HB 26

Abstract

Creates the Public University Uniform Admission Act. Requires each public university in this State to admit first-time freshman applicants as undergraduate students if the applicant graduated with a grade point average in the top 10% or was certified to be in the top 10% of the student's high school graduating class in one of the 2 school years preceding the academic year for which the applicant is applying for admission and (1) the applicant graduated from an accredited public or private high school in this State or from a high school operated by the United States Department of Defense; (2) the applicant successfully completed the minimum college preparatory curriculum requirements for admission to the university and satisfied the ACT college admission assessment or the SAT college admission assessment composite score and subscores required for admission to the university; and (3) if the applicant graduated from a high school operated by the United States Department of Defense, the applicant is a State resident or is entitled to pay tuition fees at the rate provided for State residents. Provides that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is not required to offer admission to applicants who qualify for automatic admission in excess of the number required to fill 75% of the university's enrollment capacity designated for first-time resident undergraduate students in an academic year. Sets forth other provisions concerning the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Sets forth other provisions concerning admissions. Provides for additional preparation for college, student outreach, and rulemaking. House Committee Amendment No. 1 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of the introduced bill with the following changes. Removes from the applicability of the Act the University of Illinois, Illinois State University, Governors State University, Northeastern Illinois University, and Chicago State University; makes conforming changes. Provides that, beginning with the 2020-2021 academic year, each institution shall create a 4-year uniform admission system pilot program under the Act (rather than create a permanent uniform admission system). Makes other changes. Repeals the Act on July 1, 2025. Fiscal Note, House Committee Amendment No. 1 (IL Board of Higher Education) House Bill 26 (H-AM 1) will not have a fiscal impact on the Illinois Board of Higher Education. House Committee Amendment No. 2 With regard to the student outreach program, removes a provision requiring the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, after gathering information and recommendations from available sources and examining current outreach practices by institutions of higher education in this State and in other states, to prescribe best practice guidelines and standards to be used by institutions in conducting student outreach. Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Provides that an applicant who graduates in a graduating class of a school that has so few students that class rank does not make a reliable contribution toward assessing the student's college readiness is considered to have satisfied certain automatic admission requirements of the Act if, among other requirements, the student has (i) successfully completed the minimum college preparatory curriculum requirements established by law for admission to the institution and (rather than or) (ii) satisfied the ACT college admission assessment or the SAT college admission assessment composite score and subscores required for admission to the institution to which the applicant applied as well as any composite scores or subscores for colleges within that institution. Makes a technical correction.