ISAC Update

VOL. 42, NO. 5F
November 2024

Welcome to the November 2024 ISAC Update for financial aid administrators and business officers. This version of the electronic ISAC Update is a compilation of e-Messages sent through ISAC's e-Messaging service throughout November.

The articles in this Update have been organized according to the FAA subscription groups to which the messages were distributed.

Questions?

Questions regarding information in this ISAC Update can be directed to School Services at 866.247.2172 or at isac.schoolservices@illinois.gov. On occasion, you may be directed to a specific contact person or area; when this occurs, we will provide the appropriate information in the individual article or message.

MULTIPLE SUBSCRIPTION GROUPS

Invitation to Elevate Equity: Illinois
Sent to Financial Aid Directors and Financial Aid Administrators on November 20, 2024.

The below message is being sent on behalf of IACAC.

Join us for Elevate Equity: Illinois

When: Monday, December 9, 2024

Where: UIC Isadore and Sadie Dorin Forum, 725 W Roosevelt Rd., Chicago, IL

Hosted by: NACAC, The Joyce Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies

Why Attend?

Use your professional expertise to collaborate with elected officials, policy leaders, and other education professionals to advance access to equitable postsecondary options for Illinois students. Please note this event is open to all. You do not need to be a member of NACAC to attend.

Objectives:

• Analyze access issues like FAFSA, recent Supreme Court decisions and others, and their effects on access and recruiting.
• Identify other current challenges to equity.
• Discover best practices in Illinois for access and advising.
• Create actionable steps for improving postsecondary education equity.

Register by: Tuesday, December 2, 2024, 11:59 p.m. ET (10:59 p.m. CT)
*You do not need to be a NACAC member to attend*

Agenda & Speakers:

Session #1: Ensuring College Advising Amplifies Student Voice
Students and institutions have changed drastically over the years, and it is important for college advising to keep up. While the Supreme Court's decision in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard/UNC limited what demographic information application readers can see, it does not limit what students or counselors can say about the applicant's background. How can school counselors and college advisors ensure that students feel comfortable sharing the full breadth of their stories? What do colleges and universities feel is the best way to learn about the experiences of applicants as it relates to their racial and ethnic background? There are few other fields where it is more important to meet people where they are than college advising and this session's goal is to yield best practices that can be shared throughout the counseling and advising community.
Speakers: Illinois ACAC representative and admission representatives from UIUC and/or UChicago

Session #2: Ensuring Direct Admissions Works
As some institutions across the country returned to mandating submitting test scores, this is a prime opportunity to engage and learn strategies to ensure direct admissions works for the students of Illinois. This session will allow participants to discuss how direct admissions should be implemented in Illinois. How can institutions, counselors, and policymakers come together and ensure that burdens are, in fact, reduced for students? It will be important to distill principles around communication and engagement as well as establish roles for educational stakeholders to ensure success.
Speakers: Governor's Office representative and Ginger Ostro, IBHE

Session #3: Recovery from Five Years of Upheaval
The first year of the new "Better FAFSA" left many students, families, educators, and institutions confused and frustrated through their FAFSA experience. Some students even opted out of higher education either because they were unable to complete the FAFSA in time, they did not receive their financial aid award letter with sufficient time to cover any gaps, or they were simply turned off by the whole situation. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the FAFSA that caused students from underserved communities to stop out, the COVID-19 pandemic had an outsized effect on students who came from similar backgrounds. What can Illinois, K-12, and higher education do to re-engage students that have stopped out to return to their educational journeys and what can we do to ensure that the effects of the last few years of upheaval are mitigated as soon as possible?
Speaker: Amanda Janice Roberson, Vice President of Operations, Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP)

Questions? Contact Gracy Olmeda at golmeda@nacacnet.org or Jennifer Brown at jbrown@nacacnet.org.

Learn more and register today!

Registration Open for 12th Annual Success Network Conference – Register Today!
Sent to Financial Aid Directors and Financial Aid Administrators on November 15, 2024.

Join colleagues from across the state on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, for the Illinois Education and Career Success Network's 12th annual conference, themed Building the Future We Want: Increasing Equitable Postsecondary Attainment. This year's in-person, one-day conference will be held at I Hotel & Illinois Conference Center in Champaign, Illinois. The conference is an engaging learning opportunity designed for leaders from secondary and postsecondary education, local and state government, community-based organizations, policy advocates, grantmakers, employers, and other stakeholders interested in equitably increasing postsecondary attainment in Illinois.

Early Bird Pricing: A special price of $65 is now available for the first 100 registrants. Prices will increase to $75 once the early bird spots sell out, so register now!

The Illinois Education and Career Success Network (formerly the Illinois 60 by 2025 Network) is a growing network of communities in Illinois that are committed to advancing equitable postsecondary attainment. The Network was launched and is organized by: Advance Illinois, Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University (EdSystems), and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC).

Certify 2024-25 iGrow Tech Scholarships
Sent to Financial Aid Directors and Financial Aid Administrators on November 13, 2024.

Unless otherwise noted, links in this message are to corresponding pages at the Illinois Student Assistance (ISAC) website (isac.org).

The following provides important updates regarding the 2024-25 Illinois Graduate and Retain Our Workforce (iGROW) Tech Scholarship Program.

2024-25 Certification Data Being Accepted

Effective today (Wednesday, November 13, 2024), colleges may certify 2024-25 iGROW Tech Scholarship eligibility using the iGROW system.

In order to ensure qualified applicants are considered when awarding takes place, colleges are encouraged to complete and submit all certifications as soon as possible, and preferably before December 15, 2024.

Reminders

• iGROW Tech certification takes place prior to the awarding process [similar to the certification process of the Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship Program].
• iGROW Tech certification is done for the academic year (rather than by term).
  • Colleges verify recipients' enrollment status by term as part of the payment request process, which will be implemented after awarding has taken place.
• As part of the certification process, Title IV institutions must provide the applicant's Student Aid Index (SAI).
  • Enter a value from 0 [zero] through 999999.
  • Report the SAI from the valid Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) or Alternative Application Student Record on which a student's financial aid would be based, as of the date that certification is completed (i.e., the date the college submits iGROW Tech Scholarhips certification data to ISAC).
  • If changes are pending that will impact the student's SAI (e.g., corrections, verification, or professional judgment reviews), the college may choose to postpone submitting certification data for the student until after the transaction reflecting the revised SAI has been received.
• All certification records available in the system must be completed, regardless of whether the college certifies a student as eligible or ineligible and regardless of whether the student is currently enrolled.
• The iGROW system is available each day from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. (CT).

The iGROW Tech User Guide, which will be available soon, will include details regarding functionality to certify student eligibility for this program, as well as an explanation of cyclical program processes.

Future Updates

Watch for future 2024-25 iGROW Tech updates – including details about awarding and the payment process, once available – via our usual methods of communication (including the iGROW Tech Program News area, the FAA Message Board, and ISAC's e-Messaging service).

November Training Events from ISAC & ILASFAA
Sent to Financial Aid Directors, Financial Aid Administrators, Public Schools – Participating in the ING Grant and IVG Programs, MAP Users, Business Officers, ECACE Administrators, and NES Schools on November 6, 2024.

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) will offer the following webinars for financial aid administrators during the month of November:

• Tuesday, November 12, 10 a.m. – A Review of the Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant and Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) Programs
• Wednesday, November 27, 10 a.m. – Monthly Operational Update and Program News

To participate, visit the Partner Training page in the e-Library on the day of the event to access the webinar link and presentation materials.

ILASFAA Fall Workshops

The ILASFAA Training & Professional Development Committee will offer in-person one-day Fall Workshops at two different locations (from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day):

• Friday, November 15 at Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL
• Tuesday, November 19 at Rend Lake College, Ina, IL

Questions about the ILASFAA Fall Workshops may be directed to ILASFAA Training & Professional Development Committee chairs Alexiss Underwood at adavis11@illinois.edu or Sherry Schonauer at Sherry.Schonauer@Illinois.gov.

Teacher Program Enrollment Verification Update
Sent to Financial Aid Directors and Financial Aid Administrators on November 4, 2024.

Unless otherwise noted, links in this message are to corresponding pages at the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) website (isac.org).

2023-2024 Enrollment Verification Data Due December 31
(Data Now Being Accepted)

ISAC is now accepting 2023-2024 enrollment verification data for students who previously received funds from ISAC-administered teacher programs.

• Beginning today – Monday, November 4, 2024 – enrollment verification data for the Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver (SETTW) Program and the Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship Program is available via each program's system within the GAP Access portal.
• Data is to be completed by the college and returned to ISAC as soon as possible, verifying award recipients' current enrollment status. In order to be considered timely, all data must be submitted on or before Tuesday, December 31, 2024.
• As a reminder, 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 program requirements.
  • The sooner colleges submit enrollment verification data to ISAC, the sooner ISAC can communicate with impacted award recipients.

Reporting Enrollment Status

• For the MTI Scholarship and Illinois SETTW programs:
  • From the MTI or SETTW system "Home" page within GAP Access, select the prior academic year (in this case, "2023-2024") from the "Academic Year" drop-down menu, and then click on the "Enrollment Status Verification" tab.
  • If the current academic year (in this case, "2024-2025") is selected, the "Enrollment Status Verification" listing will be blank.
  • The reason the academic year must be selected for enrollment verification is that other functionalities (for example, certification and payment) also reside in the MTI and SETTW systems.
• For the Illinois SETTW Program Only:
  • Colleges must submit Tuition Waiver Conversion (TWC) data for all SETTW recipients who are not enrolled or are no longer eligible to receive the waiver. Further instructions for submitting TWC data via the SETTW system are provided in the Enrollment Status Verification for the Teacher Programs User Guide.
• Data should be reported based on each student's last date of enrollment in the required teaching program.
• If the "Enrollment Status" is anything other than "In School," the "Effective Date" also must be provided. A listing of valid "Enrollment Status" options may be found in the Enrollment Status Verification for the Teacher Programs User Guide.
• If the student remains enrolled in the required teaching program for 2024-2025, indicate such with the "In School" status; those students will continue to appear with future-year data.

Reminder: In order for staff to view enrollment status verification data, the institution's GAP Access administrator must ensure that access to this functionality has been granted (both for themselves and other staff, as appropriate). Further details regarding this process are provided in the "Security Access" section that appears at the bottom of this message.

Making Revisions After Data Has Been Submitted

Enrollment status verification data is available to be updated only if the information has not yet been submitted to ISAC. Colleges must contact School Services for changes that need to be made after the data has been submitted.

Resources Available Online

Further details and instructions regarding the enrollment verification process may be accessed by selecting the appropriate links below:

• Enrollment Status Verification
• Enrollment Status Verification for the Teacher Programs User Guide
• Program Requirements

Security Access

GAP Access User Guides provide institutions with step-by-step instructions for activating and monitoring user accounts. All users need a valid GAP Access ID and password to access the system. ISAC relies on a designated Primary Administrator (usually, the financial aid director) at each institution to authorize users and provide them with the appropriate level of access for each ISAC program.

Enrollment verification functionality for the teacher programs is available each day between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. (CT).

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ISAC UPDATE

October 2024 Electronic ISAC Update
Sent on November 1, 2024.

The October 2024 edition of the ISAC Update is now available for your review, and may be accessed via the Partner e-Messages & Newsletters section of the e-Library for Partners at isac.org. This version of the electronic ISAC Update is a compilation of e-Messages sent to financial aid administrators and business officers via ISAC's e-Messaging service over the past month.

Topics covered in the October 2024 ISAC Update include:

• Register for ILASFAA Fall Workshop by October 31
  (sent October 30, 2024)
• Upcoming Important Dates from ISAC
  (sent October 25, 2024)
• Financial Aid Directors Invited to Attend ILASFAA Workshop on November 4
  (sent October 22, 2024)
• October Webinars for FAAs
  (sent October 2, 2024)
• Certify 2024-25 Nursing Education Scholarships (NES)
  (sent October 1, 2024)
• September 2024 Electronic ISAC Update
  (sent October 1, 2024)

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