Suspension of MAP Award Announcements

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 the processing of award announcements in order to remain within appropriated funding levels, such action is applied concurrently to all students.

The status of suspended awards will be evaluated as more information becomes available 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 2009-10 MAP Award Announcements

ISAC has suspended the announcement of 2009-10 MAP grants for all students whose initial 2009-10 FAFSA was received by the Central Processing System (CPS) on or after May 15, 2009. As a reminder, the suspension of award announcements affects new and continuing students regardless of enrollment status. Beginning Tuesday, May 19th, MAP records in suspension status are available on MAPnet and are indicated as such in the Eligibility Status File (ESF). 

As indicated in recent State Legislative Updates, the governor's proposed FY2010 budget includes a nearly $21 million increase in MAP appropriations. If this increased funding level is included in the final FY2010 budget (or if future application volume and claim rates support such action), then ISAC will reevaluate the situation and determine if a portion of the suspended announcements can be released. In the event any suspended awards are released they would be subject to the 2009-10 MAP priority consideration dates.

Colleges must  suspend announcements of MAP awards to students whose initial FAFSA receipt date is on or after May 15, 2009. ISAC notified affected applicants whose initial FAFSA reflects an expected family contribution of 8999 or below that their awards have been placed in suspension status. A sample copy of this notification is available at the 2009-10 Acknowledgement Letters page within this section. The letter sent to students will indicate that:

"Should funding become available and only if you are eligible will an estimated MAP grant for 2009-10 appear on your financial aid award letter from your Illinois MAP-approved school. The award letter from the school will be your only notification as to whether you will be receiving a MAP grant for 2009-10."

Suspension of 2008-09 MAP Award Announcements

Announcement of MAP grants was suspended for all students whose initial 2008-09 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) was received by the Central Processing System (CPS) July 26, 2008 through (and including) August 1, 2008.

Colleges were instructed to suspend announcements of MAP awards to students whose initial FAFSA receipt date was on or after July 26, 2008. ISAC notified affected applicants whose initial FAFSA reflects an expected family contribution of 8999 or below that their awards have been placed in suspension status. A sample copy of this notification is available at the 2008-09 Acknowledgement Letters page within this section.

Second Limited Release of Suspended 2008-09 MAP Awards

On April 15, 2009, additional MAP grants were released from a suspended status (as a reminder, the initial partial release of 2008-09 MAP grants took place in January 2009) for students whose FAFSA receipt dates were August 2, 2008 through (and including) August 6, 2008. These records were available for payment and to be viewed in MAPnet on April 16, 2009. All MAP grants for eligible students with initial FAFSA receipt dates on or after August 7, 2008, remain in a suspended status.  

An updated MAP Applicant Award Status Chart provides an overview of categories for students based on the initial application (FAFSA) receipt date. Since the release from suspension affects "new" and "continuing" applicants, please pay particular attention to the "Eligibility/Late Codes" column provided concerning eligible terms for payment.

As a reminder, the first release of suspended 2008-09 MAP grants took place in January 2009. 

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 an Eligibility Code of "S" ("Suspended - indicates student is temporarily suspended from processing due to insufficient funding. Not eligible for payment for any terms.") on MAPnet and in the Eligibility Status File (ESF).

MAPnet 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 using the MAPnet system.

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 MAPnet 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 Susp" field on MAPnet 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 will be notified via the e-Messaging service in College Zone when the release of suspended MAP records will take place.
• After the release of suspended records, colleges should use the "Application Receipt Date" filter in MAPnet to create a listing of student records using a date range of released records. For example, by using the 2008-09 release from suspension dates (July 26, 2008 – August 1, 2008 for the intial release, and/or August 2, 2008-August 6, 2008 for the second release), a report can be created that will identify students by application receipt date (initial FAFSA receipt date). If a report was not created prior to the release of suspended records, this option could be used.

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.

Printable version