ISAC Student PortalISAC Program FY26 Funding: Budget Bills Approved
06/23/2025
Governor Pritzker has signed SB 2510 (operating budget bill) and HB 1075 [budget implementation bill (BIMP)], which together provide funding and statutory authority for Illinois programs and services, including ISAC's programs for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26). Both bills were approved by the Illinois General Assembly by the session's scheduled adjournment date, in the late hours of May 31, and were then forwarded to the governor for signature.
The bills are now considered law and are officially Public Act 104-0003 and Public Act 104-0002 (before considering printing, please note the document length).
Given the expectation that the state's revenue growth will slow in the coming year, the overall budget for the upcoming academic year is a positive one for ISAC programs. One of the biggest highlights is another significant increase ($10 million) to the Monetary Award Program (MAP), which again represents historic funding (over $721.5 million) for the program. The budget also includes a new $1.25 million appropriation for the Human Services Professional Loan Repayment Program, which is in addition to authorization to spend down any funds that remain from the FY25 one-time transfer of $5 million from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. As was the case last year, the budget includes funding ($6 million) for ISAC to reimburse public universities for a portion of the tuition and fees that have been waived on behalf of eligible veterans and guard members through the Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) and Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant programs. [As in recent years, the budget also includes a little more than $4.2 million for the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) to reimburse Illinois community colleges for the costs associated with the same programs.]
Some ISAC programs will experience decreased (or eliminated) funding in the FY26 budget. The budget reduces to $2 million the lump sum that supports both the Post-Master of Social Work School Social Work Professional Educator License Scholarship Program and the School and Municipal Social Work Shortage Loan Repayment Program. (This is still sufficient to meet recent levels of demand.) Nurse Educator Loan Repayment Program funding was reduced to $400,000, which is still more than has been claimed for the program in recent years. In addition, neither the Illinois Graduate and Retain Our Workforce (iGROW) Tech Scholarship Program for students in IT and related fields nor the Prepare for Illinois' Future test preparation program received any funding. A grant to the N'DIGO Foundation to support a journalism internship program also had no funds appropriated.
FY26 ISAC Program Appropriation Highlights
MAP – $721,566,200 (increase)
Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) Scholarship – $5,000,000
Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois – $10,750,000
Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship – $8,000,000
Nursing Education Scholarship (NES) – $4,000,000
Grant Programs for Dependents of Police, Fire, or Correctional Officers – $1,300,000
Displaced Energy Worker Dependent Transition Scholarship – $1,100,000
Grant Program for Exonerees – $150,000
ING Grant and IVG reimbursement – $6,000,000
Post-Master of Social Work School Social Work Professional Educator License Scholarship Program and School and Municipal Social Work Shortage Loan Repayment Program (combined appropriation) – $2,000,000 (decrease)
Community Behavioral Health Care Professional Loan Repayment – $7,500,000
Human Services Professional Loan Repayment – $1,250,000 (plus remaining balance of FY25 funds)
Illinois Teachers Loan Repayment – $975,000
Nurse Educator Loan Repayment – $400,000 (decrease)
Veterans' Home Medical Providers' Loan Repayment – $26,400
Aspirational Institutional Match Helping Illinois Grow Higher Education (AIM HIGH) Grant – $50,000,000*
* AIM HIGH funds are disbursed in lump sums by ISAC to public universities.
With the approval of the budget, program implementation and operational activities for the 2025-26 academic year will begin to move forward. As always, we will regularly provide updates and processing details regarding each of our programs as we proceed through the year.
State Legislative Update
Additional details regarding the FY26 state budget, as well as highlights of action taken by the Illinois General Assembly during its spring legislative session that may be of interest to the state's financial aid community, are provided in a recent State Legislative Update (dated June 17, 2025).
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