JB Pritzker, Governor, State of Illinois

2024-25 Program Updates: IVG & ING Grant Benefit Usage and MAP Payment

08/13/2024

Unless otherwise noted, links in this message are to corresponding pages at the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) website (isac.org).

This message provides information regarding the benefit usage reporting cycle for the 2024-25 Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) and Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant programs, as well as an update regarding the 2024-25 Monetary Award Program (MAP) payment cycle.

IVG and ING Grant Benefit Usage Data Being Accepted

Effective today (Tuesday, August 13, 2024), ISAC is accepting benefit usage data for the 2024-25 IVG summer and fall terms and the 2024-25 ING Grant fall term.

In order to be considered timely:

  • IVG benefit usage data for the summer term must be submitted on or before Monday, September 30, 2024;
  • IVG benefit usage data for the fall term must be submitted on or before Tuesday, December 31, 2024; and,
  • ING Grant benefit usage data for the fall term must be submitted on or before Tuesday, December 31, 2024.

Reminders

  • Benefit usage data for the IVG and ING Grant programs is submitted to ISAC by colleges via the benefit usage functionality within each program's system.
    • Colleges report enrollment hours and dollar amounts for initial, in-district and out-of-district benefit usage by students, as well as adjustments to previously-submitted data.
  • Even though ISAC may not be able to fully reimburse institutions for 2024-25 IVG or ING Grant awards, reporting of benefits used must still take place so that usage can be accurately reflected on students' accounts.
    • As announced in a June 11 e-Message, fiscal year 2025 funds have been appropriated for ISAC to reimburse public universities for some of the tuition and fees that they waive on behalf of eligible veterans and Illinois National Guard members.
      • Details regarding the payment request process will be provided once they have been determined.
  • Colleges are encouraged to regularly check their Benefits Results report for each program.
    • Further details are provided in the IVG and ING Grant user guides.
  • 160-byte specifications for the 2024-25 IVG and ING Grant programs, describing the file layout to be used to send data for each program to ISAC via File Transfer Protocol (FTP), are available within the Electronic Tools section of the e-Library for Partners.
  • Any 2024-25 benefit usage data that was submitted via FTP prior to August 13, 2024 will not be processed, and must be resubmitted by the college.
    • In order to prevent having to resubmit data in the future, never submit benefit usage data via FTP until after ISAC announces it is accepting the data for that academic year.

Resources Available Online

2024-25 MAP Payment Anticipated by End of August

ISAC anticipates that the 2024-25 MAP payment cycle will begin by the end of August 2024, allowing first-term payment requests (i.e., claims) to be submitted.

  • At that time, colleges will have the ability to submit first-term claims by accessing the MAP system, as well as by FTP.
  • From that point forward, first-term payment requests will be processed on a nightly basis as they are received from colleges, and then submitted to the State Comptroller for payment per standard operating procedures.

Program Reminders

  • Any 2024-25 payment requests that are submitted via FTP prior to the date on which ISAC begins accepting data (anticipated by the end of August) will not be processed, and will need to be resubmitted by the college.
    • In order to prevent having to resubmit data in the future, never submit payment requests via FTP until after ISAC announces it is accepting the data for that academic year.
  • Once the payment cycle begins, a Payment Result Summary and Invoice Detail Report can be viewed or printed by selecting the Report tab in the MAP system the day after a payment request has been processed.
    • The report includes Payment Results, Payment Exceptions and Invoice Detail about the payment claim.
    • Be sure to review the report to see which requests, if any, did not process as expected.
  • Because Payment Offset and Reconciliation procedures apply to MAP, refund checks should not be sent for cancellations/adjustments made throughout the award year.
    • Funds should only be returned to ISAC after a final reconciliation has been completed at the end of the regular school year.

Online Resources

System Reminders

  • Please verify that the ISAC Gift Assistance Programs (GAP) Access Administrator at your college has established the appropriate program system (IVG, ING Grant, and/or MAP) access level for all impacted staff.
    • Instructions for establishing access to the appropriate system(s) may be found on the GAP Access page.
  • The IVG, ING Grant and MAP systems are available each day between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. (CT).
  • The two-factor authentication process requires a valid user ID, password and single-use verification code each time a user logs in to the GAP Access portal.
  • A valid GAP Access user ID and password are required in order to submit files via ISAC's Secure File Transfer System (located at https://transfer.isac.org/), making encryption (password protection) of files unnecessary.

Watch for Future Updates

Future updates regarding these programs will be shared via our usual means of communication: the FAA Message Board; the IVG, ING Grant, and MAP "Program News" pages; and/or this e-Messaging system.

You are receiving this message because you registered for ISAC's e-Messaging service through one or more subscription groups for FAAs.

If you have any questions regarding this e-Message, please contact ISAC's School Services Department by calling toll free at 866.247.2172 or sending an e-mail message to [email protected].