JB Pritzker, Governor, State of Illinois

2022-23 Spring-Term Claims & Benefit Usage Submission

01/09/2023

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

The ISAC Gift Assistance Programs (GAP) Access portal – which includes the electronic processing systems for the ISAC programs discussed below – is available for submission of spring-term records. Colleges are encouraged to submit 2022-23 spring-term certifications, payment requests (claims), and/or benefit usage data as soon as possible.

You may either scroll through the remainder of this message, or click on the appropriate link(s) to go directly to a specific section:

Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) Scholarship, Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois, and Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship

Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant and Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG)

ECACE Scholarship, Golden Apple, and MTI Scholarship

  • ISAC is accepting 2022-23 ECACE Scholarship, Golden Apple, and MTI Scholarship claims for the second (spring) term.
  • In order to be considered timely, second-term ECACE, Golden Apple, and MTI claims must be submitted on or before Friday, February 24, 2023.
  • Even though each program's priority claim deadline of December 30, 2022 has passed for the first (fall) term, ISAC is continuing to accept and pay first-term claims.
  • Colleges may submit first- and second-term claims by accessing the ECACE, Golden Apple, and MTI systems.
    • Colleges are always encouraged to submit claims as soon as they are able to do so.
    • The timely submission of claims and cancellations/adjustments allows ISAC staff to monitor remaining funds and award other students, as applicable.
  • Colleges are reminded to continue certifying MTI eligibility throughout the year, in order to ensure that students will be included in any rounds of awarding that take place.
  • By submitting claims for the ECACE Scholarship or Golden Apple programs, the institution is certifying that the Scholar is enrolled and continues to meet all eligibility requirements for the program.
    • If not submitting a claim, the institution reports the reason for the student's ineligibility.
  • Submitting claims is a two-step process, which involves generating the request (either individually or in a batch) and then submitting the request.
  • ECACE, Golden Apple, and MTI claim results will be available via each program's online system.
    • Effective immediately, ECACE payment results are available twice per week (on Tuesdays and Fridays).
    • Golden Apple and MTI payment results continue to be available every weekday.
    • Colleges are encouraged to always review the Payment Results/Exceptions report, which is available the day after claims are processed.
  • The disbursement of funds is processed by the State Comptroller's Office.
  • Because Payment Offset and Reconciliation procedures apply to the ECACE, Golden Apple, and MTI programs, 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.
  • More information regarding online certification (for the MTI Scholarship Program) and payment functionality (for all three programs), including detailed instructions, is available at the following locations on ISAC's website:

ING Grant and IVG

  • ISAC is accepting spring-term benefit usage data for the 2022-23 ING Grant and IVG programs.
  • In order to be considered timely, spring-term benefit usage data must be submitted as follows:
    • by Friday, April 7, 2023 for the ING Grant Program, and
    • by Friday, May 26, 2023 for the IVG Program.
  • Even though the summer- (for the IVG Program) and fall-term (for the ING Grant and IVG programs) deadline dates have passed, colleges are still encouraged to submit benefit usage data for those terms as soon as possible.
  • Benefit usage data for the ING Grant and IVG programs is submitted to ISAC by colleges via the benefit usage functionality within each program's online 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 2022-23 ING Grant or IVG 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 ING Grant and IVG user guides.
  • More information, including detailed instructions, is available at the following locations:

Watch for Future Updates

Future program updates will be shared with colleges via ISAC's standard methods of communication, including: the ECACE, Golden Apple, ING Grant, IVG, and MTI Scholarship "Program News" areas; the FAA Message Board; and, this e-Messaging service.

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.