Teachers of Illinois Scholarship Program

Program News

(last updated September 22, 2026)

2026-27 Program Funding
2026-27 Payment
2026-27 Award Determination
2026-27 Certification
2026-27 Application

2026-27

Program Funding

The 2027 fiscal year (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027) appropriation for the Teachers of Illinois Scholarship is $8,000,000.

Payment

Important dates and reminders for 2026-27 TISP payment processing:

• Claims submitted after a term’s priority claim deadline date will be paid only if funds remain after all timely claims have been paid.
  • The Term 1 (fall) priority claim deadline 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.

An e-Message dated September 22 provides guidance regarding the submission (via the Teachers of Illinois system) of the 2026-27 Teachers of Illinois Scholarship claims.

Schools are encouraged to submit payment requests for awarded students as soon as possible. The timely submission of payment requests allows ISAC staff to monitor program funding levels and ensure that available dollars are best leveraged to award as many scholarships as possible without exceeding the appropriation.

Submitting payment requests is a two-step process, which involves generating the request and then submitting the request. Submit claims for individual Teachers of Illinois Scholarship recipients via the "Student Detail: Payment" screen.

Payment results are available in the Teachers of Illinois system each morning. A Payment Result Summary and Invoice Detail Report can be viewed or printed by selecting the report tab in the Teachers of Illinois system. The report includes Payment Results and Payment Exceptions as well as Invoice Detail about the payment claim. The Payment Results/Exceptions report should be reviewed regularly to see which requests, if any, did not process as expected.

The disbursement of funds is processed by the State Comptroller's Office. Allow four to six weeks for payment processing (i.e., from the date a claim is submitted until funds are received at the college). Refer to the State Comptroller's Website page for information on how to track payment.

For more information, refer to the following resources on ISAC's website:

Teachers of Illinois Payment
Teachers of Illinois Electronic Processing
Teachers of Illinois User Guide

Award Determination

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

Certification

An August 10 e-Message announces that colleges may certify 2026-27 Teachers of Illinois eligibility via the Teachers of Illinois system.

In order to ensure qualified applicants are considered when awarding takes place later this year, colleges are encouraged to complete and submit all certifications as soon as possible.

An overview of the online certification process is available on the Teachers of Illinois Certification page. The Teachers of Illinois User Guide also provides details regarding functionality to certify student eligibility for this program.

Certification screens should be checked often as students may be added on a rolling basis as they are deemed complete.

All Certifications available in the Teachers of Illinois system must be completed regardless of whether the school certifies a student as eligible or ineligible. The only way an applicant will receive one of the notification letters is if the Certification is submitted.

Application

The Teachers of Illinois Scholarship application for the 2026-27 academic year is now available for students to complete and submit.

For priority consideration, the 2026-27 Teachers of Illinois Scholarship application and 2026-27 FAFSA must be received on or before September 18, 2026. Complete applications submitted after September 18 will be considered only if funding remains after all timely complete applicants have been awarded. The date through which 2026-27 applications will be accepted is dependent upon application volume and available funding. The Application Procedures for Teachers of Illinois Scholarship Program section includes details about the application process.

Refer to the Teachers of Illinois Scholarship Program page of the Students & Parents area for assistance with questions you receive from applicants regarding the Teachers of Illinois application process.