093_SB1016

 
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 1        AN   ACT   with   regard   to  higher  education  student
 2    assistance.

 3        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 4    represented in the General Assembly:

 5        Section  5.   The Higher Education Student Assistance Act
 6    is amended by changing Section 52 as follows:

 7        (110 ILCS 947/52)
 8        Sec. 52.  ITEACH Teacher Shortage Scholarship Program.
 9        (a)  In order to encourage academically talented Illinois
10    students in this  State,  especially  minority  students,  to
11    pursue  teaching careers in teacher shortage disciplines, the
12    Commission   shall,   each   year,   receive   and   consider
13    applications for scholarship assistance under  this  Section.
14    An applicant is eligible for a scholarship under this Section
15    when the Commission finds that the applicant is:
16             (1)  a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen;
17             (2)  a resident of Illinois;
18             (3)  a  high  school  graduate  or  a person who has
19        received a General Educational Development Certificate;
20             (4)  enrolled or  accepted  for  enrollment,  on  at
21        least  a  half-time  basis, at an Illinois institution of
22        higher learning; and
23             (5)  pursuing  a  postsecondary  course   of   study
24        leading  to  initial  certification in a teacher shortage
25        discipline or pursuing additional course work  needed  to
26        gain   State   Board  of  Education  approval  to  teach,
27        including  alternative  teacher  certification,   in   an
28        approved  specialized  area  in  which a teacher shortage
29        exists.
30        (b)  Recipients shall be selected from  among  applicants
31    qualified  pursuant  to subsection (a) based on a combination
 
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 1    of the following criteria as set forth by the Commission: (1)
 2    academic excellence; (2) status  as  a  minority  student  as
 3    defined  in  Section  50; and (3) financial need.  Preference
 4    may be given to previous recipients of assistance under  this
 5    Section,  provided  they continue to maintain eligibility and
 6    maintain satisfactory academic progress as determined by  the
 7    institution   of   higher  learning  at  which  they  enroll.
 8    Preference may also be given to qualified applicants enrolled
 9    at or above the junior level.
10        (c)  Each scholarship awarded under this Section shall be
11    in an amount sufficient to pay the tuition and fees and  room
12    and  board  costs  of  the  Illinois  institution  of  higher
13    learning  at which the recipient is enrolled, up to an annual
14    maximum of $5,000; except that in the case of a recipient who
15    does not  reside  on-campus  at  the  institution  of  higher
16    learning  at  which  he or she is enrolled, the amount of the
17    scholarship shall  be  sufficient  to  pay  tuition  and  fee
18    expenses and a commuter allowance, up to an annual maximum of
19    $5,000.
20        (d)  The  total  amount of scholarship assistance awarded
21    by the Commission under this Section to an individual in  any
22    given  fiscal  year, when added to other financial assistance
23    awarded to that individual for that year,  shall  not  exceed
24    the  cost of attendance at the institution of higher learning
25    at which the student is enrolled.
26        (e)  A recipient may receive up  to  8  semesters  or  12
27    quarters of scholarship assistance under this Section.
28        (f)  All  applications  for  scholarship assistance to be
29    awarded under this Section shall be made to the Commission in
30    a  form  as  set  forth  by  the  Commission.   The  form  of
31    application and the information  required  to  be  set  forth
32    therein  shall  be  determined  by  the  Commission,  and the
33    Commission shall require eligible applicants to  submit  with
34    their   applications   such   supporting   documents  as  the
 
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 1    Commission deems necessary.
 2        (g)  Subject to a separate appropriation  made  for  such
 3    purposes,  payment  of  any  scholarship  awarded  under this
 4    Section  shall  be  determined  by  the  Commission.      All
 5    scholarship funds distributed in accordance with this Section
 6    shall be paid to the institution on behalf of the recipients.
 7    Scholarship  funds  are  applicable  toward  2 semesters or 3
 8    quarters of enrollment within an academic year.
 9        (h)  The Commission shall administer the  ITEACH  Teacher
10    Shortage  Scholarship Program established by this Section and
11    shall make all necessary and proper  rules  not  inconsistent
12    with this Section for its effective implementation.
13        (i)  Prior  to  receiving  scholarship assistance for any
14    academic year, each recipient of a scholarship awarded  under
15    this  Section  shall be required by the Commission to sign an
16    agreement under which the recipient pledges that, within  the
17    one-year  period  following  the  termination of the academic
18    program for which the recipient was  awarded  a  scholarship,
19    the recipient: (i) shall begin teaching in a teacher shortage
20    discipline  for  a  period of not less than one year for each
21    year of scholarship assistance awarded  under  this  Section,
22    (ii)  shall  fulfill  this teaching obligation at a nonprofit
23    Illinois  public,  private,   or   parochial   preschool   or
24    elementary or secondary school, and (iii) shall, upon request
25    of  the Commission, provide the Commission with evidence that
26    he or she is fulfilling or has fulfilled  the  terms  of  the
27    teaching agreement provided for in this subsection.
28        (j)  If  a  recipient of a scholarship awarded under this
29    Section fails to fulfill the teaching obligation set forth in
30    subsection (i) of this Section, the Commission shall  require
31    the  recipient  to  repay  the  amount  of  the  scholarships
32    received,  prorated according to the fraction of the teaching
33    obligation not completed, plus interest at a rate of  5%  and
34    if applicable, reasonable collection fees.  The Commission is
 
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 1    authorized  to  establish  rules  relating  to its collection
 2    activities for repayment of scholarships under this Section.
 3        (k)  A  recipient  of  a  scholarship  awarded   by   the
 4    Commission  under  this  Section shall not be in violation of
 5    the agreement entered into pursuant to subsection (i) if  the
 6    recipient  (i)  enrolls  on  a  full-time basis as a graduate
 7    student in a course of study related to the field of teaching
 8    at an institution of higher learning; (ii) is  serving  as  a
 9    member  of the armed services of the United States;  (iii) is
10    temporarily  totally  disabled,  as  established   by   sworn
11    affidavit  of  a  qualified physician; or (iv) is seeking and
12    unable to find full-time employment as a teacher at a  school
13    that  satisfies  the criteria set forth in subsection (i) and
14    is able to provide evidence of that fact.  Any such extension
15    of the period during which the teaching requirement  must  be
16    fulfilled  shall  be  subject  to  limitations of duration as
17    established by the Commission.
18    (Source: P.A. 91-670, eff. 12-22-99; 92-845, eff. 1-1-03.)