104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2128 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Sally J. Turner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 110 ILCS 947/35 Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Provides that an institution of higher learning that participates in the Monetary Award Program may not release the personally identifiable information of any of its students for voter registration activities unless the student gives consent in writing. LRB104 06133 LNS 16166 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2128 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Sally J. Turner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 110 ILCS 947/35 110 ILCS 947/35 Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Provides that an institution of higher learning that participates in the Monetary Award Program may not release the personally identifiable information of any of its students for voter registration activities unless the student gives consent in writing. LRB104 06133 LNS 16166 b LRB104 06133 LNS 16166 b A BILL FOR
104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2128 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Sally J. Turner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
110 ILCS 947/35 110 ILCS 947/35
110 ILCS 947/35
Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Provides that an institution of higher learning that participates in the Monetary Award Program may not release the personally identifiable information of any of its students for voter registration activities unless the student gives consent in writing.
LRB104 06133 LNS 16166 b LRB104 06133 LNS 16166 b
LRB104 06133 LNS 16166 b
A BILL FOR
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SB2128 LRB104 06133 LNS 16166 b
1 AN ACT concerning education.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
5 amended 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
9 applications for grant assistance under this Section. Subject
10 to a separate appropriation for such purposes, an applicant is
11 eligible for a grant under this Section when the Commission
12 finds 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
104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2128 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Sally J. Turner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
110 ILCS 947/35 110 ILCS 947/35
110 ILCS 947/35
Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Provides that an institution of higher learning that participates in the Monetary Award Program may not release the personally identifiable information of any of its students for voter registration activities unless the student gives consent in writing.
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LRB104 06133 LNS 16166 b
A BILL FOR
110 ILCS 947/35
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1 student's application and upon the Commission's finding that
2 the 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
8 necessary fee costs. The Commission shall determine the grant
9 amount for each student, which shall not exceed the smallest
10 of 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, $8,508 for fiscal year 2023, and $10,896 for fiscal
15 year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter, or such lesser
16 amount as the Commission finds to be available, during an
17 academic year;
18 (2) the amount which equals 2 semesters or 3 quarters
19 tuition and other necessary fees required generally by the
20 institution of all full-time undergraduate students; or
21 (3) such amount as the Commission finds to be
22 appropriate in view of the applicant's financial
23 resources.
24 Subject to appropriation, the maximum grant amount for
25 students not subject to subdivision (1) of this subsection (c)
26 must be increased by the same percentage as any increase made
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1 by law to the maximum grant amount under subdivision (1) of
2 this subsection (c).
3 "Tuition and other necessary fees" as used in this Section
4 include the customary charge for instruction and use of
5 facilities in general, and the additional fixed fees charged
6 for specified purposes, which are required generally of
7 nongrant recipients for each academic period for which the
8 grant applicant actually enrolls, but do not include fees
9 payable only once or breakage fees and other contingent
10 deposits which are refundable in whole or in part. The
11 Commission may prescribe, by rule not inconsistent with this
12 Section, detailed provisions concerning the computation of
13 tuition and other necessary fees.
14 (d) No applicant, including those presently receiving
15 scholarship assistance under this Act, is eligible for
16 monetary award program consideration under this Act after
17 receiving a baccalaureate degree or the equivalent of 135
18 semester credit hours of award payments.
19 (d-5) In this subsection (d-5), "renewing applicant" means
20 a student attending an institution of higher learning who
21 received a Monetary Award Program grant during the prior
22 academic year. Beginning with the processing of applications
23 for the 2020-2021 academic year, the Commission shall annually
24 publish a priority deadline date for renewing applicants.
25 Subject to appropriation, a renewing applicant who files by
26 the published priority deadline date shall receive a grant if
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1 he or she continues to meet the eligibility requirements under
2 this Section. A renewing applicant's failure to apply by the
3 priority deadline date established under this subsection (d-5)
4 shall not disqualify him or her from receiving a grant if
5 sufficient funding is available to provide awards after that
6 date.
7 (e) The Commission, in determining the number of grants to
8 be offered, shall take into consideration past experience with
9 the rate of grant funds unclaimed by recipients. The
10 Commission shall notify applicants that grant assistance is
11 contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds.
12 (e-5) The General Assembly finds and declares that it is
13 an important purpose of the Monetary Award Program to
14 facilitate access to college both for students who pursue
15 postsecondary education immediately following high school and
16 for those who pursue postsecondary education later in life,
17 particularly Illinoisans who are dislocated workers with
18 financial need and who are seeking to improve their economic
19 position through education. For the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017
20 academic years, the Commission shall give additional and
21 specific consideration to the needs of dislocated workers with
22 the intent of allowing applicants who are dislocated workers
23 an opportunity to secure financial assistance even if applying
24 later than the general pool of applicants. The Commission's
25 consideration shall include, in determining the number of
26 grants to be offered, an estimate of the resources needed to
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1 serve dislocated workers who apply after the Commission
2 initially suspends award announcements for the upcoming
3 regular academic year, but prior to the beginning of that
4 academic year. For the purposes of this subsection (e-5), a
5 dislocated worker is defined as in the federal Workforce
6 Innovation and Opportunity Act.
7 (f) (Blank).
8 (g) The Commission shall determine the eligibility of and
9 make grants to applicants enrolled at qualified for-profit
10 institutions in accordance with the criteria set forth in this
11 Section. The eligibility of applicants enrolled at such
12 for-profit institutions shall be limited as follows:
13 (1) Beginning with the academic year 1997, only to
14 eligible first-time freshmen and first-time transfer
15 students who have attained an associate degree.
16 (2) Beginning with the academic year 1998, only to
17 eligible freshmen students, transfer students who have
18 attained an associate degree, and students who receive a
19 grant under paragraph (1) for the academic year 1997 and
20 whose grants are being renewed for the academic year 1998.
21 (3) Beginning with the academic year 1999, to all
22 eligible students.
23 (h) The Commission may award a grant to an eligible
24 applicant enrolled at an Illinois public institution of higher
25 learning in a program that will culminate in the award of an
26 occupational or career and technical certificate as that term
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