Application Process
Automatic with the FAFSA or Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid (Alternative Application) each academic year.
Learn moreApplication Deadline
Rolling; submit your FAFSA or Alternative Application as soon as possible when it becomes available.
Learn moreProgram Details
The MAP is available to eligible residents who attend an approved Illinois college and have financial need. Financial need is determined by using information from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) or, for some students, the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid (Alternative Application). More information is available at the Alternative Application page. Unlike some other ISAC programs, MAP recipients are not required to pursue a specific program of study. Like most grant programs, MAP grants do not have to be repaid.
NOTICE: 2026-27 Alternative Application
As of July 24, 2026, a federal district court ruled that undocumented students are no longer eligible to receive state financial assistance from the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for the 2026-2027 school year. As a result, the 2026-27 Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid, the application certain undocumented students would have used to apply for state financial aid programs this academic year, is no longer available. This means that students who have submitted or planned to submit the 2026-27 Alternative Application, such as Illinois undocumented students, cannot be considered for this program for the 2026-27 school year.
The eligibility criteria for the 2027–28 Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid will be changing. This application is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2026. Please visit isac.org/AlternativeApp for more information.
For Students & Parents
To be eligible, you must:
- be a U.S. citizen, or an eligible noncitizen
- be an Illinois resident
- demonstrate financial need
- be enrolled in at least 3 semester-equivalent credit hours at an approved Illinois college (in an undergraduate degree or certificate program). If you attend a quarter school, the quarter-term credits will be converted to MAP Paid Credit hours.
- maintain satisfactory academic progress (as determined by your college)
- not be in default on any student loan (if you are in default, you may re-establish your MAP eligibility)
- not owe a refund on any state or federal grant
- not have already received a bachelor’s degree
- not have used equal to or more than 135 MAP Paid Credit Hours (MAP Paid Credit hours are calculated by your enrollment status for each term). Learn more about MAP Paid Credit Hours.
ISAC partners with approved Illinois colleges to manage the MAP grant. Your college is responsible for certifying that you meet all eligibility requirements and are enrolled in an eligible program of study. If you have any questions about your MAP grant eligibility, please contact your college’s financial aid office.
Complete the FAFSA® or, for some students, the Alternative Application, as soon as it is available each year.
ISAC does not require a separate application to be considered for the MAP grant. Your eligibility for the MAP grant is automatically determined once you complete your FAFSA or Alternative Application. It is important you add at least one eligible Illinois college that you are considering attending in order for ISAC to calculate your eligibility.
If you are eligible, an estimated MAP grant award amount will appear on your financial aid offer from your college.
You should complete the FAFSA or, if applicable, the Alternative Application, as soon as possible after the applications become available, typically October 1 of the calendar year before you plan to attend school.
There is no application deadline for the MAP grant. However, funding often runs out before all eligible students can be awarded. When this happens, ISAC will announce “suspense”—the date it stops offering MAP awards. Students who did not submit their applications before that date will be put on a waiting list for MAP and will not be awarded a grant unless additional funds become available. Even if you did not submit your FAFSA or Alternative Application before the suspense date, you should still submit it as soon as possible. If additional funds do become available, they are awarded to eligible students whose applications were received closer to the suspense date. Learn more about MAP Suspense.
Priority Deadline Date
ISAC sets a priority deadline date for returning MAP recipients. If you received money from the MAP grant during the prior academic year and continue to meet all eligibility requirements, you may receive priority access to MAP funds. Learn more about priority access.
The 2026-27 priority access date for returning MAP recipients is March 1, 2026.
The maximum MAP award amount that a student can receive for the 2026-27 school year is $8,064. The amount that you are eligible for depends on the calculation of your financial need and cost of tuition and mandatory fees at your college.
The MAP grant is only applied toward your tuition and mandatory fees. MAP awards will be paid directly to your college.
- Certification: Each semester, colleges must share information with ISAC before a MAP grant can be awarded. Colleges confirm the student’s MAP grant eligibility and that the student is enrolled in an eligible program of study.
- Default: Students that did not make required payments on their student loans are considered to be in default. This must be resolved before a student can receive MAP funds.
- Mandatory Fees: Mandatory fees are fees required to deliver educational services to students for each term (regardless if you are attending on-campus or off-campus). Examples of mandatory fees include fees for activities, facility operations, grants, health, registration, technology, transportation, and online learning.
- Suspense Date: The date on which ISAC will stop awarding MAP grants because available program funds are expected to run out. If it becomes necessary to set this date, it will be communicated to schools and students. Students who did not submit their FAFSA or Alternative Application before the suspense date will be put on a waiting list for MAP and will not be awarded a MAP grant unless additional funds become available.
- MAP Paid Credit Hours: Each term, your college reports how many of your enrolled credit hours were covered by MAP. These hours add up over time. Once a student reaches 135 MAP Paid Credit hours, they can no longer receive MAP, even if they are still enrolled in college and otherwise eligible for the grant. Students can check the status of their MAP Paid Credit Hours on ISAC’s Application Portal.
Applicant FAQs
Common questions are addressed in the Applicant FAQs and Priority Access for Returning MAP Recipients FAQs. If you have other questions, contact an ISAC Student Engagement Representative by calling 800.899.ISAC (4722) or send an email to [email protected].
For Partners & Professionals
Review the Eligibility, How to Apply, Dates and Timelines, Award Amounts, Program Definitions, and Applicant FAQs sections, for general information about the Monetary Award Program (MAP) grant.
Program Appropriation: The 2027 fiscal year (July 1, 2026 – June 20, 2026) appropriation is $721,566,200.
Monetary Award Program (MAP): Part 2735 - Administrative Rules
2026-27
Payment
As of August 24, the 2026-27 MAP payment processing cycle has commenced. Colleges may submit first-term claims, keeping in mind that claims may be submitted no more than 10 days prior to the start of classes for the term for which they are being requested.
The claim deadline date for the first term is Friday, December 4, 2026.
2026-27 payment requests that were submitted via FTP prior to August 24, 2026 will not be processed, and will need to be resubmitted by the college.
View the Payment section of this page for more information.
Suspension of Award Announcements
ISAC is suspending the announcement of 2026-27 MAP award announcements for all students whose initial 2026-27 FAFSA is received by the FAFSA Processing System (FPS) after Thursday, April 23, 2026. The 2026-27 Alternative Application was closed July 30, 2026 and no additional applications will be accepted for the 2026-27 school year.
View the Suspense section for more information.
Start-Up Implementation
The 2026-27 FAFSA is now available. The 2026-27 Alternative Application was closed July 30, 2026 and no additional applications will be accepted for the 2026-27 school year.
The 2026-27 MAP processing cycle has begun, and eligibility information is available. Daily processing of 2026-27 ISIR and eligibility status information has commenced.
File Layout Specifications
The 2026-27 MAP 160-Byte File Layout Specifications document is now available. The file specifications are pertinent to schools that utilize the file extraction features of the MAP system or send MAP payment requests to ISAC via File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
Award Announcements
Colleges are required to announce MAP awards to eligible students enrolled at their institutions. Refer to the MAP Award Announcements section for details regarding college requirements, including the 2026-27 Required School-Issued Award Notification Language.
Start-Up Formula
On September 18, 2025, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission approved the 2026-27 (FY27) MAP start-up formula, which follows the FY26 recompute formula. See the Formula section for specific details.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) or, if applicable, the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid (Alternative Application), serve as the application for the MAP grant.
Learn more about MAP Application Procedures.
You are also encouraged to review Critical Student Information for Award Determination.
Each year, ISAC continues to announce MAP awards until projections indicate that the dollars appropriated will be exhausted by the number of awards already announced for the year. Applications received after this point are placed in award announcement suspension. If it becomes necessary to suspend award announcements in order to remain within appropriated funding levels, such action is applied at the same time to all students.
Learn more about MAP Suspense.
Eligibility requirements can be found in the Student Eligibility section. FAAs are encouraged to review information on Illinois Residency Requirements and Special Enrollment Circumstances.
Additional Eligibility information can be found in the MAP Eligibility User Guide (PDF).
Students who apply for financial aid (via the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) or the Alternative) and agree to share the information with ISAC are considered for a Monetary Award Program (MAP) grant. The announcement process begins with the college sending an award notification to eligible students indicating an estimated calculated annual award amount.
Learn more about MAP Award Announcements.
The MAP formula is used to distribute the appropriated grant funds so that students with the greatest financial need receive grant assistance. Several components are used to determine eligibility.
Learn more about MAP Formula.
Eligibility for a MAP grant is tracked by the equivalent number of semester credit hours of MAP benefits paid on a student’s behalf. This is called MAP Paid Credit Hours. If a student is attending a quarter school, the quarter credit hours will be converted to semester MAP paid credit hours.
Learn more about MAP Paid Credit Hours.
Payment Process
Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants are paid directly to the approved institution of record which certified the applicant's eligibility. Schools may begin requesting payments for MAP 10 days before the beginning of the term (semester or quarter). Payment of grant benefits is requested by the school through ISAC and sent by the State Comptroller directly to the institution. Schools receive award announcements via the MAP system on all Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) transactions.
Learn more about the payment process in the MAP Payment User Guide.
Payment Request Deadlines
2026-26
The following are the payment request (i.e., claim) deadlines, by term, for 2025-26 MAP processing. MAP claims (including initial requests and increases to previously submitted claims) for the relevant term must be submitted to ISAC via the MAP system or File Transfer Protocol (FTP) no later than 7 p.m. (CT) on each term's deadline date in order to be considered timely. Any claims made after the deadline date will be considered late and will only be paid if funding is available after paying timely claims.
| Term | Claim Deadline |
|---|---|
| 1st semester/quarter | December 4, 2026 |
| 2nd semester/quarter | Not yet determined |
| 3rd quarter / 2nd semester for institutions where the second semester begins after February 15th | Not yet determined |
MAP File Specifications
2026-27