Bill Text: IL HB2510 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Provides that an applicant enrolled in a certificate program offered by a public community college is eligible for a Monetary Award Program grant until he or she completes the certificate program. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-10 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB2510 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB2510-Introduced.html


103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB2510

Introduced , by Rep. Suzanne M. Ness

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
110 ILCS 947/35

Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Provides that an applicant enrolled in a certificate program offered by a public community college is eligible for a Monetary Award Program grant until he or she completes the certificate program. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR

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1 AN ACT concerning education.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
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;
15 (2) is enrolled or has been accepted for enrollment in
16 a qualified institution for the purpose of obtaining a
17 degree, certificate, or other credential offered by the
18 institution, as applicable; and
19 (3) in the absence of grant assistance, will be
20 deterred by financial considerations from completing an
21 educational program at the qualified institution of his or
22 her choice.
23 (b) The Commission shall award renewals only upon the

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1student's application and upon the Commission's finding that
2the applicant:
3 (1) has remained a student in good standing;
4 (2) remains a resident of this State; and
5 (3) is in a financial situation that continues to
6 warrant assistance.
7 (c) All grants shall be applicable only to tuition and
8necessary fee costs. The Commission shall determine the grant
9amount for each student, which shall not exceed the smallest
10of the following amounts:
11 (1) subject to appropriation, $5,468 for fiscal year
12 2009, $5,968 for fiscal year 2010, $6,468 for fiscal year
13 2011 and each fiscal year thereafter through fiscal year
14 2022, and $8,508 for fiscal year 2023 and each fiscal year
15 thereafter, or such lesser amount as the Commission finds
16 to be available, during an academic year;
17 (2) the amount which equals 2 semesters or 3 quarters
18 tuition and other necessary fees required generally by the
19 institution of all full-time undergraduate students; or
20 (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
21 appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
22 resources.
23 Subject to appropriation, the maximum grant amount for
24students not subject to subdivision (1) of this subsection (c)
25must be increased by the same percentage as any increase made
26by law to the maximum grant amount under subdivision (1) of

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1this subsection (c).
2 "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
3include the customary charge for instruction and use of
4facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
5for specified purposes, which are required generally of
6nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
7grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
8payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
9deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
10Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
11Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
12tuition and other necessary fees.
13 (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
14scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for
15monetary award program consideration under this Act after
16receiving a baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 135
17semester credit hours of award payments. However, an applicant
18enrolled in a certificate program offered by a public
19community college may continue to be eligible for monetary
20award program consideration under this Act until the
21completion of the certificate program even if he or she has
22exceeded this limitation.
23 (d-5) In this subsection (d-5), "renewing applicant" means
24a student attending an institution of higher learning who
25received a Monetary Award Program grant during the prior
26academic year. Beginning with the processing of applications

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

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

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1 (h) The Commission may award a grant to an eligible
2applicant enrolled at an Illinois public institution of higher
3learning in a program that will culminate in the award of an
4occupational or career and technical certificate as that term
5is defined in 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1501.301.
6 (i) The Commission may adopt rules to implement this
7Section.
8(Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 102-699, eff. 4-19-22.)
9 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
10becoming law.
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