Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a)
Applicants will be notified whether they are qualified applicants. A
non-qualified applicant may appeal in accordance with 23 Ill. Adm. Code
2700.70, Appeal
Procedures.
b) Recipients shall be
selected from among the qualified applicants on the basis of the following
criteria:
1) Postsecondary Academic Level.
Awards will be made first to renewal applicants, then to all graduate students
and seniors, then to all juniors, then to all sophomores, and then to all
freshmen.
2) Special Consideration.
If there are insufficient funds to award scholarships to all qualified
applicants, ISAC shall give special consideration to qualified applicants who
are within the same academic level and who:
A) intend to teach or provide related
services to students with disabilities;
B) intend to teach limited English proficient
students;
C) intend to teach
preschool age children;
D) intend
to teach in schools servicing inner city or rural or geographically isolated
areas;
E) intend to teach in
curricular areas or geographic areas where there are demonstrated shortages of
qualified teachers; or
F) are from
disadvantaged backgrounds, including students from low-income families; racial
and ethnic minorities; individuals with disabilities; and students
underrepresented in the teaching profession or in the curricular areas in which
they are preparing to teach.
3) Shortage of Teachers. If there are
insufficient funds to award scholarships to all qualified applicants within a
given academic level who are entitled to special consideration, awards will be
made first to all applicants enrolled in an academic discipline in which
Illinois has a shortage of teachers, as determined annually by the Illinois
State Board of Education. (See: 23 Ill. Adm. Code 54.Subpart D.) Funds will
next be awarded to applicants at the same academic level in non-shortage
disciplines.
4) The Expected Family
Contribution (EFC) derived from Federal Methodology. If funds are insufficient
to make awards to all applicants who are entitled to special consideration, to
all applicants in shortage disciplines or to all applicants in non-shortage
disciplines, within an academic level, applicants will be ranked in order of
the applicant's EFC, from lowest to highest. (See: Section
2762.40(b);
Title IV, Part F of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended ( 20 U.S.C.A.
1087kk ).) Awards will be made within the relevant group in order of increasing
EFC. Those applicants who did not apply for federal student financial aid, and
therefore do not have an EFC, are eligible to receive this scholarship but will
be ranked last in their relevant group.
c) An applicant shall receive a scholarship
renewal provided s/he continues to meet the requirements of Section
2762.20,
Applicant Eligibility. No recipient may receive more than eight
semesters/twelve quarters of scholarship assistance. A recipient shall not
receive a scholarship renewal if s/he remains at the same academic level for
more than two years.
d) The total
number of recipients selected is contingent upon the available funds and the
number of scholarship renewals. All scholarships and scholarship renewals are
contingent upon sufficient appropriation.
e) ISAC applications for the Paul Douglas
Teacher Scholarship Program are available for distribution to students from:
approved high schools in Illinois; offices of Congressional Representatives
from the State of Illinois; offices of ISAC in Springfield, Chicago, and
Deerfield; and postsecondary institutions throughout Illinois.
f) A completed application must be received
in ISAC's Deerfield office on or before August 1 preceding the academic year
for which the scholarship is being requested in order to receive priority
consideration for an award.
1) All applicants
who had not previously been designated as recipients should also apply for
federal student financial aid to determine EFC for the purpose of determining
their rank within their relevant group. (See: 20 U.S.C.A. 1070a.)
2) First-time applicants must also provide
their postsecondary institution a copy of their high school transcripts, any
other documentation which verifies rank in class upon high school graduation,
or documentation showing their GED test scores. The institution shall certify
to ISAC whether the applicant meets the eligibility criteria listed in Section
2762.20, Applicant Eligibility.
g) A congratulatory letter shall be sent to
each qualified applicant who is selected as a recipient. A listing of
recipients shall be made available to institutions, members of Congress, and to
the media.
h) Renewal applications
are mailed annually to recipients and must be submitted to ISAC on or before
August 1 preceding the academic year for which the scholarship is being
requested in order to receive priority consideration for an award.
i) Prior to receiving scholarship assistance
for any academic year, the recipient must sign a Teaching Agreement/Promissory
Note that is submitted to ISAC.
1) The
Teaching Agreement/Promissory Note shall require the recipient to either:
A) fulfill the teaching requirements within
ten years after completing the postsecondary education degree program for which
the scholarship was awarded, or
B)
repay all or part of the scholarship, plus interest, as provided by federal
regulations. (See: 34 CFR 653.62(c)(1).) The teaching requirement is prorated
based upon whether the student received the scholarship for a semester or
quarter rather than a full academic year.
2) The Teaching Agreement/Promissory Note
shall include:
A) a stipulation that:
i) the recipient teach on a full-time basis
for a period of not less than two years, for each year of assistance received,
in a public or private nonprofit preschool, elementary, or secondary school,
or
ii) the recipient teach, on a
full-time basis, children with disabilities or children with limited English
proficiency in a private non-profit school, and
B) a stipulation that teaching time shall be
reduced to one-half if performed in a geographic area or an academic discipline
certified as a "teacher shortage area" by the U.S. Secretary of Education,
and
C) a further stipulation that
the recipient agrees to provide ISAC with evidence of compliance with program
requirements (e.g., responses to annual follow-up questionnaires,
etc.).
j) A
recipient will be entitled to defer payments due, as outlined in subsection
(i)(1)(B) of this Section, during any period in which the recipient meets the
conditions outlined in Section 528 of the Higher Education Act, as amended, or
applicable federal regulations (see: 34 CFR 653.62(g) ).
k) A recipient shall be excused from
repayment, for any scholarship assistance received under this Part, if the
recipient becomes permanently totally disabled as established by the sworn
affidavit of a qualified physician or if his or her representative provides
ISAC with a death certificate or other evidence that the recipient has
died.