Sen. Laura Fine

Filed: 2/22/2022

 

 


 

 


 
10200SB0819sam001LRB102 04607 RJT 36241 a

1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 819

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 819 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
5amended by changing Section 35 as follows:
 
6    (110 ILCS 947/35)
7    Sec. 35. Monetary award program.
8    (a) The Commission shall, each year, receive and consider
9applications for grant assistance under this Section. Subject
10to a separate appropriation for such purposes, an applicant is
11eligible for a grant under this Section when the Commission
12finds that the applicant:
13        (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or
14    permanent resident of the United States; and
15        (2) in the absence of grant assistance, will be
16    deterred by financial considerations from completing an

 

 

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1    educational program at the qualified institution of his or
2    her choice.
3    (b) The Commission shall award renewals only upon the
4student's application and upon the Commission's finding that
5the applicant:
6        (1) has remained a student in good standing;
7        (2) remains a resident of this State; and
8        (3) is in a financial situation that continues to
9    warrant assistance.
10    (c) All grants shall be applicable only to tuition and
11necessary fee costs, room and board costs, and purchases of
12coursework materials, including all digital and non-digital
13books, workbooks, and textbooks, required course software,
14computer disks, website access, and electronically distributed
15materials. The Commission shall determine the grant amount for
16each student, which shall not exceed the smallest of the
17following amounts:
18        (1) subject to appropriation, $5,468 for fiscal year
19    2009, $5,968 for fiscal year 2010, and $6,468 for fiscal
20    year 2011 and each fiscal year thereafter, or such lesser
21    amount as the Commission finds to be available, during an
22    academic year;
23        (2) the amount which equals 2 semesters or 3 quarters
24    tuition and other necessary fees required generally by the
25    institution of all full-time undergraduate students; or
26        (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be

 

 

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1    appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
2    resources.
3    Subject to appropriation, the maximum grant amount for
4students not subject to subdivision (1) of this subsection (c)
5must be increased by the same percentage as any increase made
6by law to the maximum grant amount under subdivision (1) of
7this subsection (c).
8    "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
9include the customary charge for instruction and use of
10facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
11for specified purposes, which are required generally of
12nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
13grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
14payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
15deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
16Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
17Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
18tuition and other necessary fees.
19    (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
20scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for
21monetary award program consideration under this Act after
22receiving a baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 135
23semester credit hours of award payments.
24    (d-5) In this subsection (d-5), "renewing applicant" means
25a student attending an institution of higher learning who
26received a Monetary Award Program grant during the prior

 

 

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1academic year. Beginning with the processing of applications
2for the 2020-2021 academic year, the Commission shall annually
3publish a priority deadline date for renewing applicants.
4Subject to appropriation, a renewing applicant who files by
5the published priority deadline date shall receive a grant if
6he or she continues to meet the eligibility requirements under
7this Section. A renewing applicant's failure to apply by the
8priority deadline date established under this subsection (d-5)
9shall not disqualify him or her from receiving a grant if
10sufficient funding is available to provide awards after that
11date.
12    (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to
13be offered, shall take into consideration past experience with
14the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The
15Commission shall notify applicants that grant assistance is
16contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds.
17    (e-5) The General Assembly finds and declares that it is
18an important purpose of the Monetary Award Program to
19facilitate access to college both for students who pursue
20postsecondary education immediately following high school and
21for those who pursue postsecondary education later in life,
22particularly Illinoisans who are dislocated workers with
23financial need and who are seeking to improve their economic
24position through education. For the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017
25academic years, the Commission shall give additional and
26specific consideration to the needs of dislocated workers with

 

 

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1the intent of allowing applicants who are dislocated workers
2an opportunity to secure financial assistance even if applying
3later than the general pool of applicants. The Commission's
4consideration shall include, in determining the number of
5grants to be offered, an estimate of the resources needed to
6serve dislocated workers who apply after the Commission
7initially suspends award announcements for the upcoming
8regular academic year, but prior to the beginning of that
9academic year. For the purposes of this subsection (e-5), a
10dislocated worker is defined as in the federal Workforce
11Innovation and Opportunity Act.
12    (f) (Blank).
13    (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of and
14make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit
15institutions in accordance with the criteria set forth in this
16Section. The eligibility of applicants enrolled at such
17for-profit institutions shall be limited as follows:
18        (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
19    eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
20    students who have attained an associate degree.
21        (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
22    eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
23    attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
24    grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
25    whose grants are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
26        (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all

 

 

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1    eligible students.
2    (h) The Commission may adopt rules to implement this
3Section.
4(Source: P.A. 100-477, eff. 9-8-17; 100-621, eff. 7-20-18;
5100-823, eff. 8-13-18; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
 
6    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
71, 2023.".