JB Pritzker, Governor, State of Illinois

ING Grant Benefit Usage

{ISAC Rules, Sections 2700.30 (e) and 2730.40}

ING Grant Benefit Usage Overview
ING Grant Benefit Requests and Results 
ING Grant Benefit Usage Reporting Deadline Dates
ING Grant Payment Priority

ING Grant Benefit Usage Overview

The Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant covers tuition and eligible fees (registration, graduation, general activity, matriculation and term fees) at all Illinois public universities or public community colleges. The ING Grant is an entitlement program which means that, by statute, the student is not responsible for payment of tuition and eligible fees if program funds are insufficient to pay all claims and/or if no funds are appropriated for the program. Payments on behalf of a recipient will be made to only one institution per term. In addition, if an applicant is eligible for both the ING Grant and the Monetary Award Program (MAP) grant, the ING Grant Program benefits must be used first. Any remaining fees not covered by the ING Grant may be paid by the MAP grant.

Postsecondary Institutions - Tuition and Fee Charges [ISAC Rules, General Provisions, Section 2700.30 e)3)]

The ING Grant and IVG Programs may finance only a portion of certain fee charges.

  • If one fee finances both tuition and text book expenses, only the portion of the fee which is attributable to tuition expenses can be financed with program benefits.
  • Institutions with such a fee shall certify what percentage of the fee is eligible to be financed with program benefits. Certification shall be performed by the institution's chief fiscal officer.

ING Grant Benefit Requests & Results

Colleges can report enrollment hours and benefit dollar amounts for initial, in-district and out-of-district requests and to make adjustments via the ING Grant Benefit Usage functionality of the ING Grant system. ING Grant benefit usage data can be submitted via either File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or the GAP Access portal, by the deadline dates established for each term. Results for ING Grant benefits usage data submitted online or via FTP are available to be retrieved from the File Extract option. ING Grant benefits reports are available to assist schools in the review and reconciliation of ING Grant benefit usage data, and can be obtained by selecting the applicable report or extract file tabs. Eligibility Units will be assessed based on the benefits usage data submitted.

New data for students eligible for benefits will be available whenever there is a new or updated eligible record for the college. While new data could potentially be available on a daily basis, the college may not have students that appear in the system each day. It is recommended that the college check the ING Grant system at least once a week for new student data that may have been posted for the current academic year. Although ISAC will not be able to reimburse colleges for the 2023-24 ING Grant, reporting of enrollment hours must still take place so that benefit usage (i.e., eligibility units) can be accurately assessed to student’s accounts.

ING Grant benefit usage data is submitted in the same manner as MAP claims and IVG benefit usage data. For additional details, refer to the ING Grant User Guide (which may be accessed via the ING Grant Electronic Processing page) to help navigate the online process.

Reminders

  • Verify that the GAP Access Administrator at your college has established the appropriate IVG system access level for all impacted staff. Instructions for establishing access to the MAP system may be found on the GAP Access page.
  • A valid GAP Access user ID and password are required to submit files via ISAC’s Secure File transfer System (https:/transfer.isac.org/). As a result, encryption (password protection) of files is not necessary.
  • The ING Grant academic year begins with fall term, then spring and ends with summer term.
  • When submitting ING Grant benefit usage data, amounts should match the budget data reported by the college via the GAP Access system for the corresponding academic year (for example, use 2023-24 budget data when submitting 2023-24 benefit usage data).
  • A cumulative list of Benefit Request records is available for the entire fiscal year, which minimizes the need to print and retain hard copies.
  • The ING Grant system at GAP Access is available each day from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. (CT).

ING Grant Benefit Usage Reporting Deadline Dates

The ING Grant benefit usage reporting deadline dates are:

  • Fall term – During the month of December
    • Although Fall 2023 benefit usage data must have been submitted by December 29, 2023 in order to be considered timely, colleges are still encouraged to report fall-term data as soon as possible.
  • Spring term (second semester/second & third quarter) – Last two weeks of March or first two weeks of April
    • Spring 2024 benefit usage data reporting deadline has not yet been determined.
  • Summer term(s) – During the month of July
    • Summer 2024 benefit usage data reporting deadline has not yet been determined.

ING Grant benefit usage data submitted for a subsequent term will be held until processing for that term is open.

ING Grant Payment Priority

When funds are appropriated to ISAC by the General Assembly for the ING Grant program, claims will be paid as follows:

  • first semester and first quarter claims received by the designated deadline date will be paid or prorated, if funding is insufficient to pay all claims in full;
  • if funds remain after first semester and first quarter claims are paid, then second semester and second and third quarter claims received by the designated deadline date will be paid, or prorated if funds remaining are insufficient to pay all such claims in full;
  • if funds still remain after the preceding claims are paid, summer term claims received by the designated deadline date will be paid, or prorated if remaining funds are insufficient to pay all summer claims in full; and
  • timely claims for the difference between in-district/state and out-of-district/state tuition for recipients who do not qualify for chargebacks will be considered for payment at the same time, and in the same priority order, as all other timely claims.

All payment claims received by ISAC after the designated dates will be paid or prorated during the fiscal lapse period (July 1 through August 31) following the conclusion of the fiscal year.