Suspense: 2024-25 MAP Grants

ISAC has suspended the announcement of 2024-25 MAP grants as follows:

• August 20, 2024 was the last day for students to apply for 2024-25 MAP grants by submitting an initial 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) or, if eligible, an Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid. The announcement of awards for students whose FAFSAs are received by the federal processor or whose Alternative Applications are received by ISAC after that date will be put "in suspense" – basically, a waiting list for 2024-25 MAP. See the 2024-25 Processing Updates section of the MAP page for further details.

MAP awards are made on a first-come, first-served basis for eligible students, and available funding may run out quickly for the program. This year, if your application (FAFSA or Alternative Application) was received on or after December 31, 2023* but before the applicable suspense date (as outlined above) and you are eligible for MAP, you should expect to receive an estimated MAP award. If you are eligible for MAP but your application is received on or after the applicable suspense date, you might still have an opportunity to receive a MAP grant, and you would be notified later if funds become available.

For quick reference, see the chart, below:

2024-25 MAP APPLICANT AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT STATUS CHART

* 2024-25 FAFSA release was delayed due to implementation of the FAFSA Simplification Act.

If you have not yet filled out a FAFSA (or, if applicable, an Alternative Application), we encourage you to do so. The FAFSA determines eligibility for financial aid other than MAP for which you might be eligible, such as federal Pell grants and institutional aid. Also, if MAP funds do become available later, the only way you can be considered for MAP is to have filed a FAFSA or Alternative Application.

If my application is received on or after the suspense date, is there any possibility I can still get a MAP grant?

If your application is received on or after the suspense date, it is still possible that you could receive a MAP grant, but you should not count on it. Every year there are students who do not use their MAP awards, and those who are eligible for MAP and whose applications are received after but very close to the "suspense date" may have an opportunity to get those awards.

Why don't students get more notice of the suspense date?

Because we need to start processing MAP application information long before we know how much funding we will receive, we use information from the previous year to determine when to suspend announcements of MAP awards. We regularly monitor, analyze and forecast application volume in order to be best able to announce as many awards as possible without exceeding expected available funding. As a result, we are not able to announce the actual suspense date many days ahead, but we announce as soon as we are able to make that determination. ISAC however, regularly communicates with our college and high school partners and urges them to encourage their students to file their applications as soon as possible. We have also shared that message with students and parents we work with directly through our own outreach, as well as through opinion pieces submitted to news outlets around the state.

For more information on the Illinois Monetary Award Program, see the MAP area of the Students & Parents section of our website.