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6/29/2009
The State of Illinois has a long history of supporting need-based student aid, and hundreds of thousands of students rely on this assistance to be able to afford to go to college. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) is the state agency responsible for administering these scholarship and grant programs based on annual appropriations outlined in the state budget. This year, demand for need-based programs such as the Monetary Award Program (MAP) is at a record level with MAP-eligible applications up nearly 30 percent resulting in the earliest award suspension date in history (May 15th). This means 100,000 students would miss out on need-based financial aid even with a "fully-funded" budget.
However, absent new revenues and facing a substantial budget deficit, state cuts will need to be made, resulting in appropriation reductions in education, social services and other vital programs. In this budget scenario, ISAC’s appropriation for college scholarships and grants would be cut from $440 million to $220 million with a 25 percent reserve, leaving a lump sum of $165 million for scholarships and grants for the 2009-10 academic year.
At the June 26th Commission meeting at University of Illinois at Chicago, it was approved that $161.9 million be applied to the Monetary Award Program (MAP) for the first part of the academic year; $4.5 million be used for the Silas Purnell Illinois Incentive for Access (IIA) Program at the start of the academic year; $1.6 million would be allocated to the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program; and $750,000 go to fund grant programs for dependents of police, fire, and correctional officers, as required by state statute. No other scholarship, grant, or loan repayment/ forgiveness programs administered by ISAC would be paid from the state's general fund for the entire 2010 fiscal year. Programs affected include:
Bonus Incentive Grant (BIG)
Illinois Future Teacher Corps (IFTC)
Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant*
Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG)*
Illinois Scholars
Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI)
Nurse Educator Loan Repayment Program
Nurse Educator Scholarship Program (NESP)
Teachers/Child Care Providers Loan Repayment Program
Veterans' Home Nurse Loan Repayment Program
* Although entitlement programs for students, funding would not be available through ISAC.
ISAC advocates providing MAP and IIA awards early in the academic year to give students more time to make alternative financial arrangements for the second half of the academic year. Many of these students will be forced to use private loans, if they are able to qualify for them in a very difficult credit market, and will pay a significantly higher interest rate.
We know that educational achievement is closely linked to economic progress. Obviously, cuts to these vital programs in a time of record need would be catastrophic for the college aspirations of the neediest of our citizens and the future prosperity of our state. While the Commission hopes a common-sense budget that is fair to the taxpayers and provides Illinois with vital education funding will still come about, ISAC must plan on operating with reduced appropriations resulting in drastic cuts in needed programs.
The Impact of Budget Cuts on MAP Grant Aid, categorized by legislative district and the Projected FY2010 Budget Impact on State-Funded ISAC Programs, categorized by school, illustrates the effect of those appropriation reductions on Illinois students.
If you would like the General Assembly to make student financial aid a priority in allocating state resources for FY2010, contact your legislators. Contact information may be found at the General Assembly's Web site. Click on the "Legislator Lookup" link at the lower right side of the home page if you need to find out who represents you, or simply click on "Members" and the names of your State Senator and Representatives to find their contact information in Springfield.
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