JB Pritzker, Governor, State of Illinois

ISAC Program FY23 Funding – Budget Bills Approved

04/20/2022

Governor Pritzker has signed HB 900 (operating budget bill) and HB 4700 [budget implementation bill (BIMP)], which together provide funding and statutory authority for Illinois programs and services, including ISAC's programs for the 2023 fiscal year (FY23). Both bills were approved by the General Assembly during the shortened legislative session that concluded in the early morning hours of April 9, and were then forwarded to the governor for signature.

The bills are now considered law and are officially Public Act 102-0698 and Public Act 102-0699 (before considering printing, please note the documents are quite lengthy). ISAC's programs and services received very generous funding that includes increases to many of our programs, as well as funding for newly established programs, all of which will benefit Illinois students and their families.

Although the overall budget for the upcoming academic year is extremely positive for ISAC programs, one of the biggest highlights is the significant increase to the Monetary Award Program (MAP), which resulted in historic funding for the program. Based on early modeling, the increase will likely result in a higher maximum annual award amount and the use of more recent tuition and fee rates in the formula used to determine eligibility. Language in the budget implementation bill provides for an increase of the annual award amount beginning in FY23 and forward, and also extends MAP benefits to eligible students in short-term credit-bearing certificate programs at public institutions. Details about the impact on the program are in an FY23 MAP Fact Sheet.

The Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship Program was also the beneficiary of a significant increase in funding, which will lead to expanded eligibility, including a new category for bilingual applicants and higher award amounts for recipients.

FY23 ISAC Program Appropriations

Monetary Award Program (MAP) – $601,566,200
Grant Programs for Dependents of Police, Fire or Correctional Officers – $1,273,300
Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program – $6,498,000
Golden Apple Accelerators Program – $750,000
Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship Program – $4,200,000
Illinois Teachers Loan Repayment Program – $439,900
Nurse Educator Loan Repayment Program – $500,000
Veterans' Home Medical Providers' Loan Repayment Program – $26,400
Grant Program for Exonerees – $150,000
AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program – $35,000,000*

* AIM HIGH Program funds are disbursed in lump sums by ISAC to public universities.

As in recent years, the budget also includes a little more than $4.26 million for the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) to reimburse Illinois community colleges for the costs associated with waiving tuition and fee charges for Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) and Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant recipients.

Other highlights of this legislative session include:

  • Increased support for programs for those in the nursing field, including higher funding for the Nurse Educator Loan Repayment Program and the transfer of the Nursing Education Scholarship Program from the Illinois Department of Public Health, doubling its funding from $2 million to $4 million.
  • A new scholarship program for dependents of workers who lose income due to closures and curtailed operations at coal mines and coal-fired power plants. ($1.1 million)
  • First-time funding for the Community Behavioral Health Care Professional Loan Repayment Program that was created in a past year, but never funded. ($5 million)
  • Funding for two new programs (one a scholarship, the other a loan repayment program) to benefit Social Workers. The programs were created in law last year, but not funded. ($6 million)

With the timely approval of the budget, ISAC FY23 program implementation and operational activities will begin to move forward. As always, we will regularly provide updates and processing details regarding each of our programs as we proceed through the year.

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