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| Public Act 100-1015
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| SB2927 Enrolled | LRB100 18942 AXK 34192 b |
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 1. Legislative intent. It is the intent of this Act |
to increase enrollment at public 4-year universities in this |
State by providing those universities with the option for |
additional funding through a new, merit-based and means-tested |
matching scholarship for Illinois students. It is also the |
intent of this Act that any public university participating in |
this program should, in its best efforts, attempt to delegate |
scholarship funds amongst a racially diverse range of students |
and not use a student's race, color, religion, sex (including |
gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy), national |
origin, age, disability, or genetic information to disqualify |
him or her from receiving funds under the program.
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Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is |
amended by changing Section 10 and adding Section 65.100 as |
follows:
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(110 ILCS 947/10)
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Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act, and except to the extent |
that any of the
following words or phrases is specifically |
qualified by its context:
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"Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance |
Commission created by this
Act.
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"Enrollment" means the establishment and maintenance of an |
individual's
status as a student in an institution of higher |
learning, regardless of the
terms used at the institution to |
describe that status.
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"Approved high school" means any public high school located |
in this
State; and any high school, located in this State or |
elsewhere (whether
designated as a high school, secondary |
school, academy, preparatory school,
or otherwise) which in the |
judgment of the State Superintendent of
Education provides a |
course of instruction at the secondary level and maintains
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standards of instruction substantially equivalent to those of |
the public high
schools located in this State.
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"Institution of higher learning", "qualified institution", |
or "institution"
means an educational organization located in |
this State which
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(1) provides
at least an organized 2 year program of |
collegiate grade in the liberal arts or
sciences, or both, |
directly applicable toward the attainment of a |
baccalaureate
degree or a program in health
education
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directly applicable toward the attainment of a |
certificate, diploma, or an
associate degree;
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(2) either is
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(A) operated by this State, or
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(B) operated
publicly or privately, not for |
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profit, or
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(C) operated for profit, provided such for profit |
organization
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(i) offers degree programs which have been |
approved by the Board of
Higher Education for a |
minimum of 3 years under the Academic Degree Act, |
and
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(ii) enrolls a majority of its students in such |
degree programs, and
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(iii) maintains an accredited status with the |
Commission on
Institutions of Higher Education of |
the North Central Association of Colleges
and |
Schools;
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(3) in the judgment of the Commission
meets standards |
substantially equivalent to those of comparable |
institutions
operated by this State; and
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(4) if so required by the Commission, uses the
State as |
its primary guarantor of student loans made under the |
federal Higher
Education Act of 1965.
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For otherwise eligible educational organizations which
provide |
academic programs for incarcerated students, the terms |
"institution of
higher learning", "qualified institutions", |
and "institution" shall
specifically exclude academic programs |
for incarcerated students.
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"Academic Year" means a 12 month period of time, normally |
but not
exclusively, from September 1 of any year through |
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August 31 of the ensuing
year.
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"Full-time student" means any undergraduate student |
enrolled in 12 or
more semester or quarter hours of credit |
courses in any given semester or
quarter or in the equivalent |
number of units of registration as determined
by the |
Commission.
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"Part-time student" means any undergraduate student, other |
than a
full-time student, enrolled in 6 or more semester or |
quarter hours of
credit courses in any given semester or |
quarter or in the equivalent number
of units of registration as |
determined by the Commission. Beginning with
fiscal year 1999, |
the Commission may, on a program by program basis, expand
this |
definition of "part-time student" to include students who |
enroll in less
than 6 semester or quarter hours of credit |
courses in any given semester or
quarter.
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"Public university" means any public 4-year university in |
this State. |
"Public university campus" means any campus under the |
governance or supervision of a public university. |
(Source: P.A. 90-122, eff. 7-17-97; 91-250, eff. 7-22-99.)
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(110 ILCS 947/65.100 new) |
Sec. 65.100. AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program. |
(a) The General Assembly makes all of the following |
findings: |
(1) Both access and affordability are important |
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aspects of the Illinois Public Agenda for College and |
Career Success report. |
(2) This State is in the top quartile with respect to |
the percentage of family income needed to pay for college. |
(3) Research suggests that as loan amounts increase, |
rather than an increase in grant amounts, the probability |
of college attendance decreases. |
(4) There is further research indicating that |
socioeconomic status may affect the willingness of |
students to use loans to attend college. |
(5) Strategic use of tuition discounting can decrease |
the amount of loans that students must use to pay for |
tuition. |
(6) A modest, individually tailored tuition discount |
can make the difference in a student choosing to attend |
college and enhance college access for low-income and |
middle-income families. |
(7) Even if the federally calculated financial need for |
college attendance is met, the federally determined |
Expected Family Contribution can still be a daunting |
amount. |
(8) This State is the second largest exporter of |
students in the country. |
(9) When talented Illinois students attend |
universities in this State, the State and those |
universities benefit. |
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(10) State universities in other states have adopted |
pricing and incentives that allow many Illinois residents |
to pay less to attend an out-of-state university than to |
remain in this State for college. |
(11) Supporting Illinois student attendance at |
Illinois public universities can assist in State efforts to |
maintain and educate a highly trained workforce. |
(12) Modest tuition discounts that are individually |
targeted and tailored can result in enhanced revenue for |
public universities. |
(13) By increasing a public university's capacity to |
strategically use tuition discounting, the public |
university will be capable of creating enhanced tuition |
revenue by increasing enrollment yields. |
(b) In this Section: |
"Eligible applicant" means a student from any high school |
in this State, whether or not recognized by the State Board of |
Education, who is engaged in a program of study that in due |
course will be completed by the end of the school year and who |
meets all of the qualifications and requirements under this |
Section. |
"Tuition and other necessary fees" includes the customary |
charge for instruction and use of facilities in general and the |
additional fixed fees charged for specified purposes that are |
required generally of non-grant recipients for each academic |
period for which the grant applicant actually enrolls, but does |
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not include fees payable only once or breakage fees and other |
contingent deposits that are refundable in whole or in part. |
The Commission may adopt, by rule not inconsistent with this |
Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of |
tuition and other necessary fees. |
(c) Beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year, each public |
university may establish a merit-based scholarship pilot |
program known as the AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program. Each year, |
the Commission shall receive and consider applications from |
public universities under this Section. Subject to |
appropriation and any tuition waiver limitation established by |
the Board of Higher Education, a public university campus may |
award a grant to a student under this Section if it finds that |
the applicant meets all of the following criteria: |
(1) He or she is a resident of this State and a citizen |
or eligible noncitizen of the United States. |
(2) He or she files a Free Application for Federal |
Student Aid and demonstrates financial need with a |
household income no greater than 6 times the poverty |
guidelines updated periodically in the Federal Register by |
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the |
authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2). |
(3) He or she meets the minimum cumulative grade point |
average or ACT or SAT college admissions test score, as |
determined by the public university campus. |
(4) He or she is enrolled in a public university as an |
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undergraduate student on a full-time basis. |
(5) He or she has not yet received a baccalaureate |
degree or the equivalent of 135 semester credit hours. |
(6) He or she is not incarcerated. |
(7) He or she is not in default on any student loan or |
does not owe a refund or repayment on any State or federal |
grant or scholarship. |
(8) Any other reasonable criteria, as determined by the |
public university campus. |
(d) Each public university campus shall determine grant |
renewal criteria consistent with the requirements under this |
Section. |
(e) Each participating public university campus shall post |
on its Internet website criteria and eligibility requirements |
for receiving awards that use funds under this Section that |
includes a range in the sizes of these individual awards. The |
criteria and amounts must also be reported to the Commission |
and the Board of Higher Education, who shall post the |
information on their respective Internet websites. |
(f) After enactment of an appropriation for this Program, |
the Commission shall determine an allocation of funds to each |
public university in an amount proportionate to the number of |
undergraduate students who are residents of this State and |
citizens or eligible noncitizens of the United States and who |
were enrolled at each public university campus in the previous |
academic year. All applications must be made to the Commission |
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on or before a date determined by the Commission and on forms |
that the Commission shall provide to each public university |
campus. The form of the application and the information |
required shall be determined by the Commission and shall |
include, without limitation, the total public university |
campus funds used to match funds received from the Commission |
in the previous academic year under this Section, if any, the |
total enrollment of undergraduate students who are residents of |
this State from the previous academic year, and any supporting |
documents as the Commission deems necessary. Each public |
university campus shall match the amount of funds received by |
the Commission with financial aid for eligible students. |
A public university campus is not required to claim its |
entire allocation. The Commission shall make available to all |
public universities, on a date determined by the Commission, |
any unclaimed funds and the funds must be made available to |
those public university campuses in the proportion determined |
under this subsection (f), excluding from the calculation those |
public university campuses not claiming their full |
allocations. |
Each public university campus may determine the award |
amounts for eligible students on an individual or broad basis, |
but, subject to renewal eligibility, each renewed award may not |
be less than the amount awarded to the eligible student in his |
or her first year attending the public university campus. |
Notwithstanding this limitation, a renewal grant may be reduced |
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due to changes in the student's cost of attendance, including, |
but not limited to, if a student reduces the number of credit |
hours in which he or she is enrolled, but remains a full-time |
student, or switches to a course of study with a lower tuition |
rate. |
An eligible applicant awarded grant assistance under this |
Section is eligible to receive other financial aid. Total grant |
aid to the student from all sources may not exceed the total |
cost of attendance at the public university campus. |
(g) All money allocated to a public university campus under |
this Section may be used only for financial aid purposes for |
students attending the public university campus during the |
academic year, not including summer terms. Any funds received |
by a public university campus under this Section that are not |
granted to students in the academic year for which the funds |
are received must be refunded to the Commission before any new |
funds are received by the public university campus for the next |
academic year. |
(h) Each public university campus that establishes a |
Program under this Section must annually report to the |
Commission, on or before a date determined by the Commission, |
the number of undergraduate students enrolled at that campus |
who are residents of this State. |
(i) Each public university campus must report to the |
Commission the total non-loan financial aid amount given by the |
public university campus to undergraduate students in fiscal |
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year 2018. To be eligible to receive funds under the Program, a |
public university campus may not decrease the total amount of |
non-loan financial aid for undergraduate students to an amount |
lower than the total non-loan financial aid amount given by the |
public university campus to undergraduate students in fiscal |
year 2018, not including any funds received from the Commission |
under this Section or any funds used to match grant awards |
under this Section. |
(j) On or before a date determined by the Commission, each |
public university campus that participates in the Program under |
this Section shall annually submit a report to the Commission |
with all of the following information: |
(1) The Program's impact on tuition revenue and |
enrollment goals and increase in access and affordability |
at the public university campus. |
(2) Total funds received by the public university |
campus under the Program. |
(3) Total non-loan financial aid awarded to |
undergraduate students attending the public university |
campus. |
(4) Total amount of funds matched by the public |
university campus. |
(5) Total amount of funds refunded to the Commission by |
the public university campus. |
(6) The percentage of total financial aid distributed |
under the Program by the public university campus. |
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(7) The total number of students receiving grants from |
the public university campus under the Program and those |
students' grade level, race, gender, income level, family |
size, Monetary Award Program eligibility, Pell Grant |
eligibility, and zip code of residence and the amount of |
each grant award. This information shall include unit |
record data on those students regarding variables |
associated with the parameters of the public university's |
Program, including, but not limited to, a student's ACT or |
SAT college admissions test score, high school or |
university cumulative grade point average, or program of |
study. |
On or before October 1, 2020 and annually on or before |
October 1 thereafter, the Commission shall submit a report with |
the findings under this subsection (j) and any other |
information regarding the AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program to (i) |
the Governor, (ii) the Speaker of the House of Representatives, |
(iii) the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, (iv) |
the President of the Senate, and (v) the Minority Leader of the |
Senate. The reports to the General Assembly shall be filed with |
the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of |
the Senate in electronic form only, in the manner that the |
Clerk and the Secretary shall direct. The Commission's report |
may not disaggregate data to a level that may disclose |
personally identifying information of individual students. |
The sharing and reporting of student data under this |
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subsection (j) must be in accordance with the requirements |
under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of |
1974 and the Illinois School Student Records Act. All parties |
must preserve the confidentiality of the information as |
required by law. The names of the grant recipients under this |
Section are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of |
Information Act. |
Public university campuses that fail to submit a report |
under this subsection (j) or that fail to adhere to any other |
requirements under this Section may not be eligible for |
distribution of funds under the Program for the next academic |
year, but may be eligible for distribution of funds for each |
academic year thereafter. |
(k) The Commission shall adopt rules to implement this |
Section. |
(l) This Section is repealed on October 1, 2024.
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law.
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