ISAC Update

VOL. 42, NO. 1F
July 2024

Welcome to the July 2024 ISAC Update for financial aid administrators and business officers. This version of the electronic ISAC Update is a compilation of e-Messages sent through ISAC's e-Messaging service throughout July.

The articles in this Update have been organized according to the FAA subscription groups to which the messages were distributed.

Questions?

Questions regarding information in this ISAC Update can be directed to School Services at 866.247.2172 or at [email protected]. On occasion, you may be directed to a specific contact person or area; when this occurs, we will provide the appropriate information in the individual article or message.

MULTIPLE SUBSCRIPTION GROUPS

2024-25 ECACE Scholarship Application Available – Priority Access to Funding Date: August 11
Sent to Financial Aid Administrators, Business Officers and ECACE Administrators on July 18, 2024.

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) is sharing the following information to assist colleges in the administration of the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) Scholarship Program.

Effective with the 2024-25 academic year, several important changes have taken effect for this program. Please be sure to carefully read this communication before assisting students who may be interested in submitting an application.

ECACE Scholarship applications for the 2024-25 academic year are now being accepted. In order to receive priority access to funding, the application process – including submission of the 2024-25 ECACE Scholarship application and the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) or 2024-25 Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid (Alternative Application) – must be completed on or before Sunday, August 11, 2024. Applications received after that date will be considered only if funding remains after all timely, complete qualified applicants have been awarded.

What's New for the 2024-25 Application and Awarding Processes?

While most program details remain the same for the 2024-25 ECACE Scholarship processing cycle, the decrease in available funding has necessitated the changes outlined below.

• For the first time since the program's creation, it will be funded by the State of Illinois rather than by federal funds.
  • Because considerably less funding is available, the number of recipients in 2024-25 will likely be significantly limited, and – while new applicants may apply – the program is expected to be able to support only a portion of renewal applicants (i.e., applicants who received program funding in the prior year).
  • The maximum annual award a student may receive is the lesser of $7,500 or the cost of attendance after other aid is considered.
• Post-baccalaureate students (i.e., graduate students) are not eligible to complete the 2024-25 ECACE Scholarship application – only undergraduate students may apply.
• 2024-25 ECACE Scholarships will not fund the summer 2025 term (i.e., awards will be made for the fall, winter and spring terms only).
• Program eligibility is based on an applicant's financial need, as determined by the Student Aid Index (SAI).
  • The SAI is calculated for most students using data reported on the 2024-25 FAFSA.
  • For some qualifying students, data from the 2024-25 Alternative Application may also be used to calculate the SAI.
• Awarding prioritization is as follows:
  1. Timely renewal students who: received an ECACE Scholarship under the federally-funded program in the prior academic year; continue to meet all program eligibility requirements; and, demonstrate financial need as indicated via the SAI.
  2. Timely new students who: meet all program eligibility requirements; and, demonstrate financial need as indicated via the SAI. (Please note that is very unlikely there will be sufficient funding to award any new students during the 2024-25 academic year.)

Reminders

• Program details – including eligibility requirements – are available on our website, along with a link to the online application.
  • As always, we ask our partners to encourage those who may be interested in applying to learn about the program before completing the application.
  • Note that, in an effort to provide assistance to as many qualified students as possible, the eligibility requirements for the 2024-25 academic year reflect changes from the 2023-24 academic year – financial aid administrators are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the current requirements so they may best assist students.
• In addition to completing the ECACE application, the FAFSA or Alternative Application must be filed for the same academic year.
  • The ECACE-participating college the applicant plans to attend must be listed on the FAFSA or Alternative Application.
• Although there is no teaching commitment connected to the award, recipients are expected to continue or return to teaching or direct services in the early childhood care and education field after they complete their program of study.

Looking Ahead

• When 2024-25 applicant data is available for each college to access via the "Student List Eligibility: View" screen of the ECACE system (anticipated for the late summer of 2024), data will be displayed for all applications listing the institution as the college the student plans to attend (i.e., complete, incomplete and ineligible applications will be included). Prequalification functionality is anticipated to become available during the same timeframe.
• 2024-25 ECACE Scholarship payment processing is anticipated to commence in the early fall of 2024.
• As it becomes available, more information – including announcement of when the 2024-25 "Student List Eligibility: View" screen and prequalification functionality become available, and when 2024-25 payment requests are being accepted – will be provided via ISAC's usual means of communication (i.e., the ECACE Scholarship Program News area, the FAA Message Board, and this e-Messaging system).

Limited Seats Left – Secure Your Spot at CCE
Sent to Financial Aid Directors, Financial Aid Administrators, Public Schools – Participating in the ING Grant and IVG Programs, MAP Users, Business Officers, ECACE Administrators, and NES Schools on July 11 2024.

CCE 2024 – Community Health

If you haven't registered, don't delay – register today for the 2024 College Changes Everything^® (CCE) conference. Join your colleagues from across the state as they come together to share and learn how we can work together better in helping students achieve success and our state reach its Goal 2025. In addition to hearing from Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel, author of Design Social Change: Take Action, Work Toward Equity, and Challenge the Status Quo, interest session topics include: first gen students; supporting marginalized learners; adult education; dual credit; PaCE Framework; minority serving institutions; foster youth; technology, AI, and Chat GPT; culturally inclusive interventions; addressing food insecurity; career development; and much more. Please see the agenda available through the conference website.

Registrations are filling up and space is limited. Don't miss out on this important college access and success career readiness convening – Register now! Please share this e-Message with your colleagues and others in your network so they can register, too. More information about the conference is available on the conference website. See you in Tinley Park!

2024 College Changes Everything Conference Planning Committee

• Illinois Student Assistance Commission
• Illinois Board of Higher Education
• Illinois Community College Board
• Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
• Illinois Department of Employment Security
• Illinois State Board of Education
• Illinois College Access Network
• Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities
• Advance Illinois
• Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University
• ACT Now
• Women Employed
• iCan Dream Center

Don't Forget to RSVP for CCE Conference
Sent to Financial Aid Directors, Financial Aid Administrators, Public Schools – Participating in the ING Grant and IVG Programs, MAP Users, Business Officers, ECACE Administrators, and NES Schools on July 8, 2024.

CCE 2024 – Community Health

We hope everyone had a fun and safe Independence Day holiday. We look forward to seeing you at the 2024 College Changes Everything^® (CCE) conference. At all levels of the education system and across all workforce sectors we have a shared responsibility to create and support healthy communities. We are nearing our attendance limit and will be monitoring to see when we will have to close registration. So don't delay – register today!

During the morning session we'll be hearing from Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel, author of Design Social Change: Take Action, Work Toward Equity, and Challenge the Status Quo. Dr. Noel is Dean of the Faculty of Design at the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD), Canada's largest and most comprehensive art, design, and media university. She is a designer, researcher, and educator with research interests focusing on those traditionally excluded from research, design-based learning, and design thinking. She practices primarily in social innovation, entrepreneurship, education, and public health. In her research, she highlights the work of designers outside Europe and North America. She designed The Designer's Critical Alphabet, a deck of cards to help introduce designers and design students to inclusive design concepts. She also designed Empathy Games for Children, a deck of cards with activities to help children empathize with each other. Dr. Noel is the co-founder and co-chair of the Pluriversal Design Special Interest Group of the Design Research Society, and she is a co-editor of The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression and Reflection.

The CCE annual conference is the state's preeminent college access and success and career readiness event and brings together stakeholders to help Illinois reach its Goal 2025 – to increase the proportion of adults in Illinois with high-quality degrees and postsecondary credentials to 60% by the year 2025. Since the first CCE conference in 2011, equity has been an underlying tenet of the annual convening as it brings together caring professionals who want to ensure all students have opportunities for college access and success and are career ready. Please share this e-Message with your colleagues and others in your network so they can register, too. More information about the conference is available on the conference website. See you in Tinley Park!

2024 College Changes Everything Conference Planning Committee

• Illinois Student Assistance Commission
• Illinois Board of Higher Education
• Illinois Community College Board
• Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
• Illinois Department of Employment Security
• Illinois State Board of Education
• Illinois College Access Network
• Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities
• Advance Illinois
• Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University
• ACT Now
• Women Employed
• iCan Dream Center

July Webinars for FAAs
Sent to Financial Aid Directors, Financial Aid Administrators, Public Schools – Participating in the ING Grant and IVG Programs, MAP Users, Business Officers, ECACE Administrators, and NES Schools on July 2, 2024.

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) will offer the following webinars for financial aid administrators during the month of July.

• Tuesday, July 9, 10 a.m. – A Review of the 2024-25 MAP Recompute Hand Calculation Form
• Wednesday, July 31, 2 p.m. – Monthly Operational Update and Program News

To participate, visit the Partner Training page in the e-Library on the day of the event to access the webinar link and presentation materials.

Beat Holiday Rush – Register for CCE Conference
Sent to Financial Aid Directors, Financial Aid Administrators, Public Schools – Participating in the ING Grant and IVG Programs, MAP Users, Business Officers, ECACE Administrators, and NES Schools  on July 2, 2024.

Before heading off for the Independence Day holiday, be sure to register now to attend the 2024 College Changes Everything^® (CCE) conference. Please take advantage of this valuable professional development opportunity as the annual event provides a day of important conversations to explore how we can tackle shared challenges in new and different ways. The conference fosters an ecosystem with multiple sectors coming together as a community of concerned stakeholders to learn and work together to support college access and success and career readiness for student success. We invite you to take advantage of this opportunity to be part of this community of change makers. More information about the conference is available on the conference website. Please share this e-mail with your colleagues and others in your network so they can register, too.

2024 College Changes Everything Conference Planning Committee

• Illinois Student Assistance Commission
• Illinois Board of Higher Education
• Illinois Community College Board
• Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
• Illinois Department of Employment Security
• Illinois State Board of Education
• Illinois College Access Network
• Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities
• Advance Illinois
• Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University
• ACT Now
• Women Employed
• iCan Dream Center

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ISAC UPDATE

June 2024 Electronic ISAC Update
Sent on July 1, 2024.

The June 2024 edition of the ISAC Update is now available for your review, and may be accessed via the Partner e-Messages & Newsletters section of the e-Library for Partners at isac.org. This version of the electronic ISAC Update is a compilation of e-Messages sent to financial aid administrators and business officers via ISAC's e-Messaging service over the past month.

Topics covered in the June 2024 ISAC Update include:

• 2024-25 MAP Recompute Formula Approved
  (sent June 24, 2024)
• Reminder: Executive Briefing Conference Call on June 24
  (sent June 20, 2024)
• 2023-24 Year-End Program Updates
  (sent June 18, 2024)
• Space Is Filling Up – Register for CCE Conference
  (sent June 18, 2024)
• Countdown to June 30: Navigating Federal Student Loan Debt Relief
  (sent June 17, 2024)
• Commission Meeting Thursday, June 20 – Executive Briefing Monday, June 24
  (sent June 14, 2024)
• ISAC Program FY25 Funding – Budget Bills Approved
  (sent June 11, 2024)
• 2023-24 MAP Late Claims Update
  (sent June 7, 2024)
• June Webinars for FAAs
  (sent June 4, 2024)
• May 2024 Electronic ISAC Update
  (sent June 3, 2024)

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