Professional Development Opportunities

ISAC’s Division of Capacity Development and Training offers professional development opportunities throughout Illinois for counselors, mentors, college-access professionals, and community partners who are assisting students with the college-going and financial aid process.

We offer in-person* and webinar trainings on a variety of college access and financial aid topics. Trainings offer professionals a detailed understanding of the financial aid process and programs and use case studies and real-life examples to provide an understanding of how to work with unique student populations. Training topics include how to help students and families complete a financial aid application, verification, and professional judgment, Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) Framework, and working with special student populations, and more.

If the dates for in-person or webinar trainings do not fit your schedule, or if you would like training on specific topics, you may request training for groups of 10 or more by completing a Professional Development Request Form. 

ISAC awards Continuing Education (CE) credits and Professional Development (PD) hours to session participants at a rate of one per contact hour. To earn these, it is necessary to attend each session in its entirety. To receive CE credits, complete an ISAC evaluation form; to receive PD hours, complete an ISBE evaluation form and submit your Illinois Educator Identification Number (EIN) to the Professional Development staff.

If you have not already done so, be sure to subscribe to ISAC’s e-Messaging, to stay informed regarding future trainings.

*We will continue to offer virtual presentations as an option, but we are happy to announce our return to in-person presentations. We will do our best to accommodate requests for in-person presentations based on location and availability of staff. If you have any questions, please contact us at isac.outreachtraining@illinois.gov or isac.pace@illinois.gov.