JB Pritzker, Governor, State of Illinois

Submit MAP Advising Data by April 1

01/07/2025

Each year, once the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) has opened functionality in the ISAC Gift Assistance Programs Access (GAP Access) portal, institutions must submit information about their Monetary Award Program (MAP) recipients. Due to delayed availability of the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) and other subsequent setbacks associated with the FAFSA Simplification initiative, the 2024 collection period did not open last fall as had been anticipated.

Effective today (Tuesday, January 7, 2025), the 2024 collection period for MAP Advising data has opened and colleges may now submit the required information via the GAP Access portal. There have been no changes from past years to the submission process, through which colleges are to report the following:

  • available advising and support programs (for the 2023-24 academic year) and
  • course completion data (for the 2022-23 academic year).

MAP Advising data for the 2024 collection period is due by Tuesday, April 1, 2025.

Tips for Submitting MAP Advising Data

  • All MAP Advising reporting – advising and support programs and course completion rates – is done via a survey-style format through the GAP Access portal.
  • Pay special attention to on-screen instructions that identify the academic year about which the data must be provided.
  • Advising and support program description fields are pre-populated with previously submitted information, so only updates and any new programs need to be submitted.
  • The only recipient-specific data that needs to be submitted is the number of completed/attempted hours. We obtain graduation and retention rates from the National Student Clearinghouse.
  • Community colleges do not need to report course completion rates because we secure the data from the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB). The course completion rate tables appear in GAP Access for all school types, but need not be completed by community colleges.
  • Guidance to assist in reporting data is available in the MAP Advising Data Collection User Guide, which has been updated to reflect the 2024 data collection period and may be accessed via the GAP Access area of the website.

MAP Advising Support Programs Search Tool

Information reported about colleges' available advising and support programs, including links for the college website pages where the individual advising/support programs appear, is available through the MAP Advising Support Programs Search Tool. The searchable/filterable database tool, accessible through the MAP Advising Data Collection area of ISAC's website, is updated annually and contains results from previous collections of advising and support programs being provided to MAP recipients. You may find this information useful in enhancing your advising and support programs. The data, along with completion, retention and graduation rate data, is used when communicating MAP's positive outcomes to the Illinois legislature.

Looking Ahead

In late May/early June, ISAC anticipates opening the 2025 collection period for MAP Advising data (when colleges will report available advising and support programs for the 2024-25 academic year, and course completion data for the 2023-24 academic year). This timeframe mirrors the schedule typically followed in earlier years. Watch for future updates in the coming months.

Questions?

Questions regarding the MAP Advising data collection process (including inquiries regarding data elements and survey submission) may be directed to the ISAC Research, Planning and Policy Analysis division at [email protected].

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, please contact School Services by sending an e-mail to [email protected] or calling 866.247.2172.