High school students with B averages are one step closer to full tuition rides for college.

The step came in the form of House Bill 583, which passed March 21 in the Illinois House of Representatives. It would provide full scholarships to Illinois university and community college students who received a B grade-point average during high school. Eligible students who attend private schools would receive a $4,700 grant.

The scholarships would be available for entering college freshmen only, but could be renewed by students who receive the scholarship and maintain a 3.0 GPA.

“Two years ago, the General Assembly wisely decided to invest in our state’s long-neglected physical infrastructure,” said State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, the bill’s sponsor, on the day it passed. “We must now invest in the students of middle-class families and build bridges to higher educational opportunities.”

The House voted on the same legislation last year, only to see it die in the tougher state Senate.

“It had the same sponsor, who introduced this bill in committee, so we had looked at it before,” said State Rep. Dave Wirsing, R-Sycamore, who voted against the latest version. “This year with the new General Assembly, the bill was refiled.

“As I look at it, I can certainly understand the thought behind it. It is a feel-good bill to vote for — a motherhood and apple pie kind of idea. … [But] the reality of the issue in Illinois is that the cost would be astronomical,” Wirsing said.

According to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, the price tag for HB-583 would be $170 million annually. That cost would be added as part of the higher education budget, which in turn goes into the total state budget.

To fund the program, other programs would need to be cut or modified, or additional money would have to be found for the state general revenue fund.

Students eligible for the Monetary Award Program and federal Pell Grants still would need to apply for those programs, according to Lang’s office.

HB-583 comes on the heels of announced tuition increases at NIU, the University of Illinois and other state schools.

“Universities are pricing themselves out of the reach of good students,” Lang said. “Tuition increases are way beyond the rate of inflation and [beyond] many middle-class families’ ability to pay.”

Wirsing said the HB-583 is patterned after a similar bill in Georgia, where the state pays tuition for a B-average student. In Georgia, however, the state formed a lottery to create a revenue stream for the program. That lottery now pays for the program entirely.

“The reason they [approved legislation in Georgia] is because the leadership realized they were at the bottom of the totem pole as far as assisting students with their tuition,” Wirsing said. “Illinois is either first or second … of the 50 states as far as the amount of dollars available to students going on to higher education, through a variety of scholarship programs, such as ISAC. So it isn’t as if Illinois has to catch up. In fact, we’re way ahead of most states.”

Georgia’s program also has raised questions about high school teachers grading their students fairly.

“One of the problems they discovered in Georgia is that high school teachers would embellish a student’s grade to make sure they maintained a B average,” Wirsing said. “Then they would qualify when they went on to college. Georgia has been trying to address that problem.”

If the Illinois Senate decides to vote on the bill, it will probably do so in a couple of weeks, Wirsing said.