Friday Memo

              June 19, 2009
Budget cuts imperil college opportunity for thousands of
students
‘Doomsday’ scenario would result in mid-year financial crisis for MAP
recipients
At its scheduled June 26th meeting at University of
Illinois at Chicago, the Illinois Student Assistance
Commission will consider a staff recommendation to
implement severe cuts to the Monetary Award
Program (MAP), the state’s premier need-based
assistance program for low-income students.
The state’s fiscal crisis could become a financial
catastrophe for 150,000 MAP recipients who could
see their student aid evaporate in the middle of the 2009-2010 school year.
Under the 50% budget scenario passed by the General Assembly, ISAC’s
appropriation for college scholarships and grants would be cut from $440
million to $220 million with a 25 percent reserve, leaving $165 million for
scholarships and grants for the 2009-10 academic year. The ISAC staff is
recommending that $159.8 million be applied to MAP; $4.5 million to the
Silas Purnell Incentive for Access (IIA) Program ; and $750,000 go to
fully fund the dependent grants programs for police, fire , and corrections
officers , as required by state statute. MAP grants (at an 82% level) and IIA
(at a 50% level) would be distributed for the fall term only.
The cuts to MAP and other financial aid programs come at a time of record
demand for financial aid. This year, MAP-eligible applications are 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. The Impact of Budget Cuts on MAP
Grant Aid, categorized by legislative district, illustrates the widespread
effect of lost financial aid on Illinois students. Contact information for
legislators may be found at the General Assembly's Web site. With the
proposed budget cuts, no MAP or IIA aid will be available for the second
term, and no other scholarship, grant, or loan repayment/forgiveness
programs administered by ISAC would be funded for the entire 2010 fiscal
year. These 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
UPCOMING
June
23 General Assembly in session
26 ISAC meeting, Chicago
July
24 2009 University
Sustainability Symposium
sponsored by the Green
Government Coordinating
Council, Moraine Valley CC
And Friday Memo will be
taking it easy. Look for us
every other Friday. And
enjoy your summer.