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91_HB3981
LRB9111267NTksA
1 AN ACT to create the Higher Education for Real
2 Opportunities Act.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
6 Higher Education for Real Opportunities Act.
7 Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to
8 improve the ability of low-income adults who are supporting
9 children to acquire through post-secondary education the
10 skills necessary to qualify for higher paying job
11 opportunities. In addition, this Act seeks to improve the
12 ability of Illinois to produce workers with the skills needed
13 by employers.
14 Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
15 "Accredited" means authorized to do business as an
16 educational institution in Illinois by the Board of Higher
17 Education and eligible to dispense federal and State
18 need-based student aid under the laws governing such aid.
19 "Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance
20 Commission.
21 "HERO program" means the Higher Education for Real
22 Opportunities program established under this Act.
23 "Institution of post-secondary education" means an
24 accredited school or program that provides educational
25 services and offers courses of study that require as a
26 prerequisite that students have a high school diploma or
27 equivalency certificate. The term includes community
28 colleges, colleges, universities, and vocational training
29 programs and institutions.
30 "Low-income adult" means a person who is a member of a
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1 household of one or more related individuals in which the
2 monthly income of all adult members is such that the family
3 is income-eligible for a State subsidy for child care under
4 the child care program operated by the Department of Human
5 Services or any successor agency. Current receipt of a child
6 care subsidy under that program shall be prima facie proof of
7 satisfaction of this requirement. In other cases, financial
8 eligibility shall be determined by the same rules used by the
9 Department of Human Services for determining eligibility for
10 a child care subsidy. No federal or State student assistance
11 shall count as income under this paragraph, except to the
12 extent that the assistance is not a loan and is available to
13 the student to pay for living expenses at the student's
14 discretion. Lump sum amounts made available to students for
15 living expenses during a school term shall be prorated to
16 monthly amounts for the months of the school term covered by
17 the assistance for purposes of this paragraph.
18 "Post-secondary education" means education at an
19 institution of post-secondary education.
20 "Supporting minor children" means that the student is
21 either (i) the custodial parent of a minor child, as defined
22 by State law, or (ii) the noncustodial parent of a minor
23 child whose parentage is established under State law and who
24 is making current monthly child support payments to the
25 extent required by a child support order.
26 "Work requirement" means the amount of paid employment or
27 self-employment in which the student must engage each week in
28 order to be eligible for the HERO program. There is no work
29 requirement for the first 24 months of a post-secondary
30 vocational training program; for any additional months, the
31 work requirement is 20 hours per week. The work requirement
32 for 2-year or 4-year degree programs is 10 hours per week.
33 College work-study and other paid campus employment is
34 employment under this paragraph. This work requirement can
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1 also be met with 20 hours per week of unpaid campus
2 employment, such as student teaching, internships, or
3 practicums, or any combination of paid and unpaid work
4 totaling 20 hours per week.
5 Section 15. Establishment of program. There is created
6 a program of grants to support the pursuit of post-secondary
7 education by low-income adults who are supporting minor
8 children. The program shall be known as the "Higher
9 Education for Real Opportunities" or "HERO" program. The
10 program shall be administered by the Commission through the
11 financial aid offices of accredited institutions of
12 post-secondary education in Illinois.
13 Section 20. Eligibility. Students who meet all of the
14 following eligibility requirements, as calculated and
15 determined at the beginning of each term by the financial aid
16 office of the institution of post-secondary education at
17 which the student is enrolled and periodically thereafter as
18 specified by the Commission by rule, are eligible for grants
19 under the HERO program:
20 (1) The student must be a low-income adult.
21 (2) The student must be supporting at least one
22 minor child.
23 (3) The student must meet the work requirement,
24 provided that custodial parents who are attending the
25 institution of post-secondary education on a full time
26 basis need not meet the work requirement. Unless the
27 institution defines the term otherwise, "full time" means
28 a course load of at least 12 credit hours or its
29 equivalent.
30 (4) The student must not be receiving cash public
31 assistance under any need-based program under the
32 Illinois Public Aid Code.
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1 (5) The student must have a high school diploma or
2 equivalency certificate, and the student may not already
3 have a bachelor's degree.
4 (6) The student must not have earned more than the
5 maximum amount allowed for eligibility for a State child
6 care subsidy under the child care program operated by the
7 Department of Human Services in either of the 2 tax years
8 for which returns were to have been filed prior to the
9 commencement of the school term, as evidenced by State
10 tax returns or other comparable evidence as specified by
11 rule.
12 (7) To be eligible in his or her first term, the
13 student must be accepted by the institution of
14 post-secondary education under its normal acceptance
15 criteria. To be eligible thereafter, the student must
16 maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative grade point average,
17 on a 4.0 scale, calculated at the conclusion of the most
18 recently completed term. The Commission shall provide by
19 rule a method by which institutions of post-secondary
20 education that do not have a 4.0 scale or that do not
21 grade on a traditional grade point scale shall determine
22 an equivalent measure by which the student can meet this
23 requirement.
24 (8) The student must be enrolled at least half
25 time, as defined by the institution of post-secondary
26 education.
27 Section 25. Grants. The following grants shall be paid
28 to eligible students under the HERO program:
29 (1) An amount each term to cover the actual cost of
30 required books and supplies or $400, whichever is less.
31 The institution of post-secondary education may pay this
32 amount in cash, vouchers, credit arrangements with the
33 institutional bookstore, or any other means approved by
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1 the Commission. This grant is available for a maximum of
2 8 regular school year semesters and 3 summer terms or the
3 equivalent for institutions of post-secondary education
4 that use different schedules, as determined by the
5 Commission by rule.
6 (2) A monthly cash stipend according to family
7 size. The amount shall be equal to one-third of the
8 monthly federal poverty level for the various family
9 sizes. An updated schedule of these amounts shall be
10 published each year by the Commission. This grant is
11 available for a maximum of 40 months, which need not be
12 consecutive.
13 Section 30. Coordination with other programs.
14 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of State law, as
15 to any month in which the student qualifies for a grant under
16 the HERO program, the student shall be eligible for a State
17 subsidy for child care, subject to all other rules and
18 procedures for the child care program providing the subsidy.
19 (b) HERO grants shall be treated the same as other State
20 student assistance for purposes of eligibility for medical
21 assistance under the Illinois Public Aid Code.
22 (c) HERO grants shall not be counted to reduce the
23 amount of student assistance the student would receive under
24 other State student aid programs in the absence of the HERO
25 program. State and federal student assistance available in
26 cash for the basic living expenses of the student may be
27 counted in determining the student's eligibility for HERO
28 grants, but not in determining the amount of assistance for
29 eligible students.
30 Section 40. Administration. The Commission shall adopt
31 rules and procedures for the administration of the HERO
32 program by financial aid offices at institutions of
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1 post-secondary education, enter into such inter-agency
2 agreements as may aid in administration, and administer the
3 program consistently with other State student assistance
4 programs.
5 Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
6 becoming law.