105 ILCS 5/10-20.5a — Illinois Code / Chapter 105 / Act 5 / Section 10-20.5a
Section 10-20.5a
Status: in_force

(105 ILCS 5/10-20.5a) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-20.5a) Sec. 10-20.5a. Access to high school campus. (a) In this Section: "Direct admissions information" means a student's name, home address, birth date, telephone number, email address, cumulative grade point average, and high school. "Directory information" means a high school student's name, home address, birth date, and telephone number. "Public institution of higher education" has the meaning given to that term in the Board of Higher Education Act. (a-3) For school districts maintaining grades 10 through 12, to provide, on an equal basis, and consistent with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, access to a high school campus and student directory information to the official recruiting representatives of the armed forces of Illinois and the United States, to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, and to State public institutions of higher education for the purpose of informing students of educational and career opportunities if the board has provided such access to persons or groups whose purpose is to acquaint students with educational or occupational opportunities available to them. The board is not required to give greater notice regarding the right of access to recruiting representatives than is given to other persons and groups. (a-5) For a school district maintaining grades 10 through 12, to provide, on an equal basis and consistent with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 and the Illinois School Student Records Act, access to student direct admissions information to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for the purpose of the direct admission program. (b) If a student or his or her parent or guardian submits a signed, written request to the high school before the end of the student's sophomore year (or if the student is a transfer student, by another time set by the high school) that indicates that the student or his or her parent or guardian does not want the student's directory information to be provided to official recruiting representatives, to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, or to public institutions of higher education under subsection (a-3) of this Section, the high school may not provide access to the student's directory information to these recruiting representatives, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, or public institutions of higher education. The high school shall notify its students and their parents or guardians of the provisions of this subsection (b). (b-5) If a student who is 18 years of age or older or the parent or guardian of a student who is under 18 years of age submits a signed, written or electronic consent that indicates that the student or his or her parent or guardian does permit the student's direct admissions information to be provided under subsection (a-5), the high school shall provide the student's direct admissions information to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission shall provide template opt-in language to those school districts maintaining grades 10 through 12, which shall be made available on the Commission's website no later than June 30, 2025. The template opt-in language shall specify that if the student or the student's parent or guardian consents, the student's direct admissions information will be sent to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission and the direct admissions information may, as needed for the administration of the direct admission program under the Public University Direct Admission Program Act, be redisclosed to the Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board, public universities for which the student qualifies under the direct admission program, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Illinois at Chicago if the student qualifies under Section 20 of the Public University Direct Admission Program Act, the community college district where the student resides, and, if applicable, a third party that operates a statewide student application portal. The template opt-in language shall also specify that direct admissions information may not be redisclosed to any other individual or entity unless the opt-in language notifies the student or the student's parent or guardian of such redisclosure and the student or the student's parent or guardian consents to the redisclosure. The high school shall notify its students and their parents or guardians of the provisions of this subsection (b-5) and, at the time of school registration or at other appropriate times prior to the end of a student's junior year, give its students and their parents or guardians the option for a student's direct admissions information to be shared for the purpose of the direct admission program. (c) A high school may require official recruiting representatives of the armed forces of Illinois and the United States to pay a fee for copying and mailing a student's directory information in an amount that is not more than the actual costs incurred by the high school. (d) Information received by an official under this Section may be used only to provide information to students concerning educational and career opportunities. Information may not be released to a person who is not involved in recruiting students for the armed forces of Illinois or the United States or providing educational opportunity information for the Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, or public institutions of higher education. (e) By July 1, 2026 and each July 1 thereafter, each school district under this Section shall make high school student directory information electronically accessible through a secure centralized data system for official recruiting representatives of the armed forces of Illinois and the United States, as well as to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission and public institutions of higher education. (f) By July 1, 2026 and each July 1 thereafter, each school district under this Section shall make student direct admissions information, for students graduating in the next year, electronically accessible through a secure, centralized data system for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for the purpose of the direct admission program. (g) The Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, and the State Board of Education may adopt any rules necessary to administer this Section. (Source: P.A. 103-204, eff. 1-1-24; 104-15, eff. 6-30-25.)