SB1549 Summary

• Illinois Student Assistance Commission must assess educational persistence and academic success of monetary award program (MAP) recipients, analyzing factors including retention rates, grade point average, and credit hours earned, with reports due by February 1, 1999 and every 2 years thereafter.

• Commission shall create a completion performance model for higher education institutions participating in MAP using risk factors such as Pell participation rate, part-time enrollment, and student dependency status, comparing actual completion rates to predicted rates and publishing results annually.

• Institutions failing to meet a minimum completion threshold (90% of predicted rate) for 2 successive years shall be placed on warning status and must notify current and prospective students of the status.

• Institutions on warning status face escalating penalties if they fail to improve: 20% funding reduction for 2 years, 40% reduction if improvement does not occur within the first 2 years, and suspension from MAP participation if threshold is not met within 4 years.

• MAP participating institutions must provide grant recipients with completion rate information, graduate outcomes data, a 2-week initial study period to withdraw without financial obligation, easy access to progress tracking information, and trained staff to assist with enrollment and financial planning.