Message from the Illinois State Board of Education – FAFSA

04/30/2024

Below is the content of a letter that was sent last week from Dr. Tony Sanders, State Superintendent of Education, Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

Note that the ability to indicate a school-granted waiver via a check-box in the GAP Access portal (referenced below) is now available, as is the updated user guide.

Dear Superintendents and High School Principals:

As we near the end of the 2023-24 school year, I want to share with you important information about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). As you are all keenly aware, the rollout of the U.S. Department of Education's streamlined FAFSA has been problematic. Although state officials, working with national partners, have shared concerns and constructive feedback with the Department, aspiring students and their families continue to experience problems and delays in determining their federal financial aid eligibility. As a result, despite all your best efforts, Illinois continues to lag in the number of students who have completed the FAFSA—and thus reducing the number of qualified graduates. You can view all Illinois public high schools completion rates on the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) webpage. Given the delay in the launch of the FAFSA, as well as the numerous issues that continue to impede many students from successfully filing it, the team at ISBE has been working closely with ISAC to develop an easier method for waivers to be granted by schools for this school year only.

Illinois law requires all Illinois public high school seniors to complete the FAFSA, the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid, or a Financial Aid Application Nonparticipation Form (waiver) to graduate. However, there is a provision that allows school administrators to grant waivers due to extenuating circumstances after making a good faith effort to assist a student in filing an application. Waivers should be used only as a last resort. These school-granted waivers must be recorded in the ISAC GAP Access platform no later than July 31 for compliance. ISAC is currently working on making the change in its system to allow the waiver to be granted with a simple check in a box and anticipates that feature to be available by next week. ISAC will update the Financial Aid Application Completion Initiative – Access and Agreement User Guide on the ISAC GAP Access webpage with instructions on how to grant waivers for students on your school's roster.

This means that no student should be denied the ability to graduate this year because of the FAFSA issues that are beyond their control. Any graduating student who has not completed the FAFSA, Alternative Application, or Nonparticipation Form should be granted a waiver.

It is incumbent on all of us to continue our work to have students complete their FAFSA or Alternative Application, so every student can make their postsecondary dreams a reality. ISAC and ISBE staff have gone above and beyond to respond to this challenging FAFSA issue. I encourage you to reach out to ISAC to help you host a FAFSA/financial aid completion workshop for your students. You can submit a request form on ISAC's website. ISACorps members (near-peer mentors) are available in every region of the state and will continue offering help in person or via phone and text through the end of the academic year and into the summer. You can download the FAFSA Completion Communications toolkit to learn about flyers, social media posts, and tips to help encourage students to file their financial aid applications. And ISAC's YouTube channel – especially its financial aid playlist – provides free how-to advice 24/7 in English and Spanish.

Sincerely,

Dr. Tony Sanders
State Superintendent of Education

You are receiving this message because you registered for ISAC's e-Messaging service through one or more subscription groups for Counselors.