FAA Message Board
The FAA Message Board is updated each week.
A recent Dear Colleague Letter (
DCL GEN-13-23) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved a revised Military Service and Post-Active Duty Student Deferment Request (Military Deferment form). The revised form is for use by lenders and servicers in the Direct Loan, Federal Family Education Loan, and Federal Perkins Loan programs. Loan holders and servicers may begin utilizing the revised Military Deferment form (which has an expiration date of September 30, 2016) immediately. The previous version of the Military Deferment form (with an expiration date of July 31, 2013) may continue to be distributed until February 28, 2014 and may be accepted until May 31, 2014. Beginning June 1, 2014, only the revised form may be accepted. The DCL provides specific details regarding substantive changes, reformatting, and printing instructions.
A
December 5 Newsroom posting from Mapping Your Future announces that a recording of the recent webinar entitled "Five things you should know when looking at tax returns" is available online. The recording, which provides guidance about what financial aid professionals should know when reviewing tax returns, may be accessed via the
Webinars on-demand page of the
Mapping Your Future website. A corresponding
Question and Answer document is also available.
Qualified Illinois high school students have been designated as 2014-15
State Scholars. A
listing of State Scholars - displayed alphabetically by high school, within each school's county - may be accessed via the “State Scholar Announcements” area of the
Students & Parents -
Before College section of this website.
2013-14 Monetary Award Program (MAP) first-term payment claims are due on or before Friday, December 13, 2013. Initial MAP payment requests for first term must be submitted to ISAC no later than 7 p.m. (CT) on December 13 in order to be considered timely. Further details are provided in a
December 2 e-Message.
Be sure to regularly visit the
2014-15 FAFSA Completion page (located in the
Applying for Financial Aid area of the
e-Library) for the latest information regarding the upcoming financial aid processing cycle.
Presentations from the 2013 Illinois Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (ILASFAA) Fall Workshops are available to download (as PDF files) from the
Training page of the
ILASFAA website.
The
Commission Meeting Schedule page of this website reflects the projected meeting schedule through November 2014. A listing of specific agenda items will be available prior to each meeting which, at that time, may be accessed via the "Agenda Books" section of the
ISAC's Governing Board: The Commission area.
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November 14 electronic announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) provides a reminder that, as part of ongoing measures to ensure the security of the Federal Student Aid (FSA) data systems, all organizations enrolled for Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) accounts are required to review and validate their assigned TG numbers (SAIG mailboxes) by December 13, 2013. As of mid-November, more than half of all accounts still required validation. Each organization must provide active confirmation that enrolled staff still require the access they have, or delete the users that no longer need accounts. Specific steps for completing the confirmation process are included in the electronic announcement.
Applications for 2013-14 Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarships are being accepted until December 20, 2013.
FAA’s are encouraged to inform minority students pursuing teaching degrees that the application period remains open.
The processing schedule for
upcoming days on which the ISAC offices will be closed (through the New Year’s holiday) is available for Monetary Award Program (MAP) records [
MAP system (via GAP Access) availability and payment request data].
In preparation for the 2014-15 Renewal Reminder distribution, Federal Student Aid (FSA) is reminding colleges to update all of their students’ 2013-14 Student Aid Report (SAR) and Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) transactions with current e-mail addresses by January 13, 2014. Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements for a 2014-15 renewal Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will be sent a Renewal Reminder e-mail January 16 - 22, 2014. Further details are provided in an
October 30 electronic announcement.
A November 2013 Dear Colleague Letter (
DCL ANN-13-17) from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announces Federal Student Aid's upcoming instructor-led, online training session on the cohort default rate process and default management, including effective default prevention strategies. Two opportunities to participate in the one-hour webinar remain: December 10 at 3 p.m. (CT) and December 12 at 11 a.m. (CT). Advance registration is required for this training and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Plan to participate in the upcoming “2014-15 FAFSA & Application Processing” webinar, which will take place at 1 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday, December 18, 2013. Specific participation details can be found in a
November 4 e-Message.
Colleges may access enrollment verification data at My Zone for students who previously received funds from ISAC-administered teacher education programs and may have been enrolled at the institution during the 2012-13 academic year. These online rosters are to be completed by the college and returned to ISAC on or before Friday, January 17, 2014, verifying that award recipients were enrolled during the 2012-13 academic year. Further details are provided in an
October 29 e-Message.
The links below have information on topics that were previously listed on the Message Board.
ISAC State Legislative UpdateInformation regarding Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (for
colleges and
students)
Information regarding Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (for
colleges and
students)
Outreach Calendar/EventsFAFSA Completion InformationImportant Reminders calendar
Prepaid Tuition 
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