Rep. Lou Lang

Filed: 5/23/2017

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1316

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1316 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. This Act may be referred to as the College
5Affordability Act.
 
6    Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
7Sections 5.878, 5.879, 5.880, and 5.881 as follows:
 
8    (30 ILCS 105/5.878 new)
9    Sec. 5.878. The College Affordability Fund.
 
10    (30 ILCS 105/5.879 new)
11    Sec. 5.879. The Work-Study Fund.
 
12    (30 ILCS 105/5.880 new)
13    Sec. 5.880. The College Affordability Purchasing Fund.
 

 

 

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1    (30 ILCS 105/5.881 new)
2    Sec. 5.881. The Illinois Excellence Fund.
 
3    Section 10. The Board of Higher Education Act is amended by
4adding Section 9.36 as follows:
 
5    (110 ILCS 205/9.36 new)
6    Sec. 9.36. Illinois Excellence Program.
7    (a) Subject to appropriation, the Board shall establish and
8administer a program, to be called the Illinois Excellence
9Program, to incentivize the recruitment and retention of
10promising faculty throughout the Illinois system of higher
11education through the award of faculty and department incentive
12grants.
13    The Program shall focus on personnel incentives designed to
14attract and retain sought-after faculty to the Illinois system
15of higher education.
16    (b) The Illinois Excellence Fund is created as a special
17fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund may be used,
18subject to appropriation, by the Board of Higher Education for
19the administration of the Illinois Excellence Program.
 
20    Section 15. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
21amended by adding Section 23 as follows:
 

 

 

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1    (110 ILCS 947/23 new)
2    Sec. 23. College Affordability programs.
3    (a) In this Section:
4    "Continuous enrollment" means a student has attended
5classes in the fall and spring semester of a single academic
6year; enrollment in summer semester or intersession terms is
7not required.
8    "Public institution" means the University of Illinois,
9Southern Illinois University, Chicago State University,
10Eastern Illinois University, Governors State University,
11Illinois State University, Northeastern Illinois University,
12Northern Illinois University, Western Illinois University, any
13public community college in this State, or any other public
14university, college, or community college now or hereafter
15established or authorized by the General Assembly.
16    "Student aid" means scholarships and grants, other than a
17College Affordability grant, awarded to the student from any
18source that does not require repayment and half of a student's
19federally calculated expected family contribution; "student
20aid" does not include student loans and work-study awards.
21    (b) The Commission shall implement and administer a
22program, beginning with the 2018-2019 academic year, to award
23College Affordability grants to all eligible Illinois
24residents seeking an associate or bachelor's degree, as
25applicable, from a public institution. The following terms and
26conditions shall apply to the program:

 

 

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1        (1) To be eligible for a grant, a student must (i) have
2    been an Illinois resident for at least 2 years immediately
3    prior to applying for a grant, (ii) have graduated from an
4    approved high school with a cumulative grade point average
5    of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent, as
6    determined by the Commission), (iii) have an annual family
7    income of $125,000 or less, and (iv) be admitted to and
8    enrolled full-time, as an Illinois resident, in a public
9    institution in the fall term after graduating from high
10    school. Exceptions to initial enrollment may be made for
11    extenuating circumstances as provided in rules adopted by
12    the Commission.
13        (2) Students applying for a grant shall complete the
14    College Affordability grant application in their initial
15    semester of enrollment. Students shall complete the Free
16    Application for Federal Student Aid each academic year in
17    which they seek to receive a grant.
18        (3) To continue to receive a grant, a student must
19    maintain Illinois residency, as well as a cumulative grade
20    point average of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (or its
21    equivalent, as determined by the Commission).
22        (4) Each academic year, subject to money appropriated
23    by the General Assembly from the College Affordability
24    Fund, a grant shall be equal to the cost of tuition and
25    mandatory fees at the public institution attended less all
26    other student aid, as determined by the Commission. For the

 

 

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1    2018-2019 academic year, if grants are awarded under this
2    Section, the total amount of institutional aid awarded
3    directly by a public institution to its students in the
4    form of scholarships, grants, and waivers must be no less
5    than the total amount of such institutional aid awarded by
6    that public institution for the 2017-2018 academic year.
7    For the 2019-2020 academic year and each academic year
8    thereafter for which grants are awarded under this Section,
9    the total amount of institutional aid that must be awarded
10    under this paragraph (4) shall be adjusted for inflation as
11    determined by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
12    Consumers as determined by the United States Department of
13    Labor. Student aid shall be credited first to the student's
14    tuition and mandatory fees. The amount of the grant may be
15    based on the annual family income of the student, as
16    determined by the Commission, but in no event may a grant
17    exceed $4,000. Each public institution shall annually
18    report its undergraduate tuition rate for Illinois
19    residents and the number of its undergraduates who are
20    Illinois residents to the Commission.
21        (5) A student awarded a grant who has an approved
22    medical or personal leave of absence from a public
23    institution may continue to receive the grant upon resuming
24    the student's education at the public institution so long
25    as the student continues to meet all applicable eligibility
26    requirements under this Section and as adopted by the

 

 

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1    Commission. The total of all approved leaves of absence may
2    not exceed 6 months.
3        (6) A student is eligible for a grant until the
4    occurrence of the first of the following events:
5            (A) the student has earned a bachelor's degree; or
6            (B) the sum of the number of years the student has
7        attended a public institution equals 6 years from the
8        date of the student's initial enrollment at a public
9        institution, exclusive of approved leaves of absence,
10        except that no more than 3 of those years may be for
11        attendance at a public community college.
12        (7) Except for a medical or personal leave of absence,
13    as approved by a public institution, a student awarded a
14    grant under this Section shall maintain continuous
15    enrollment at a public institution.
16        (8) A student awarded a grant under this Section shall
17    participate in a student loan counseling program through
18    the Commission. This program may be completed online.
19    (c) In awarding grants under this Section, the Commission
20shall, by rule, develop the selection and renewal criteria for
21students.
22    (d) Prior to receiving grant assistance for any academic
23year, each recipient of a grant awarded under this Section
24shall be required by the Commission to sign an agreement under
25which the recipient pledges that, beginning within the one-year
26period following the termination of the academic program for

 

 

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1which the recipient was awarded a grant, the recipient shall
2reside in this State for a period of not less than 2 years. If
3the recipient is 26 years old or younger, his or her parent or
4guardian must also sign the agreement, agreeing to repay any
5amounts that the recipient does not repay under subsection (e)
6of this Section. Each recipient shall, upon request of the
7Commission, provide the Commission with evidence that he or she
8is fulfilling or has fulfilled the terms of the agreement
9provided for in this subsection (d).
10    (e) If a recipient of a grant awarded under this Section
11fails to fulfill the residency obligation set forth in
12subsection (d) of this Section, the Commission shall require
13the recipient to repay, without interest, the amount of the
14grants received, prorated according to the fraction of the
15obligation not completed, and, if applicable, reasonable
16collection fees. The Commission shall allow the recipient to
17repay one-tenth of the amount owed each year for 10 years. The
18Commission is authorized to establish rules relating to its
19collection activities for repayment of grants under this
20Section.
21    (f) A recipient of a grant awarded by the Commission under
22this Section is not in violation of the agreement entered into
23pursuant to subsection (d) of this Section if the recipient (i)
24is serving as a member of the armed services of the United
25States; (ii) is enrolled in a graduate program following
26graduation from a public university; (iii) is temporarily

 

 

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1totally disabled, as established by sworn affidavit of a
2qualified physician; or (iv) cannot fulfill the residency
3obligation due to his or her death, disability, or
4incompetency, as established by sworn affidavit of a qualified
5physician. No claim for repayment may be filed against the
6estate of such a decedent or incompetent. Any extension of the
7period during which the residency requirement must be fulfilled
8is subject to limitations of duration as established by the
9Commission.
10    (g) The College Affordability Fund is created as a special
11fund in the State treasury. The Fund shall consist of money
12appropriated by the General Assembly and any gifts, bequests,
13or donations made to the Fund. All money in the Fund shall only
14be used, subject to appropriation, by the Commission for the
15purposes of awarding grants under this Section.
16    (h) Subject to appropriation from the Work-Study Fund, the
17Commission shall implement and administer a program in which
18the Commission shall award work-study stipends to applicants
19who are recipients of grants under this Section and who agree
20to work for 5 to 15 hours per week as peer mentors or tutors for
21other grant recipients under this Section under a work-study
22program established by the public institution. Eligibility for
23a stipend shall be based on the applicant's merit and the
24amount appropriated in a given fiscal year. The Commission
25shall establish an annual deadline for applying for a stipend.
26    The Work-Study Fund is created as a special fund in the

 

 

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1State treasury. All money in the Fund shall be used, subject to
2appropriation, by the Commission for the purposes of this
3subsection (h).
4    (i) Subject to appropriation from the College
5Affordability Purchasing Fund, the Commission shall implement
6and administer a program in which the Commission shall buy out
7the private student loans of any eligible participant that the
8eligible participant incurred to attend a public institution.
9The Commission may establish its own separate repayment
10conditions, but the Commission must set a 0% interest rate on
11any loans it buys out. In order to be eligible to participate
12in the program established under this subsection (i), the
13participant (1) must have graduated from a public institution
14before the start of the 2018-2019 academic year with a
15cumulative grade point average of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
16(or its equivalent, as determined by the Commission) and (2)
17must be currently repaying any federal student loans incurred
18to attend a public institution on an income-based repayment
19plan.
20    The College Affordability Purchasing Fund is created as a
21special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund shall
22be used, subject to appropriation, by the Commission for the
23purposes of this subsection (i).
 
24    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
252018, except that Section 15 and this Section take effect upon

 

 

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1becoming law.".