Full Text of SB3032 102nd General Assembly
SB3032sam001 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Laura Fine Filed: 2/7/2022
| | 10200SB3032sam001 | | LRB102 22166 RJT 35551 a |
|
| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3032
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3032 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Student Debt Assistance Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Definitions. In this Act: | 7 | | "Debt" means any money, obligation, claim, or sum due or | 8 | | owing or alleged to be due or owing from a student to an | 9 | | institution of higher education. "Debt" does not include the | 10 | | fee, if any, that is charged to students by an applicable | 11 | | provider for the actual cost of providing an academic | 12 | | transcript to a student. | 13 | | "Institution of higher education" includes, but is not | 14 | | limited to, an institution to which the Private Business and | 15 | | Vocational Schools Act of 2012 or the Private College Act | 16 | | applies and a public institution of higher education included |
| | | 10200SB3032sam001 | - 2 - | LRB102 22166 RJT 35551 a |
|
| 1 | | in the definition of "public institutions of higher education" | 2 | | under the Board of Higher Education Act. "Institution of | 3 | | higher education" also includes a person engaged in the | 4 | | business of providing postsecondary education, via | 5 | | correspondence or online or in this State, to an individual | 6 | | located in this State, regardless of whether the person has | 7 | | obtained authorization from the Board of Higher Education to | 8 | | operate in this State or is accredited. | 9 | | "Official transcript" means the academic transcript or a | 10 | | similar academic record of each current or former student of | 11 | | an institution of higher education that is deemed official, | 12 | | authenticated, certified, or bona fide and that contains | 13 | | information customarily provided on an official academic | 14 | | transcript, including, but not limited to, courses taken, | 15 | | terms, grades, degrees or credentials conferred, and any other | 16 | | similar information.
| 17 | | "Unofficial transcript" means the academic transcript or a | 18 | | similar academic record of each current or former student of | 19 | | an institution of higher education that contains information | 20 | | customarily provided on an official transcript, but cannot be | 21 | | used to transfer academic credits to another institution of | 22 | | higher education.
| 23 | | Section 10. Withholding of unofficial transcripts | 24 | | prohibited. An institution of higher education may not do any | 25 | | of the following: |
| | | 10200SB3032sam001 | - 3 - | LRB102 22166 RJT 35551 a |
|
| 1 | | (1) Refuse to provide an unofficial transcript to a | 2 | | current or former student on the grounds that the student | 3 | | owes a debt.
| 4 | | (2) Condition the provision of an unofficial | 5 | | transcript on the payment of a debt, other than a fee | 6 | | charged to provide the transcript.
| 7 | | (3) Charge a higher fee for obtaining an unofficial | 8 | | transcript or provide less favorable treatment of a | 9 | | request for an unofficial transcript because a current or | 10 | | former student owes a debt.
| 11 | | Section 15. Withholding of official transcripts. An | 12 | | institution of higher education: | 13 | | (1) must provide an official transcript of a current | 14 | | or former student to a current or potential employer, even | 15 | | if the current or former student owes a debt;
| 16 | | (2) may not condition the provision of an official | 17 | | transcript to a current or potential employer on the | 18 | | payment of a debt, other than a fee charged to provide the | 19 | | transcript; and | 20 | | (3) may not charge a higher fee for transferring an | 21 | | official transcript to a current or potential employer or | 22 | | provide less favorable treatment for such a request | 23 | | because a current or former student owes a debt.
| 24 | | Section 20. Physical or financial hardship policy. |
| | | 10200SB3032sam001 | - 4 - | LRB102 22166 RJT 35551 a |
|
| 1 | | (a) Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, every | 2 | | institution of higher education must have a policy instituting | 3 | | a financial or physical hardship withdrawal process. The | 4 | | process must work to limit debt owed by students who have to | 5 | | withdraw from the institution due to a significant financial | 6 | | or physical hardship and to assist those students if and when | 7 | | they choose to re-enroll. Types of hardship shall include, but | 8 | | are not limited to: | 9 | | (1) serious injury or illness; | 10 | | (2) chronic illness; | 11 | | (3) a medical issue of a family member in which the | 12 | | student has to become a part-time or full-time caretaker | 13 | | of that family member; | 14 | | (4) a mental health condition; | 15 | | (5) a sudden or consistent lack of transportation | 16 | | issue; and | 17 | | (6) a significant cost of living increase. | 18 | | (b) Information regarding the existence of the financial | 19 | | or physical hardship withdrawal process shall be publicized on | 20 | | the institution of higher education's website, and information | 21 | | must be given to students as part of any school orientation | 22 | | process. | 23 | | Section 25. Student debt and credit report. If an | 24 | | institution of higher education chooses to send a current or | 25 | | former student's past due debt to a debt collection agency, |
| | | 10200SB3032sam001 | - 5 - | LRB102 22166 RJT 35551 a |
|
| 1 | | the past due debt may not be reported to any credit reporting | 2 | | agencies or used against that student in a credit report or | 3 | | credit score.
| 4 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 5 | | becoming law.".
|
|