Suspension of MAP Award Announcements

Suspension of 2026-27 Award Announcements
Identifying MAP Records in Suspension
Identifying MAP Records Released from Suspension

Each year, ISAC continues to announce MAP awards until projections indicate that the dollars appropriated will be exhausted by the number of awards already announced for the year. Applications received after this point are placed in award announcement suspension. If it becomes necessary to suspend award announcements in order to remain within appropriated funding levels, such action is applied concurrently to all students.

The status of suspended awards is evaluated as more information becomes available throughout the year and, if application volume and claim rates support such action, some suspended awards may be released. Any suspended awards that might be released in the future would remain subject to the MAP priority considerations dates of the academic year that awards are suspended.

Suspension of 2026-27 Award Announcements

ISAC is suspending the announcement of 2026-27 MAP award announcements for all students whose initial 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) was received by the FAFSA Processing System (FPS), or whose initial Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid was received by ISAC after Thursday, April 23, 2026. This page will be updated when the suspension of MAP award announcements are reflected on the appropriate screens and reports of the MAP system, as well as in the MAP Eligibility File Extraction (anticipated late April).

Operational Information:

• MAP records in suspense status will be indicated by a MAP Suspend Code of "S" (S = New application received after the suspense date will not be considered for an award this year) in the MAP system and in the MAP Eligibility File Extraction.
• Colleges must suspend announcements of MAP awards to applicants whose initial 2026-27 FAFSA receipt date is after Thursday, April 23, 2026. The 2026-27 Alternative Application is no longer available for submissions after July 30,2026.
  • ISAC is not notifying affected applicants that their awards have been placed in suspense status.
  • Colleges are advised to communicate announcement information to students with suspended awards as prescribed in school policy and procedure.

The MAP system contains filters that will allow colleges to identify student records and create a custom report of those records placed in suspension status. Refer to the Identifying MAP Records in Suspension section below for information on how to identify.

Identifying MAP Records in Suspension

Schools may want to identify student records placed into suspension for a variety of reasons (i.e., file review, packaging, etc.). MAP records in suspension status will be indicated by a code of "S" in the “MAP Suspend” field in the MAP system, reports and in the Eligibility Status File (ESF). New applications received after the suspense date will not be considered for an award.

The MAP system contains filters that allow colleges to identify student records and create a report. Refer to the instructions to run a report of suspended student records.

• Creating a Report of Suspended Records Using the Suspense Flag

Identifying MAP Records Released from Suspension

Financial Aid Office or Business Office staff will want to be able to identify student records that have been released from suspension. There's no indicator in the system that identifies which student records were released; the suspense flag ("S") is simply removed. When records are released from suspense, ISAC will create an Eligibility Status File (ESF) update that will remove the "S" from the "MAP Suspend" field on MAP system screens and from the ESF Extraction Suspense Flag (position 94). Schools may then use their standard procedure to request payment for  eligible students.

Below are two different options, or filters, to use in creating a report to identify student records released from suspension.

• Prior to the release of suspended records, create a report of Suspended Student Records Using the Suspense Flag. This report can be used later to determine which released student records may be eligible for MAP payment. Colleges are notified via ISAC's e-Messaging service when the release of suspended MAP records will take place.
• After the release of suspended records, colleges should use the initial "Application Receipt Date" filter in the system to create a listing of student records using a date range of released records.

The 'Application Receipt Date' filter is not restricted to use with suspension, it may be used for any type of student listing using a date range. This filter is also available on the Student List Payment screen.