---
type: "Bill"
title: "U OF I-LOWER AGE OF ADMITTANCE"
description: "Amends the University of Illinois Act. Lowers the age at which a student may be admitted to the University from 15 to 14 years. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "96th"
identifier: "SB 263"
citation: "Illinois SB 263 (96th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 36
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2009-02-04"
last_action: "2009-08-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/23627f99-b5fd-4fc6-884d-a66a0601e24e"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=263&GAID=10&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=40940&SessionID=76&GA=96"
source_hash: "923a2ac05e56aa6f7d379e8f328e4a432bede633ea0a9f56fb1522919749a9a2"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois SB 263 (96th) — U OF I-LOWER AGE OF ADMITTANCE

Amends the University of Illinois Act. Lowers the age at which a student may be admitted to the University from 15 to 14 years. Effective immediately.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600SB0263&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=40940&DocNum=263&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600SB0263eng&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=40940&DocNum=263&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600SB0263enr&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=40940&DocNum=263&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **59–0** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **114–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Michael W. Frerichs — primary (person)
- William B. Black — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2009-02-04** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Michael W. Frerichs `filing`
- **2009-02-04** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2009-02-04** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2009-02-10** Assigned to Higher Education `referral-committee`
- **2009-02-19** Held in Higher Education
- **2009-02-23** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Michael W. Frerichs `amendment-introduction`
- **2009-02-23** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2009-02-25** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Assignments Refers to Higher Education
- **2009-02-25** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted `amendment-passage`
- **2009-02-25** Do Pass as Amended Higher Education; 010-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2009-02-25** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading February 26, 2009
- **2009-02-26** Added as Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Pamela J. Althoff
- **2009-02-27** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2009-02-27** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading March 4, 2009
- **2009-04-01** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading ** April 2, 2009
- **2009-04-01** Added as Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Edward D. Maloney
- **2009-04-02** Third Reading - Passed; 059-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2009-04-03** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2009-04-03** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2009-04-27** Chief House Sponsor Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie
- **2009-04-28** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2009-04-28** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2009-04-28** Assigned to Higher Education Committee `referral-committee`
- **2009-05-05** Added Alternate Co-Sponsor Rep. William B. Black
- **2009-05-06** Do Pass / Short Debate Higher Education Committee; 004-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2009-05-06** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2009-05-07** Alternate Chief Sponsor Changed to Rep. Naomi D. Jakobsson
- **2009-05-07** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie
- **2009-05-12** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2009-05-12** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2009-05-13** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 114-001-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2009-05-13** Passed Both Houses
- **2009-06-11** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2009-08-10** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2009-08-10** Effective Date August 10, 2009
- **2009-08-10** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0203 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/23627f99-b5fd-4fc6-884d-a66a0601e24e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).