Critical Student Information for 2023-24 Award Determination

Critical Data Items for 2023-24 Eligibility
SAR Corrections
School Choices

In addition to the data elements that are required to determine a student's Expected Family Contribution (EFC), there are critical data elements that must be reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) and appear on the Student Aid Report (SAR) and/or Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) in order for ISAC to determine a student's eligibility for the Monetary Award Program (MAP).

NOTE: in some instances, Illinois undocumented students who are not eligible for federal financial aid (and do not file the FAFSA) may apply for a MAP grant using the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid, which is patterned after the FAFSA. For these students to be considered for a MAP grant, the Alternative Application questions that correspond to the below-referenced FAFSA critical items must be completed.

If any one of the following items on the FAFSA, Student Aid Report (SAR) or Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) is blank, incomplete or incorrect, ISAC will not be able to determine a student’s MAP eligibility. When counseling students on how to properly complete the FAFSA, please review these critical items to ensure students are providing the information necessary for MAP award consideration. If any corrections are needed, they must be made through the Central Processing System (CPS) to update a student’s record for calculation of MAP eligibility.

Critical Data Items for 2023-24 Eligibility

MAP Eligibility Results	FAFSA on the Web Section	Paper/PDF FAFSA Items
Student's State of Legal Residence – ISAC will load a dependent student's record to the ISAC database when the student's state of legal residence is blank or is a state other than Illinois, but the state of legal residence for the parent(s) is Illinois and a MAP-approved school is listed as one of the college choices. If this situation applies, there is no need to process a SAR/ISIR correction for Student’s State of Legal Residence to be considered for a MAP Grant.**	Student Demographics	Step One: Item 18*
Will you have your first bachelor’s degree before you begin the 2023-24 school year? Must report "no" to be processed for a MAP award.	Student Demographics	Step One: Item 25
What will your college grade level be when you begin the 2023-24 school year? Must report an undergraduate grade level to be processed for a MAP award.	Student Demographics	Step One: Item 26
At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, will you be working on a master's or doctorate program? Must report "no" to be processed for a MAP award.	Student Demographics	Step Three: Item 44
Parents' State of Legal Residence – must be Illinois for dependent students. Failure to complete this item will produce an incomplete application for MAP for dependent students.	Parent Demographics	Step Four: Item 66*
Federal School Code or College Name, Address, City and State – must report a MAP-approved school as one of the college choices.	School Selection	Step Six

* Please note: ISAC does not use answers to questions about the date a student or parent became a legal resident to determine Illinois residency.

** If an independent student indicates a state other than Illinois, ISAC will not receive the student's information from the CPS.

SAR Corrections

ISAC’s policy regarding corrections to the SAR/ISIR for MAP awards remains consistent with ED's policy on corrections. Corrections must be submitted to the CPS if the Social Security number is wrong or if there were problems with other application questions that are subject to data matches, such as the citizenship questions. If any of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) related data submitted via the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) needs to be corrected, only the financial aid administrator can make the change via the FAA Access to CPS Online electronic process.

The guidelines for dollar items for Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs and MAP grant recipients depend on the program, the impact of the changes on the student's eligibility and whether the student is selected for Federal Verification. Refer to the “Application and Verification Guide” portion of the FSA Handbook for more information.

School Choices

As long as a school is listed as one of the school choices on the ISIR, the MAP system calculates the award eligibility for that student for that specific MAP school. Refer to FAFSA Corrections for instructions for options to add or delete a school to the schools listed on the SAR.

The number of Federal School Codes that can be entered on FAFSA on the Web is 10 choices. The number of Federal School Codes an applicant can include on the 2023-24 paper/PDF FAFSA is four. The CPS will send data to each of the school choices listed. When new schools are added, a corresponding number of schools will be removed from the list and will not have automatic access to the student’s information.

Applicants will receive SARs that list all the Federal School Codes selected on each transaction and will continue to have the same options for entering, updating, and viewing up to ten college choices on FAFSA on the Web and up to four choices on a paper SAR. ISAC will also receive ISIR’s with all of an applicant’s school choices listed. Financial aid administrators, however, will see only their college information (Federal School Code, Name, and Housing Plans) in FAA Correction Entry, Student Inquiry, and ISIR Compare, as well as on the eSAR (PDF and HTML).