or student who
12the Department determines was unable to enroll in a qualifying
13post-secondary school or complete an academic term because the
14applicant or student: (i) was called into active duty with the
15United States Armed Forces; (ii) was deployed for service in
16the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps; or
17(iii) volunteered in the Peace Corps or the AmeriCorps. The
18Department shall extend eligibility for a qualifying applicant
19or student by the total number of months or years during which
20the applicant or student served on active duty with the United
21States Armed Forces, was deployed for service in the United
22States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, or
23volunteered in the Peace Corps or the AmeriCorps. The number of
24months an applicant or student served on active duty with the
25United States Armed Forces shall be rounded up to the next
26higher year to determine the maximum length of time to extend

 

 

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1eligibility for the applicant or student.
2    The Department may provide the student with a stipend to
3cover maintenance and school expenses, except tuition and fees,
4during the academic years to supplement the student's earnings
5or other resources so long as the student consistently
6maintains scholastic records which are acceptable to the
7student's school and to the Department.
8    The Department shall develop outreach programs to ensure
9that youths who qualify for the tuition and fee waivers under
10this subsection who are high school students in grades 9
11through 12 or who are enrolled in a high school equivalency
12testing program are aware of the availability of the tuition
13and fee waivers.
14(Source: P.A. 98-718, eff. 1-1-15; 98-805, eff. 1-1-15; 99-78,
15eff. 7-20-15.)