MAP Payment and IVG & ING Grant Benefit Usage Functionality Now Available for 2021-22 Processing

08/18/2021

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 payment cycle for the 2021-22 Monetary Award Program (MAP), as well as the benefit usage reporting cycle for the 2021-22 Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) and Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant programs.

2021-22 MAP First-Term Payment Requests Being Accepted

Effective today (Wednesday, August 18, 2021), ISAC has initiated the 2021-22 MAP payment cycle by allowing first-term payment requests (i.e., claims) to be submitted.

• Colleges may now submit first-term claims by accessing the MAP system, as well as by File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
• From this 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.

Reminders

• Submitting payment requests is a two-step process, which involves generating the request (either individually or in a batch) and then submitting the request.
• Payment requests submitted by 7 p.m. (CT) will be included in that night's processing, with payment results available the next business day.
  • Results for payment requests submitted after 7 p.m. (CT) will be included in the following night's processing.
  • Be sure to review the Payment Results/Exceptions report in the Reports section of the MAP system the day after submitting payment requests to see which requests, if any, did not process as expected.
• The disbursement of funds will be processed by the State of Illinois Comptroller's Office.
  • Refer to the State Comptroller's Website page, located within the Processes section of the Financial Aid Administrators area, for information on how to track payment.
• 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.
• 2021-22 MAP 160-byte specifications, describing the file layout to be used to send data to ISAC via FTP, are available within the Electronic Tools section of the e-Library for Partners.
• Any 2021-22 payment requests that were submitted via FTP prior to August 18, 2021 will not be processed, and must 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.

Resources Available Online

Details regarding the MAP payment processing cycle are available in:

• the "Payment" chapter of the MAP User Guide, which is located in the MAP Electronic Processing section of the Financial Aid Administrators Processes area; and,
• the MAP Payment section of the ISAC Gift Assistance Programs area.

IVG and ING Grant Benefit Usage Data Being Accepted

Also effective today, ISAC is accepting benefit usage data for the 2021-22 IVG summer and fall terms, and for the 2021-22 ING Grant fall term.

In order to be considered timely:

• IVG benefit usage data for the summer term must be submitted on or before Thursday, September 30, 2021;
• IVG benefit usage data for the fall term must be submitted on or before Friday, December 31, 2021; and,
• ING Grant benefit usage data for the fall term must be submitted on or before Friday, December 31, 2021.

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.
• Although ISAC is not able to reimburse institutions for 2021-22 IVG or ING Grant awards, reporting of benefits used must still take place so that usage can be accurately reflected on students' accounts.
• 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 2021-22 IVG and ING Grant programs, describing the file layout to be used to send data for each program to ISAC via FTP, are available within the Electronic Tools section of the e-Library for Partners.
• Any 2021-22 benefit usage data that was submitted via FTP prior to August 18, 2021 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

More information, including detailed instructions, is available at the following locations:

• IVG
  • IVG Electronic Processing (including the IVG Program User Guide)
  • IVG Program News
  • IVG Benefit Usage

• ING Grant
  • ING Grant Electronic Processing (including the ING Grant User Guide)
  • ING Grant Program News
  • ING Grant Benefit Usage

System Reminders

• Please verify that the ISAC Gift Assistance Programs (GAP) Access Administrator at your college has established the appropriate program system (MAP, IVG, and/or ING Grant) access level for all impacted staff.
  • Instructions for establishing access to the appropriate system(s) may be found on the GAP Access page.
• The MAP, IVG and ING Grant 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.
  • Additional information and instructions are provided in the FTP Process Using GAP Access Credentials Guide.

Watch for Future Updates

Future updates regarding MAP and ISAC's military programs – including the MAP first-term priority claim deadline date, once determined – will be announced via our usual means of communication: the FAA Message Board; the MAP, IVG and ING Grant "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 isac.schoolservices@illinois.gov.