JB Pritzker, Governor, State of Illinois

Nursing Education Scholarships Payment

The below information describes the NES payment process for the 2023-24 award year. This page will be updated when the 2024-25 NES payment process begins.

{ISAC Rules, Part 2749.230}

Payment
Disbursement
Offset and Reconciliation

Nursing Education Scholarships (NES) are paid directly to the approved institution of record which certified the applicant's eligibility. Payment of scholarship benefits is requested by the school through ISAC, prompting ISAC to authorize a voucher in the amount of the payment request (claim) and submit the voucher to the State Comptroller's Office. Funds are issued by the State Comptroller directly to the institution. Schools may submit NES claims beginning 10 days prior to the start of the term for which payment is being requested.

2023-24 NES Priority Payment Request Deadline Dates

As part of our ongoing efforts to best leverage appropriated funds to award as many eligible students as possible, priority payment request deadline dates are established for each term.

  • Term 1 (Fall) Priority Payment Request Deadline Date: Friday, May 3, 2024
  • Term 2 (Winter for Quarter Schools; Spring for Semester Schools) Priority Payment Request Deadline Date: Friday, May 3, 2024
  • Term 3 (Spring for Quarter Schools) Priority Payment Request Deadline Date: Friday, May 3, 2024
  • Term 4 (Summer) Priority Payment Request Deadline Date: Not Yet Determined

Payment

NES payment processing is done using the NESP system available through ISAC's GAP Access portal. School staff must have the appropriate level of access in order to submit payment requests in GAP Access. The school's primary administrator or a designated administrator is responsible for authorizing access levels.

Colleges can request NES payment for individual students via the NES Student Detail: Payment screen via the NES Payment Request Entry screen. Submitting payment requests is a two-step process, which involves generating the request and then submitting the request. By submitting a payment request to ISAC via the NESP system, a college is certifying that the student meets all eligibility criteria. It is important to complete and submit payment requests on a timely basis so that ISAC can monitor the fund balance and, if able to do so, make awards to eligible unfunded students as early as possible in the academic year.

Only students who have been awarded will appear on the Student Payment List: View screen. The school submits claims by term.

Schools can request a "Tuition & Fees" amount for all recipients. A "Living Allowance" amount (up to a maximum of $5,200) can only be requested for full-time students. The NESP system calculates the term's "Requested Amount" by adding the amounts entered by the school in the "Tuition & Fees" and "Living Allowance" fields. See the "Disbursement" section, below, for details regarding annual maximum award amounts for this program.

Payment records that have been saved will display a Status of "U." Payment records that have been submitted will display a Status of "S." Only records with a Status of "S" will receive payment results.

A Payment Result Summary and Invoice Detail Report can be viewed or printed by selecting the report tab in the NESP system the day after a payment request has been processed. The report includes Payment Results, Payment Exceptions and Invoice Detail about the payment claim. The Payment Results/Exceptions report should be reviewed the day after submitting payment requests to see which requests, if any, did not process as expected.

Refer to the payment section of the NES User Guide for details about how to submit a payment request, use the sort and filter functions, and obtain payment reports. Refer to the NES Electronic Processing page for details about accessing the NESP system and hours of operation.

A report for tracking payment vouchers and warrants is available via the NESP system. The report (which may be accessed via the Reports section) provides payment voucher and warrant information, dependent upon where the payment is in the process.

  • Once ISAC processes a payment request and sends it to the State Comptroller, the report will appear with the following title format: (Program) Voucher INV mm-dd-yyyy SCH xxx.
    • At this time, the "WARRANT NO." and "WARRANT DATE" fields on the report will be blank.
  • The last page of the report provides invoice information, including the amount due to the school and the invoice number.
    • This same invoice number also will be referenced on the voucher from the State Comptroller, authorizing payment.
  • The voucher number will be referenced on the check (payment).
  • The "WARRANT NO." and "WARRANT DATE" fields will populate on the report after the State Comptroller has authorized payment for the voucher.
    • Once this happens, the title format will be: (Program) Warrant INV mm-dd-yyyy SCH xxx.

Disbursement

The 2023-24 NES maximum annual award amount is either $8,916 or $17,813, depending on the certificate, diploma or degree being pursued by the recipient. Further details are provided at the Award Determination for Nursing Education Scholarships page.

Awards are made in multiple disbursements. For full-year awards, semester schools receive two disbursements (Fall and Spring); quarter schools receive three disbursements (Fall, Winter and Spring). If a recipient has not used their total annual award amount during the fall and spring semesters or the fall, winter and spring quarters, a Summer term disbursement option will be added to their record later in the year. Multiple disbursements are not required in cases where the recipient’s eligibility is not determined until the final term of the award year for which the scholarship is being awarded. If the student has applied for or is enrolled in a term(s) which is less than the award year, they may receive the full maximum annual award amount if warranted by the cost of attendance for the term(s) enrolled.

ISAC authorizes a voucher in the amount of the payment invoice and submits it to the State Comptroller's Office, which issues payment to the institution. Colleges can match the invoice number on the Payment Results/Exceptions report with the payment voucher.

Upon receipt of the scholarship funds from the Comptroller, the college should verify the student's enrollment status for the term for which the award was intended.

  • If the recipient is enrolled, the institution may credit the scholarship funds to the recipient’s account for expenses due and payable. If appropriate, any balance is to be returned to the recipient.
  • If the recipient has withdrawn, or if the college has reduced the amount of the award so as not to exceed the cost of attendance, the college must indicate the reason on the NESP Student Detail: Payment screen. The NESP system will deobligate the award and the amount will offset a future payment to the college.

If a student fails to meet any of the eligibility requirements during the academic year, all undisbursed funds will be deobligated and awarded to the next eligible student.

Offset and Reconciliation

The Payment Offset and Reconciliation procedures apply to NES payment processing. 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.

Information about the payment offset process and reconciliation is located in the Refunds and Unpaid Claims section in the Processes area.