New School Year, Same Financial Aid Anxiety for Illinois College Students

Illinois college students who rely on Monetary Award Program grants will be facing at least another semester of financial uncertainty.

While the stopgap budget approved on June 30 finally provided full funding for fiscal year 2016 MAP grants, no state funds have been appropriated for the 2016-17 school year.

As was the case with the previous academic year, colleges and universities have had to figure out whether they’ll be able cover MAP grants for students in the absence of state funding.

For the time being, many colleges across the state, both public and private, have confirmed MAP-eligible students will be covered with other university funds until the they are reimbursed by the state, said Lynne Baker, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, the agency that awards MAP grants. More than 105,000 students received MAP grants last year.

“Based on some of the announcements and news stories we have seen, many colleges appear to be working to cover MAP grants for fall with the expectation that there will be a MAP appropriation for 2016-17 and that they will be reimbursed by the state,” Baker said. “But as with last fall, the uncertainty of MAP funding makes this a very challenging time – especially for those students attending schools that are not able to cover MAP grants for fall.”

While legislators have indicated their support for MAP in FY 17, any appropriations likely wouldn’t come until after the Nov. 8 election when the General Assembly reconvenes in mid-November, leaving students and schools in the dark about when and how much state funding will be available for the upcoming academic year.

Treasurer Michael Frerichs called it a case of déjà vu.

“My fear is that these students are being used as hostages in the war between the governor and the General Assembly,” Frerichs said.

The Champaign Democrat says he’s concerned the uncertainty surrounding the status of MAP funding will cause students to not return to school or look out-of-state where aid packages are guaranteed.

“I think there is no doubt that a significant number of students will look to go to school out-of-state and not all of these students will return to Illinois,” he said. “We are losing out on talent we need to grow our economy.”

Frerichs noted lawmakers have cut funding for MAP grants over the years, and that there are many more students who qualify for the need-based financial aid but there’s not enough funding.

In FY 14, nearly 165,000 eligible applicants were not offered MAP as a result of insufficient funding, according to ISAC.

A June survey conducted by ISAC of MAP recipients prior to the passage of the six-month stopgap budget found one in seven respondents said they either would not “return to school for the fall 2016 term or would have extreme difficulty in doing so.”

Additionally, the survey’s findings suggest a delay or underfunding of MAP could lead more than 18,000 students to put off completing their degrees, or drop out altogether.

However, ISAC notes it’s unclear whether students would respond differently in light of MAP grants being funded for previous school year.

Here are some more key findings from the survey and an infographic about MAP grant recipients in Illinois.

And in case you missed what happened at the Illinois State Fair yesterday, here's what was said by some of the state's top Democrats. Here's a hint: Donald Trump.

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