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| 1 | AN ACT concerning education. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | represented in the General Assembly: | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | amended by changing Section 40 as follows: | |||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | (110 ILCS 947/40) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Sec. 40. Illinois Veteran grant program. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | (a) As used in this Section: | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | "Qualified applicant" means a person who served in the | |||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Armed Forces of the United States, a Reserve component of the | |||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Armed Forces, or the Illinois National Guard, excluding | |||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | members of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and those | |||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | whose only service has been attendance at a service academy, | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | and who meets all of the qualifications of either paragraphs | |||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | (1) through (4) or paragraphs (2), (3), and (5): | |||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | (1) At the time of entering federal active duty | |||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | service the person was one of the following: | |||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | (A) An Illinois resident. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | (B) An Illinois resident within 6 months of | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | entering such service. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | (C) Enrolled at a State-controlled university or | |||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | public community college in this State. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | (2) The person meets one of the following | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 1 | requirements: | ||||||
| 2 | (A) He or she served at least one year of federal | ||||||
| 3 | active duty. | ||||||
| 4 | (B) He or she served less than one year of federal | ||||||
| 5 | active duty and received an honorable discharge for | ||||||
| 6 | medical reasons directly connected with such service. | ||||||
| 7 | (C) He or she served less than one year of federal | ||||||
| 8 | active duty and was discharged prior to August 11, | ||||||
| 9 | 1967. | ||||||
| 10 | (D) He or she served less than one year of federal | ||||||
| 11 | active duty in a foreign country during a time of | ||||||
| 12 | hostilities in that foreign country. | ||||||
| 13 | (3) The person received an honorable discharge after | ||||||
| 14 | leaving federal active duty service. | ||||||
| 15 | (4) The person returned to this State within one year | ||||||
| 16 | 6 months after leaving federal active duty service, or, if | ||||||
| 17 | married to a person in continued military service | ||||||
| 18 | stationed outside this State, returned to this State | ||||||
| 19 | within one year 6 months after his or her spouse left | ||||||
| 20 | service or was stationed within this State. | ||||||
| 21 | (5) The person does not meet the requirements of | ||||||
| 22 | paragraph (1), but (i) is a resident of Illinois at the | ||||||
| 23 | time of application to the Commission and (ii) at some | ||||||
| 24 | point after leaving federal active duty service, was a | ||||||
| 25 | resident of Illinois for at least 15 consecutive years. | ||||||
| 26 | "Time of hostilities" means any action by the Armed Forces | ||||||
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| 1 | of the United States that is recognized by the issuance of a | ||||||
| 2 | Presidential proclamation or a Presidential executive order | ||||||
| 3 | and in which the Armed Forces expeditionary medal or other | ||||||
| 4 | campaign service medals are awarded according to Presidential | ||||||
| 5 | executive order. | ||||||
| 6 | (b) A person who otherwise qualifies under subsection (a) | ||||||
| 7 | of this Section but has not left federal active duty service | ||||||
| 8 | and has served at least one year of federal active duty or has | ||||||
| 9 | served for less than one year of federal active duty in a | ||||||
| 10 | foreign country during a time of hostilities in that foreign | ||||||
| 11 | country and who can provide documentation demonstrating an | ||||||
| 12 | honorable service record is eligible to receive assistance | ||||||
| 13 | under this Section. | ||||||
| 14 | (c) A qualified applicant is not required to pay any | ||||||
| 15 | tuition or mandatory fees while attending a State-controlled | ||||||
| 16 | university or public community college in this State for a | ||||||
| 17 | period that is equivalent to 4 years of full-time enrollment, | ||||||
| 18 | including summer terms. | ||||||
| 19 | A qualified applicant who has previously received benefits | ||||||
| 20 | under this Section for a non-mandatory fee shall continue to | ||||||
| 21 | receive benefits covering such fees while he or she is | ||||||
| 22 | enrolled in a continuous program of study. The qualified | ||||||
| 23 | applicant shall no longer receive a grant covering | ||||||
| 24 | non-mandatory fees if he or she fails to enroll during an | ||||||
| 25 | academic term, unless he or she is serving federal active duty | ||||||
| 26 | service. | ||||||
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| 1 | (d) A qualified applicant who has been or is to be awarded | ||||||
| 2 | assistance under this Section shall receive that assistance if | ||||||
| 3 | the qualified applicant notifies his or her postsecondary | ||||||
| 4 | institution of that fact by the end of the school term for | ||||||
| 5 | which assistance is requested. | ||||||
| 6 | (e) Assistance under this Section is considered an | ||||||
| 7 | entitlement that the State-controlled college or public | ||||||
| 8 | community college in which the qualified applicant is enrolled | ||||||
| 9 | shall honor without any condition other than the qualified | ||||||
| 10 | applicant's maintenance of minimum grade levels and a | ||||||
| 11 | satisfactory student loan repayment record pursuant to | ||||||
| 12 | subsection (c) of Section 20 of this Act. | ||||||
| 13 | (f) The Commission shall administer the grant program | ||||||
| 14 | established by this Section and shall make all necessary and | ||||||
| 15 | proper rules not inconsistent with this Section for its | ||||||
| 16 | effective implementation. | ||||||
| 17 | (g) All applications for assistance under this Section | ||||||
| 18 | must be made to the Commission on forms that the Commission | ||||||
| 19 | shall provide. The Commission shall determine the form of | ||||||
| 20 | application and the information required to be set forth in | ||||||
| 21 | the application, and the Commission shall require qualified | ||||||
| 22 | applicants to submit with their applications any supporting | ||||||
| 23 | documents that the Commission deems necessary. Upon request, | ||||||
| 24 | the Department of Veterans' Affairs shall assist the | ||||||
| 25 | Commission in determining the eligibility of applicants for | ||||||
| 26 | assistance under this Section. | ||||||
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| 1 | (h) Assistance under this Section is available as long as | ||||||
| 2 | the federal government provides educational benefits to | ||||||
| 3 | veterans. Assistance must not be paid under this Section after | ||||||
| 4 | 6 months following the termination of educational benefits to | ||||||
| 5 | veterans by the federal government, except for persons who | ||||||
| 6 | already have begun their education with assistance under this | ||||||
| 7 | Section. If the federal government terminates educational | ||||||
| 8 | benefits to veterans and at a later time resumes those | ||||||
| 9 | benefits, assistance under this Section shall resume. | ||||||
| 10 | (Source: P.A. 101-334, eff. 8-9-19; 102-800, eff. 5-13-22.) | ||||||