JB Pritzker, Governor, State of Illinois

Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship Program

Program News

(last updated April 1, 2025)

2025-26 Application
2024-25 Program Funding
2024-25 Payment
2024-25 Award Determination
2024-25 Certification
Enrollment Status Verification

2025-26

Application

The 2025-26& MTI Scholarship Program application remains available online via the Program Applications & Status Checks area of the ISAC Student Portal.

For priority consideration, the 2025-26 MTI Scholarship application and 2025-26 FAFSA or (if applicable) Alternative Application must have been received by March 31, 2025. Complete applications submitted after March 31 are considered for the MTI Scholarship Program only if funding remains after all timely complete applicants have been awarded. The date through which 2025-26 applications will be accepted is dependent upon application volume and available funding. Encourage applicants who have not already done so to submit their applications as soon as possible.

At this time, student data related to the 2025-26 MTI application is not appearing for colleges in the MTI system. This page will be updated when student data becomes available for colleges to view.

The Application Procedures for MTI section includes details about the application process.

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

2024-25

Program Funding

The 2025 fiscal year (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025) appropriation for the Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship is $8,000,000.

Payment

Important dates and reminders for 2024-25 MTI 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 (i.e., claim) deadline dates are established for each term.
    • ISAC is accepting claims for the third term (spring quarter).
      • In order to be considered timely, third-term claims must be submitted on or before Friday, May 30, 2025.
    • Although the first-term (fall) and second-term (spring semester and winter quarter) priority claim deadline dates have passed, ISAC is continuing to accept and pay these claims through May 30, 2025.
      • The first-term priority claim deadline was December 31, 2024.
      • The second-term priority claim deadline was March 31, 2025.
    • 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 timely submission of claims and cancellations/adjustments allows ISAC staff to monitor remaining funds and award other students, as applicable.

As announced in e-Messages dated September 19, January 21, and April 1,colleges may submit to ISAC (via the MTI system) 2024-25 MTI claims for the first, second and third terms.

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 MTI Student Detail: Payment screen the day after payment requests are processed. In addition, a Payment Result Summary and Invoice Detail Report can be viewed or printed by selecting the Report tab in the MTI 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.

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 locations on ISAC's website:

MTI Payment
MTI Electronic Processing
MTI User Guide

Award Determination

As announced in a September 19 e-Message, awarding for the 2024-25 MTI Scholarship Program has taken place for all applicants who have been certified as eligible. Award notifications (dated September 19, 2024) are being mailed to all eligible applicants by ISAC, and colleges may view award results on the "Student List Eligibility: View screen" in the MTI system.

Refer to the MTI Award Determination area for more information about the award process, award amount and notifications. Details about the MTI system, including access to the MTI User Guide, are available at the MTI Electronic Processing page.

Certification

An August 5 e-Message announces that colleges may certify eligibility for the 2024-25 Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship Program via the MTI system. The MTI system is available to enter certification data each Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. (CT).

A Certification record is created in the MTI system when an MTI application is complete. All Certifications available in the MTI system must be completed regardless of whether the school certifies a student as eligible or ineligible. The only way an applicant will receive a notification letter is if the Certification is submitted via the MTI system. Be sure to continue completing and submitting Certifications throughout the year, in order to ensure that students will be included in all rounds of awarding that take place.

There are no changes to the online Certification process from last year, and an overview of the process is available on the Certification Procedures for MTI page. Refer to the MTI User Guide for instructions to enter and submit Certifications to ISAC.

Enrollment Status Verification

Verification of award recipients' current enrollment status data is to be completed by the college and returned to ISAC in a timely manner. While all 2023-2024 data was to be submitted on or before December 31, 2024, colleges are still encouraged to submit this data as soon as possible. Further details are provided in a November 4 e-Message.

This page will be updated once data is being accepted for the 2024-25 academic year (anticipated for the fall of 2025).

Each fall, colleges are required to verify the enrollment statuses for recipients in the programs with teaching requirements. Verification of enrollment status is required for all recipients who, according to our records, previously received funds from the following ISAC-administered teacher education 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 teaching 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 for Teacher Programs User Guide for step-by-step instructions on completing and submitting enrollment status verification data to ISAC. Details about the teaching requirement, 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.