On December 8, 2023, Governor Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1699 into law as Public Act 103-0580. This statute went into immediate effect on December 8, 2023 and expands the definition of “Public Schools” eligible for the Public Schools project category to include Illinois public higher education institutions as defined by the Illinois Board of Higher Education Act. The following changes will be implemented to accommodate projects submitted by public higher education institutions to the category.
- Application questions in Section 2 of the Part I application will be updated to facilitate the submission of projects located at public higher education institutions, and to delineate between K-12 and higher education projects.
- The category specific resources found on the Public Schools project category hub of the Illinois Shines website have been updated to reflect the change in definition.
While the abovementioned portal changes will be implemented on February 20, 2024, applications for projects located at public higher education institutions can be submitted before that date. Please reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions.
