Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program

Program News

(last updated January 18, 2023)

2022-23 Program Funding
2022-23 Payment (submit first- and second-term claims by February 24, 2023)
2022-23 Application, Certification and Award Determination

2022-23

Program Funding

The 2023 fiscal year (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023) appropriation for the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Scholarship is $6,498,000.

Payment

Important dates and reminders for 2022-23 Golden Apple 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 second-term payment request deadline date is Friday, February 24, 2023.
  • Although the first-term payment request deadline date was December 30, 2022, ISAC is continuing to accept and pay first-term claims.
  • The timely submission of claims and cancellations/adjustments allows ISAC staff to monitor remaining funds and award other students, as applicable.
• Remember that the Golden Apple Foundation certifies a recipient's eligibility one term at a time.
  • Only the term(s) that have been certified as eligible by the Golden Apple Foundation will display on the Payment Request Entry screen for the college.

As announced in a January 9 e-Message, 2022-23 Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program first- and second-term payment requests can be completed online and submitted electronically to ISAC via the Golden Apple 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 Golden Apple Student Detail: Payment 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.

Effective December 2022, a new report for tracking payment vouchers and warrants is available via the Golden Apple system. The new 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.

Because colleges may now track payment vouchers and warrants via the Golden Apple system, ISAC no longer sends e-mails with Golden Apple voucher data to financial aid directors.

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 resources on ISAC's website:

Golden Apple Payment
Golden Apple Electronic Processing
Golden Apple User Guide

Application, Certification and Award Determination

As announced in a September 7 e-Message, colleges may view a listing of their institution's potential 2022-23 Golden Apple Scholars via the "Student List Eligibility: View" screen within the Golden Apple system.

The Application, Certification and Award Determination functions for the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program are performed by the Golden Apple Foundation. Once a student has been certified as eligible by the Golden Apple Foundation, their award will immediately appear on the "Student List Eligibility: View" screen.

The role of colleges starts with 2022-23 Golden Apple payment processing, which may begin after the Golden Apple Foundation certifies the recipient's eligibility each term.

Reminder

All users need a valid GAP Access ID and password to access the Golden Apple system. ISAC relies on a designated Primary Administrator (usually, the financial aid director) at each institution to authorize users and provide them with the appropriate level of access for each ISAC program, including Golden Apple. Further details may be found in the GAP Access User Guides, and questions may be directed to ISAC's School Services Department.