ISAC Student PortalNES Application Procedures
NOTICE: 2026-27 Alternative Application
As of July 24, 2026, a federal district court ruled that undocumented students are no longer eligible to receive state financial assistance from the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for the 2026-2027 school year. As a result, the 2026-27 Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid, the application certain undocumented students would have used to apply for state financial aid programs this academic year, is no longer available. This means that students who have submitted or planned to submit the 2026-27 Alternative Application, such as Illinois undocumented students, cannot be considered for this program for the 2026-27 school year.
The eligibility criteria for the 2027–28 Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid will be changing. This application is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2026. Please visit isac.org/AlternativeApp for more information.
{ISAC Rules, Part 2749.110}
The 2026-27 Nursing Education Scholarship (NES) application is no longer available. The online application has built-in edits to prevent errors, and ISAC sends immediate confirmation to the applicant’s email address that the application has been received. In addition, students must submit the corresponding year’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) by the NES application deadline date.
The NES application period each year typically starts on March 1 and continues through April 30. The application must be completed and submitted each year by applicants wishing to be considered for an award, regardless of whether they may have received previous awards (renewals). To be considered for the 2026-27 academic year, the NES Application/Work Agreement/Promissory Note must have been submitted on or before the extended deadline of May 31, 2026. In addition, applicants had until May 31, 2026 to submit their 2026-27 FAFSA.
What's Next
After an application is submitted, the process is as follows:
- Applicants immediately receive an e-mail confirming that their application has been received at ISAC. Application processing time may be up to 4 weeks.
- If the application is incomplete, the applicant receives a letter from ISAC explaining the reason(s) and advising how to resolve the issue.
- If an applicant needs to change their response(s) to any item(s) and/or update any information after the application has been submitted, they need to provide the information to ISAC as outlined in the “Changes to Application Data” section of the Students & Parents NES page.
Colleges utilize the NES system to administer NES awards, including the certification and payment processing functionalities.
