Monetary Award Program (MAP)

The 2027 fiscal year (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027) appropriation for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) is $721,566,200.

Monetary Award Program (MAP): Part 2735 - Administrative Rules

Please review the eligibility, how to apply, dates and timelines, award amounts, and definitions sections for additional program information.

2026-27 

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), or whose initial Alternative Application is received by ISAC, after Thursday, April 23, 2026. 

View the SUSPENSE section of this page for more information. 

Start-Up Implementation 

The 2026-27 FAFSA and Alternative Application are now available. 

The 2026-27 MAP processing cycle has begun, and eligibility information is available. Daily processing of 2026-27 ISIR, Alternative Application, 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 ANNOUCEMENTS section for details regarding college requirements, including the 2026-27 REQUIRED SCHOOL-ISSUED AWARD NOTIFICATION LANGUGAGE. 

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®) and the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid (Alternative Application), if applicable, serves 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 concurrently to all students. 

Learn more about MAP SUSPENSE.

Eligibility requirements can be found in the Student Eligibility section. FAAs are encouraged to review additional MAP Eligibility, Illinois Residency Requirements and Special Enrollment Circumstances.

Additional Eligibility information can be found in the MAP Eligibility User Guide. 

Students who apply for financial aid [via the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) or the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid (Alternative Application)] 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 a calculated annual award amount. 

Learn more about MAP AWARD ANNOUNCEMENTS. 
 

The MAP formula is used to distribute the appropriated grant funds so that the neediest students 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 ten 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 

2025-26 

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.

* Please Note: First, second, and third-term claims received through (and including) June 9, 2026 have been approved for payment.

MAP File Specifications 

2026-27 

2026-27 MAP 160-BYTE FILE LAYOUT SPECIFICATIONS

2025-26 

2025-26 MAP 160-BYTE FILE LAYOUT SPECIFICATIONS

• Administrative Rules 
• MAP User Guide 
  • MAP Payment User Guide 
  • MAP Eligibility User Guide
• MAP Advising 
• Budget Data Collection 
• GAP User Verification
• Enrollment Verification
• Payment Offset and Reconciliation 
• Priority Access for Returning MAP Recipients 
• MAP Advising Data Collection 
• Special Enrollment Circumstances
• State Comptroller 
• Default Resolution Options