Section 312.60  Scholarship and Fee Waiver Program Selection Process

a)         The Selection Committee.

OETS shall coordinate the Scholarship Awards Selection Committee (SASC). SASC shall include at least two individuals who formerly were youths for whom the Department had court-ordered guardianship who have completed their post-secondary education. SASC may also include senior leadership of the Department, including, but not limited to:

1)         Persons who oversee the Department's offices of guardian, legal services, clinical and operations; and

2)         Key representatives from Department advisory groups.

b)         SASC shall meet in April to evaluate all Scholarship and Fee Waiver applications completed and submitted in accordance with Section 312.50.

1)         Each application will be reviewed by 3 randomly selected SASC members, who will rate it according to the criteria in this subsection (b)(1).  The reviewers will receive detailed scoring rubrics regarding subsections (b)(1)(B) through (D) to maximize consistency among reviewers.

A)        Test Scores, Grade Point Average (GPA) (20 points maximum)

The highest score of the following shall be counted:

i)          High School GPA, on a 4-point scale (weighted if possible; otherwise, unweighted is acceptable):

ii)         College GPA (if applicable), on a 4-point scale (weighted if possible; otherwise, unweighted is acceptable):

iii)        GED Test Scores (if applicable):

B)        Activities, Jobs, Awards (10 points maximum)

Applicants will be awarded the sum (not to exceed 10 points total) of the following scores:

i)          Interests and activities:  (8 points possible)

Interests and activities may include, but are not limited to, participation in school or community athletics or clubs, and personal interests or hobbies such as reading, music, art, or swimming.

ii)         Employment experience:  (8 points possible)

iii)        Volunteer experience:  (8 points possible)

Volunteer experience may include, but is not limited to, Boys and Girls Club, community food drives, church daycare, or assisting the elderly with daily tasks.

iv)        Leadership experience:  (8 points possible)

Leadership experience may include, but is not limited to, organizing or leading a community event, serving as an officer for a school or community organization, speaking at local event or school assembly, or captain or co-captain of an athletic team.

v)         Awards, Honors, Recognition:  (8 points possible)

This category may include, but is not limited to, earning Honor or High Honor Roll status, membership in various academic honor societies, recognition for athletics, or Dean's list recognition.

C)        Letters of Recommendation (10 points maximum)

Each of the 3 required letters will be scored on a 10 point scale.  The score for this category is the average of the 3.

i)          How well does the writer know the applicant?  (3 points possible)

ii)         How objective is the reference?  (3 points possible)

iii)        How strong is the recommendation?  (4 points possible)

D)        Applicant Essay (40 points maximum)

Each applicant's personal essay will be evaluated according to the following framework (childhood trauma, multiple moves in foster care, academic challenges):

i)          Grammar, Organization, Clarity:  (15 points possible)

ii)         College Plan:  (5 points possible)

iii)        Sincerity of Desire to Attend College:  (10 points possible)

iv)        Circumstances the Applicant has Overcome (examples may include, but are not limited to, multiple foster care moves, extreme childhood trauma, education deficiencies, etc.) (10 points possible)

2)         Score sheets are collected and tabulated. Each application will be assigned a final score which is the average of the three scores received from the SASC reviewers. Applicants with the highest average composite scores will be awarded a Department Scholarship and Fee Waiver.  Applicants will be timely notified of their award status.

3)         In case of a tie for the lowest-placed recipient, two reviewers will be randomly selected to score the tied applications. The two additional scores will be added to the first three scores to derive a mean average of all five scores, and the applicant with the higher average will be awarded the scholarship. If the scores are still tied, the process is repeated adding two more randomly selected reviewers each round until a recipient can be selected.

(Source:  Amended at 50 Ill. Reg. 9789, effective July 6, 2026)