110 ILCS 117/15 — Illinois Code / Chapter 110 / Act 117 / Section 15
Section 15
Status: in_force

(110 ILCS 117/15) Sec. 15. Direct admission program. (a) The Board of Higher Education, in collaboration with the Illinois Community College Board, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, and the State Board of Education, shall establish and administer a direct admission program. Consistent with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the Illinois School Student Records Act, and the School Code, the direct admission program shall automatically offer general admission into a public university or community college to qualified high school seniors in this State and to public community college students in this State who qualify to transfer to a public university. (b) Each public university in the direct admission program shall identify and provide its grade point average standards for general admission for first time admission and for transfer students to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission by March 1 of each year. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission, in collaboration with the Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board, may determine which students meet the standards for general admission for each public university in the direct admission program, and that information shall be made available to the Board of Higher Education as needed for the administration of the program. The Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, or a statewide student application portal, as provided in subsections (g) and (h), shall notify the student and each public university for which the student qualifies. Each public university and community college may also notify qualified students. (c) Beginning July 1, 2026 and each July 1 thereafter, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission shall use data collected from school districts pursuant to Section 10-20.5a and paragraph 16 of Section 34-18 of the School Code for purposes of subsection (b) to determine which students meet the standards for general admission and may provide the data to the Board of Higher Education. (d) As all public community colleges in this State are open-access institutions, high school student direct admissions information shall be used to identify a student's local public community college. All correspondence to a student, pursuant to subsection (b), indicating the public universities that offer the student direct admission shall also indicate the student's acceptance to the community college. The public community college may also notify students within its district directly. (e) Under the direct admission program, a public community college shall offer admission to all students who are residents of the community college district. Under the direct admission program, a public university shall offer general admission to any high school senior in this State who meets the public university's standards for admission, as identified under subsection (b), and to any public community college transfer student transferring to a public university who meets all of the following requirements: (1) Is enrolled at a public community college in this State. (2) Has earned a minimum of 30 graded, transferable semester hours. (3) Meets the minimum grade point average requirement as set by the public university