FAA Message Board
The FAA Message Board is updated regularly – check back often for the latest information.
An ISAC Commission meeting will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, September 19. Tentative agenda items and additional details can be viewed at the
September 13 e-Message. An executive briefing call will be held on Friday, September 20.
A
September 13 e-Message announces upcoming webinars on the ECACE Scholarship Program. Webinars are free and will be held on September 18 at 2 p.m. and September 25 at 10 a.m.
Effective today, September 11, 2024, eligibility data is available and first-term payment requests (i.e., claims) are being accepted for the 2024-25 academic year. In order to be considered timely, first-term payment requests must be submitted on or before Tuesday, December 31, 2024. A
September 11 e-Message provides additional information and updates.
Registration for the College Access Symposium will open soon. Participants are encouraged to register as soon as possible due to limited space. A
September 10 e-Message provides additional information and details.
An
August 29, 2024 e-Message shares the Illinois Graduate and Retain Our Workforce (iGROW) Scholarship program is available to complete and submit online via the
Program Application & Status Checks area of the
ISAC Student Portal. In order to be considered timely, applications must be submitted no later than November 30, 2024.
An
August 28 e-Message announces that 2024-25 MAP claims for the first term are being accepted, and are due on or before Friday, December 6, 2024.
An
August 27 e-Message provides information regarding several upcoming important dates.
An
August 26 e-Message announces that 2024-25 Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) certification data is being accepted.
Applications for the 2024-25
Post-Master of Social Work School Social Work Professional Educator License Scholarship Program are now being accepted. The priority application consideration date is September 30, 2024.
An
August 15 e-Message announces that ISAC is
suspending the announcement of 2024-25 MAP grants for applicants whose initial 2024-25 FAFSA or Alternative Application is received on or after August 21, 2024. Effective August 23, 2024, the suspension of award announcements is reflected in the
MAP system and appears in the MAP Eligibility File Extraction.
Applications for the 2024-25
Displaced Energy Worker Dependent Transition Scholarship Program are now being accepted via the
Program Applications & Status Checks area of the
ISAC Student Portal. In order to be considered timely, applications for the full year or first term only must be submitted on or before October 1, 2024.
The
interactive application for the 2024-25
Grant Program for Exonerees is available to complete and submit online via the
Program Applications & Status Checks area of the
ISAC Student Portal. Applications are processed in date-received order ("first come, first served"). Because program funds are limited, encourage students who meet the program's
eligibility requirements to complete and submit the application as soon as possible.
ISAC is accepting benefit usage data for the 2024-25
Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) summer and fall terms and the 2024-25
Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant fall term. Further details, including the dates by which data must be submitted in order to be considered timely for each term, are provided in an
August 13 e-Message.
Effective August 6, 2024, functionality to
certify eligibility for 2024-25
Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver (SETTW) Program newly-awarded students – as well as transfer students – is available in the SETTW system. Each of the twelve Illinois public universities with students who were awarded 2024-25 tuition waivers has been sent an e-mail from ISAC, with instructions to certify each student's eligibility via the
SETTW system within 60 days of the date on which the e-mail is received.
Following guidance provided by the U.S. Department of Education in a
July 30, 2024 electronic announcement (GENERAL-24-96), which includes an extension of the previously-announced pause of program reviews, ISAC has also extended (through September 30, 2024) the
temporary pause of
new routine program reviews and responses, reports or requests for additional documentation for schools
currently undergoing a review. Schools are encouraged to continue working with ISAC's Program Review team.
An
August 5 e-Message announces that the functionality allowing colleges to
certify eligibility for the 2024-25
Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship Program is available via the
MTI system. There are no changes to the process from last year, and instructions to enter and submit Certifications to ISAC are provided in the
MTI User Guide.
The
2024-25 MAP recompute formula, which was approved at the
June 20, 2024 regular meeting of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC), is essentially the 2024-25 start-up formula with some additional clarification that is necessary due to FAFSA Simplification allowing for negative SAIs and parent contributions. As indicated in a
June 24 e-Message, the recompute formula mirrors the start-up formula. As a result, no changes are required in the MAP system and daily processing of ISIR data continues as usual.
The
interactive application for the 2024-25
Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant Program is now available for students to complete, and colleges may access
eligibility data via the
ING Grant system.
The fiscal year 2025 (FY25) operating budget and budget implementation bills, which together provide funding and statutory authority for Illinois programs and services (including ISAC's programs), were recently signed into law. Highlights include: another increase to the MAP appropriation, which has again resulted in historic funding for the program; funding 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 IVG and ING Grant programs; and, a first-time state appropriation for ECACE Scholarships that is considerably lower than the amount of federal funding that had been available in prior years, likely resulting in the program being able to support only a portion of renewal applicants. FY25 appropriations for ISAC-administered
gift assistance and
loan repayment programs, along with other details, are provided in a
June 11 e-Message.
ISAC Student Portal
