School Social Work Scholarship

This program was formerly known as the Post-Master of Social Work School Social Work Professional Educator License Scholarship Program.

Program News

(last updated September 22, 2026)

2026-27 Program Funding
2026-27 Payment
2026-27 Awarding
2026-27 Certification
2026-27 Application
Informational Flyer
Enrollment Status Verification

2026-27

Program Funding

The 2027 fiscal year (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027) lump-sum appropriation for the School Social Work Scholarship and School and Municipal Social Work Shortage Loan Repayment programs is $2,000,000.

Payment

Important dates and reminders for 2026-27 School Social Work Scholarship payment processing:

  • 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.
    • The 2026-27 payment request deadline date for the fall term is Thursday, December 31, 2026.
  • The timely submission of claims and cancellations/adjustments allows ISAC staff to monitor remaining funds and award other students, as applicable.

A September 22 e-Message announces 2026-27 payment requests for the fall term can be completed online and submitted electronically to ISAC via the School Social Work Scholarship system.

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 results display on the SSWS Student Payment List: View screen and on the Payment Results/Exception report the day after payment requests are processed. After submitting claims, colleges are encouraged to always review the Payment Results/Exceptions report. Retain a copy of the report for each payment request submitted, so that the invoice number on the report can be matched with voucher data and the funds received from the State Comptroller’s Office.

A report for tracking payment vouchers and warrants is available via the SSWS system. The report (which may be accessed via the Reports section, and is identified by the same red PDF icon that appears with the “Payment Results/Exceptions” report) 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.

The disbursement of funds is processed by the State Comptroller's Office. Refer to the State Comptroller's Website page for information on how to track payment.

For more information, refer to the following School Social Work Scholarship resources on ISAC’s website:

Payment
Electronic Processing
User Guide

Awarding

A September 14 e-Message announces awarding for the 2026-27 School Social Work Scholarship has taken place for all applicants who have been certified as eligible. Award notifications are mailed to eligible applicants by ISAC, and colleges may view award results on the “Student List Eligibility: View Screen” in the School Social Work Scholarship system.

Refer to this program's Awarding area for more information about the awarding process (including student notifications and award amounts). Details about this program's system, including access to the user guide, are available at the School Social Work Scholarship Electronic Processing page.

Certification

Colleges may certify applicants' eligibility for the 2026-27 School Social Work Scholarship via the School Social Work Scholarship (SSWS) system.

For more information about the certification process of this program, refer to the Certification page.

The user guide for this program will soon be updated to reflect the 2026-27 processing cycle.

Application

The application for the 2026-27 School Social Work Scholarship is currently being accepted.

The priority application consideration date for the 2026-27 academic year is October 31, 2026. Complete applications submitted after that date will be considered for as long as funding remains available after all timely, qualified applicants have been awarded.

Applicants may be directed to the School Social Work Scholarship page of the Students & Parents area for information regarding the application process.

Enrollment Status Verification

NOTE: For the first time, ISAC is now requesting enrollment status verification data for the Post-Master of Social Work School Social Work Professional Educator License Scholarship Program.

Verification of award recipients' current enrollment status data is to be completed by the college and returned to ISAC as soon as possible. In order to be considered timely, all 2024-25 data must have been submitted on or before Thursday, May 7, 2026. Further details were provided in an April 8 e-Message.

Colleges are required to verify the enrollment statuses for recipients in programs with work requirements. Verification of enrollment status is required for all recipients who, according to our records, previously received funds from certain ISAC-administered programs and may have been enrolled at your institution during the prior academic year.

ISAC monitors recipients’ fulfillment of the program requirements because, if recipients fail to meet the applicable requirements, their awards convert to loans that must be repaid. Knowing recipients’ enrollment status, as reported by the colleges, allows ISAC to communicate with recipients who have graduated (or otherwise stopped attending college) regarding the steps they need to take in order to fulfill their program requirements. The sooner colleges submit enrollment verification data to ISAC, the sooner ISAC can communicate with impacted award recipients.

Refer to the Enrollment Status Verification page and the Enrollment Status Verification User Guide for step-by-step instructions on completing and submitting enrollment status verification data to ISAC. Details about requirements, extensions, deferments and repayment are provided in the Students & Parents – After College area of this website, and may be accessed via the "Program Requirements" link that appears in the right-margin menu of this page.