Public Accountability Report

Since its inception in 1957, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) has been committed to helping make education after high school accessible and affordable for students throughout Illinois. ISAC provides comprehensive, objective, and timely information on higher education and financial aid for students and their families, giving them access to the tools they need to make the educational choices that are right for them. Then, through the state’s need-based grant program, the Monetary Award Program (MAP), and other scholarship and grant programs ISAC operates, ISAC can help students make those choices a reality.

ISAC offers a comprehensive array of programs and services for Illinois students and families to assist them in navigating the college and financial aid process, with a particular focus on assisting students who are low-income and those who will be the first in their family to earn a college degree. The agency also administers most of the state grant and scholarship programs available to postsecondary students in Illinois, helping to ensure millions of dollars in aid are appropriately awarded to qualified applicants. In addition, ISAC administers a growing number of loan repayment and forgiveness programs.

The fiscal year 2025 MAP appropriation of $711 million served more than 151,000 Illinois students (25% of undergraduate students at MAP-eligible schools), helping them meet tuition and fee costs at community colleges, public universities, and private institutions. The average taxable income of families eligible for fiscal year 2025 MAP grants was about $34,059. The effective fiscal year 2025 maximum MAP award was $8,064, representing nearly 47% of the fiscal year 2025 mean-weighted tuition and fees amount of $17,339 at an Illinois public university. This did not quite meet the goal set forth in A Thriving Illinois, the state's strategic plan for higher education, to provide 50% coverage of tuition and fees to the neediest students at public institutions. While the state’s goal was met in fiscal year 2024, tuition and fees continued to rise in fiscal year 2025, as did application volume. The increased MAP funding in fiscal year 2025 was used to offer awards to more students, rather than increase award size. Even so, due to an increase in application volume (after a 10-year downward trend), not all eligible students were offered awards. Of the 85% of eligible applicants offered awards, 71% accepted their MAP grants.

ISAC operates the state’s 529 prepaid tuition program, College Illinois!®,  which has been closed to new enrollments since 2017. A 2022 supplemental appropriation of $230 million to the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund significantly addressed the program’s unfunded liability. As of June 30, 2024, the program is fully funded and the June 30, 2025 report reaffirmed this assessment. As always, the funded status of the plan is expected to fluctuate based on a number of factors, including tuition and fee inflation and investment performance. While the program remains closed to new enrollments, it continues to operate as usual for current contract-holders, with no change in benefit payments, customer service, or plan administration.

One of ISAC’s primary functions is outreach intended to help families navigate the postsecondary education and financial aid process. Each year, the ISACorps™, a group of recent college graduates who are trained to serve as near-peer mentors to high school students, provides statewide support to students and families at college fairs, workshops, and other outreach events, as well as through one-on-one in-person and virtual meetings. Support in Spanish is also available. ISAC’s First Generation Scholars Network (FGSN) supports students who will be the first in their family to earn a degree, connecting them with other first-gen students and with ISAC mentors and resources to help ensure a smooth and successful transition before and during their first year of college. In connection with FGSN, ISAC also hosts the ISAC First Up podcast, which offers informative conversation, advice, and stories about the challenges — and triumphs — that many first-generation college students and their families experience. Find the ISAC First Up podcast on PodBean, https://isacfirstgen.podbean.com/.

In addition, ISAC conducts numerous professional development and training sessions that reach hundreds of ISAC partners annually, including high school counselors, advisors, and college financial aid administrators. ISAC serves as the Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) trainer for the state, assisting school districts in developing and implementing a framework that is required for all Illinois public school districts. ISAC also offers webinars for student loan borrowers on student loan forgiveness programs like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. As with student and parent services, these training sessions are provided virtually and in person.

ISAC’s website and social media continue to provide in-depth information for students and families to help guide them through the postsecondary education and financial aid process. The agency’s Student Portal offers students free tools and resources to make more informed choices about college and financial aid, find scholarships, improve financial literacy, and even find jobs and other career resources. ISAC’s College Minute™ videos provide students and parents with quick, accessible, and easily digestible information about college planning and financial aid, and live-streamed YouTube events offer students and families an additional opportunity to get important college and financial aid information, and real-time answers to their questions. A free text messaging service, ISAC College Q&A, allows students to get answers to their college and financial aid questions sent directly to their phones.

ISAC is supporting 13 middle and high schools through its second, seven-year Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant, a federal discretionary grant program designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.

Students are always the number one priority at ISAC. College costs continue to rise, and the need for a workforce with postsecondary training continues to grow. ISAC remains committed to providing Illinois students with information and assistance to help make education beyond high school accessible and affordable.