Section 2742.10  Summary and Purpose

 

a)         The Grant Program for Medical Assistants in Training provides grant assistance to an individual enrolled in a medical assistant program at an Illinois public community college that will lead to certification to work as a medical assistant. The Commission shall, each year, beginning with the 2016-2017 academic year through the 2020-2021 academic year, receive and consider applications for grant assistance under this Section. Grants are limited based on funding levels appropriated by the Illinois General Assembly.

 

b)         This Part establishes rules that govern the Grant Program for Medical Assistants in Training. Additional rules and definitions are contained in General Provisions (23 Ill. Adm. Code 2700).

 

Section 2742.20  Applicant Eligibility

 

A qualified applicant shall be:

 

a)         a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen;

 

b)         a resident of Illinois;

 

c)         enrolled at an Illinois public community college;

 

d)         enrolled or accepted for enrollment on at least a half-time basis in a medical assistant program leading to certification to work as a medical assistant;

 

e)         able to demonstrate financial need, as determined by ISAC; and

 

f)         making satisfactory academic progress as determined by the institution.

 

Section 2742.30  Program Procedures

 

a)         All applicants must file an application annually for the Grant Program for Medical Assistants in Training.

 

1)         Applications are available at ISAC's web site and ISAC's Springfield, Deerfield and Chicago offices.

 

2)         All applicants must complete and file the form the US. Department of Education (ED) designates as an application for federal student financial aid for the purpose of determining the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) that is used as a selection criterion for this award. (See Section 483 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 USC 1070a).)

 

3)         ISAC shall select the recipients from among those who have submitted a complete application prior to the priority consideration date, as set by ISAC.

 

4)         If the application is incomplete, ISAC will notify the applicant, who will have an opportunity to furnish the missing information. The application will only be considered for processing as of the date the application is complete and received at ISAC's Deerfield office.

 

5)         A qualified applicant must also submit any forms required for the receipt of the grant.

 

b)         Benefits are limited to tuition and fees for 2 semesters in an academic year, except that no recipient may receive more than $5,000 in a single academic year.

 

c)         Each qualified applicant who is selected to receive a grant shall be notified. Applicants not receiving the grant will be notified as well.

 

d)         The total number of grants awarded in a given fiscal year is contingent upon available funding. ISAC shall select the recipients from among qualified applicants who filed timely applications based on a combination of the following criteria:

 

1)         Expected Family Contribution (EFC), from the lowest to the highest.

 

2)         Recipients of assistance under this Part during the previous academic year may receive first priority consideration provided the recipient continues to meet the eligibility requirements.

 

e)         If all other criteria are equal, priority consideration will be given to the qualified applicant who submitted his or her completed application on the earliest date.

 

Section 2742.40  Institutional Procedures

 

a)         The institution shall certify the applicant's award amount within the time frame requested by ISAC, which shall be no sooner than 30 days unless a more rapid response is necessary to expend appropriated funds prior to the end of the academic year.

 

b)         Institutional Packaging of Assistance

 

1)         If the recipient receives other assistance targeted specifically for tuition and fees, the combined assistance shall not exceed the total tuition and fee expenses incurred by the student; if it does, the institution shall reduce one of the awards accordingly;

 

2)         Notwithstanding the provisions of other ISAC-administered programs, the total amount of a student's gift assistance may not exceed the student's cost of attendance for that institution. Any excess gift assistance is considered an overaward, and the institution is required to notify ISAC to reduce this grant and/or other gift assistance to prevent the overaward; and

 

3)         If the recipient is eligible for assistance under MAP, the recipient might not be eligible for a full MAP grant because the grant for Medical Assistants in Training must be factored into the financial aid package prior to receiving MAP gift assistance. The institution, however, may request a MAP grant to finance tuition and mandatory fee expenses not paid by this program.

 

c)         Institutional Processing of Payments

 

1)         Within the 30 days starting with the date of receiving payment, the institution shall credit the award toward the recipient's tuition and fee charges for the appropriate term.

 

2)         Institutions are required to reconcile payments, both payment data and actual funds, received through the Grant Program for Medical Assistants in Training and, as applicable, submit all necessary corrections to student records on a timely basis.

 

3)         Within 30 days after the end of an academic term during which the Grant Program for Medical Assistants in Training funds are credited to recipient's tuition and eligible fee charges, institutions must reconcile data received from ISAC as a result of payment claim processing against the eligibility status throughout that term for each student for whom payment claims were made. In reconciling the data with student eligibility, an institution must determine whether:

 

A)        The amount of the claim applied to a student's tuition and eligible fee charges exceeded the amount that the student was eligible to receive for any reason, including as a result of billing errors or retroactive withdrawals;

 

B)        The amount of the claim applied to a student's tuition and eligible fee charges was less than the amount that the student was eligible to receive for any reason, including as a result of billing errors or retroactive withdrawals; or

 

C)        The amount of the claim applied to a student's tuition and eligible fee charges equaled the amount that the student was eligible to receive.

 

4)         Any institution that determines that the amount of a claim applied to a student's tuition and fee charges either exceeded the amount that the student was eligible to receive or was less than that amount must submit an accounting of all adjustments made to ISAC within 30 days following the end of the applicable term.

 

5)         For any claims determined to exceed the amount that the student was eligible to receive, the amount in excess paid for the claims shall be remitted to ISAC within 45 days after the end of the applicable term unless the payment is received after the end of the applicable term. If the payment of claims is made after the end of the applicable term, the institution shall have 60 days following receipt of the payment to complete reconciliation and remit any funds due to ISAC.

 

6)         Award payments made in the name of one recipient cannot be applied to another recipient at the same institution. A refund of the payment must be submitted to ISAC and a supplemental request must be made and processed for the proper recipient.

 

7)         If the institution does not submit refunds as required, ISAC will deduct outstanding refunds from subsequent payments to the institution.

 

8)         To provide sufficient time for processing and vouchering through the State Comptroller's Office, all payment requests except for summer term must be received by ISAC no later than July 1. Summer term payment requests must be received no later than July 31.