Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) A
completed ISAC application for the Illinois SETTW Program must be postmarked on
or before March 1 immediately preceding the academic year for which the tuition
waiver is being requested in order to receive priority consideration for an
award.
b) An application for the
Illinois SETTW Program is available on ISAC's website.
c) If the student section of an application
is incomplete, ISAC will notify the applicant. The applicant will then have an
opportunity to furnish the missing information; however, the application will
be considered for processing as of the date when the student section is
complete and received by ISAC.
d)
ISAC shall annually award 250 Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition
Waivers as provided in this subsection (d).
1)
Currently Licensed Teachers
A) A maximum of 40
tuition waivers may be awarded annually to qualified applicants who hold a
valid teaching license that is not in the discipline of Special
Education.
B) If more than 40
applicants qualify under these provisions, a lottery shall be used to select 40
recipients.
2)
Applicants Graduating from High School in the Current Award Year
A) Except as otherwise provided in subsection
(d)(4), a minimum of 105 tuition waivers shall be awarded annually to students
scheduled to graduate from an approved high school in the academic year in
which the award is made and who rank in the upper half of their class at the
end of the sixth semester.
B) ISAC
shall select recipients under this subsection (d)(2) from among qualified
applicants based on the highest ACT or SAT scores from the time periods set
forth in the State Scholar Program (23 Ill. Adm. Code
2760.20(b), (c) and
(d), as converted according to the Illinois
Standard Test Score table (Section
2760.30(c)).
C) If the number of qualified applicants
sharing the same Illinois Standard Test Score exceeds the number of tuition
waivers to be awarded, a lottery shall be used to select the
awardees.
3) Applicants
Not Graduating from High School in the Current Award Year
A) Except as otherwise provided in subsection
(d)(4), a minimum of 105 tuition waivers shall be awarded annually to qualified
applicants who have graduated from an approved high school prior to the
academic year in which the award is made.
B) If the number of qualified applicants
exceeds the number of tuition waivers to be awarded, a lottery shall be used to
select the awardees.
4)
Rollover of Unused Tuition Waivers
A) Any of
the available tuition waivers not awarded under subsection (d)(1) shall be
added to the pool of available waivers under subsection (d)(2).
B) If the number of qualified applicants
under subsection (d)(2) or (d)(3) is insufficient to utilize all of the waivers
available under those subsections, the remainder shall be transferred to the
pool of waivers under the other subsection if the other subsection has
qualified applicants who have not yet been awarded a waiver.
e) Notice of
eligibility will be sent by July 1 to each qualified applicant who is selected
to receive a tuition waiver. The qualified applicant is then responsible for
providing a copy of the notice of eligibility to the institution. All other
qualified applicants will be notified that they were not selected.
f) Tuition waivers are applicable towards
credit for any semester/quarter within an academic year.
g) A recipient shall be exempt from paying
tuition and mandatory fees for up to four calendar years.
h) A recipient may be granted a leave of
absence by the president of the institution, or the president's designee, for
the following reasons:
1) earning funds to
defray the recipient's educational expenses;
2) illness of the recipient or a member of
the recipient's immediate family, as established by the sworn statement of a
licensed physician; or
3) military
service.
i) A recipient
must complete the course of study within six years including leaves of absence.
A recipient must remain enrolled on a continuous basis during the regular
school year for four years, unless granted a leave of absence. However, a leave
of absence granted for military service shall not be considered part of the six
years within which a recipient must complete a degree.
j) Prior to receiving assistance, the
qualified applicant must sign a Teaching Agreement/Promissory Note, which must
be submitted to ISAC. The Teaching Agreement/Promissory Note shall include the
following stipulations:
1) the recipient
pledges to begin teaching on a full-time basis, in the field of Special
Education, within one year following graduation from or termination of
enrollment in a teacher education program, at a nonprofit, public, private or
parochial preschool, elementary or secondary school in Illinois and to continue
teaching for at least 2 of the 5 years immediately following;
2) if the teaching requirement is not
fulfilled, the tuition waiver converts to a loan and the recipient must repay
the entire amount of the tuition waiver (prorated according to the fraction of
the teaching obligation not completed), plus interest at a rate equal to 5% per
annum; and
3) the recipient agrees
to provide ISAC with evidence of compliance with program requirements (e.g.,
responses to annual follow-up questionnaires, etc.).
k) The five-year time period during which the
teaching requirement must be fulfilled may be extended if the recipient:
1) serves, for not more than three years, as
a member of the United States Armed Forces;
2) is enrolled full-time in an academic
program related to the field of teaching, leading to a graduate or postgraduate
degree;
3) is temporarily totally
disabled for a period of time not to exceed three years, as established by the
sworn affidavit of a qualified physician;
4) is actively seeking but unable to find
full-time employment as a teacher at an Illinois public, private, or parochial
school for one continuous period not to exceed two years, and is able to
provide evidence of that fact;
5)
is taking additional courses, on at least a half-time basis, needed to obtain
licensure as a teacher in Illinois; or
6) is fulfilling teaching requirements
associated with other programs administered by ISAC if the recipient cannot
concurrently fulfill them in a period of time equal to the length of the
teaching obligation.
l)
A recipient shall enter repayment status on the earliest of the following
dates:
1) the first day of the first calendar
month after the recipient has ceased to pursue a course of study leading to
initial licensure as a teacher in Special Education, but not until six months
have elapsed after the cessation of at least half-time enrollment in such a
course of study. A recipient who has transferred and is waiting to be accepted
into the Special Education program at the new university shall not be subject
to this provision provided the recipient is enrolled and is pursuing course
work that meets the new university's requirements to gain admission to the
Special Education program;
2) the
date the recipient informs ISAC that the recipient does not plan to fulfill the
teaching obligation; or
3) the
latest date upon which the recipient must have begun teaching in order to
complete the teaching obligation within five years after completing the
postsecondary education for which the waiver was awarded.
m) If a recipient is required to repay any
portion of a tuition waiver awarded prior to July 1, 2014, the repayment period
shall be completed within five years after the tuition waiver converts to a
loan. If a recipient is required to repay any portion of a tuition waiver
awarded after July 1, 2014, the repayment period shall be completed within 10
years after the tuition waiver converts to a loan. Repayment periods may be
extended if a recipient:
1) serves, for not
more than three years, as a member of the United States Armed Forces;
2) is temporarily disabled, for not more than
three years, as established by the sworn affidavit of a licensed
physician;
3) is pursuing a
graduate or postgraduate degree and is enrolled on a full-time basis for one
continuous period of time not to exceed three years;
4) is seeking and unable to find full-time
employment for one continuous period not to exceed two years and is able to
provide evidence of that fact; or
5) withdraws from a course of study leading
to teacher licensure in Special Education but remains enrolled on at least a
half-time basis in another academic discipline.
n) During the time a recipient qualifies for
any of the extensions listed in subsection (m) of this Section, the recipient
shall not be required to make payments and interest shall not continue to
accrue.
o)
If a recipient
who enters into repayment under subsection (j) subsequently,
within 5 years of entering repayment, begins to teach at a school meeting the
description under subsection (j)(1), the amount owed by the
recipient may be reduced in proportion to the amount of the teaching obligation
completed. [110 ILCS 947/50]
p) A recipient shall not be required to pay
the amount of the tuition and fees waived if the recipient becomes permanently
totally disabled, as established by the sworn affidavit of a licensed physician
(see e.g., 34 CFR
682.402(c)), or if the
recipient's representative provides ISAC with a death certificate or other
evidence that the recipient has died.
q) A holder of a tuition waiver must register
for enrollment in a special education program of teacher education within ten
days after the beginning of the term for which the tuition waiver was initially
awarded. If the recipient fails to comply with this requirement, the tuition
waiver will be forfeited and ISAC will award it to another qualified
applicant.
