Suspension of MAP Award Announcements

Suspension of 2020-21-20 MAP Award Announcements

Identifying MAP Records in Suspension

Identifying MAP Records Released from Suspension

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 the processing of award announcements in order to remain within appropriated funding levels, such action is applied concurrently to all students.

The status of suspended awards will be evaluated as more information becomes available and, if application volume and claim rates support such action, some suspended awards may be released. Any suspended awards that might be released in the future would remain subject to the MAP priority considerations dates of the academic year that awards are suspended.

Suspension of 2020-21-20 MAP Award Announcements

ISAC is suspending the announcement of 2020-21 MAP grants for all students whose initial FAFSA® was received by the Central Processing System (CPS), or whose initial Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid is received by ISAC, on or after Wednesday, July 1, 2020. Effective July 2, MAP records in suspension will be available in the MAP system via the GAP Access portal and show on the appropriate screens and reports, as well as in the MAP Eligibility File Extraction.

Operational Information:

MAP records in suspension status will be indicated by a MAP Susp Code of “S” (S = New application received after the suspense date will not be considered for an award this year) in MAP system screens and reports, and in the MAP Eligibility File Extraction.

The 2020-21 MAP Applicant Award Status Chart provides an overview of categories for students based on the initial application (FAFSA) receipt date.

Colleges must suspend announcements of MAP awards whose initial FAFSA receipt date is on or after July 1, 2020. ISAC is not notifying affected applicants that their awards have been placed in suspension status. Schools are advised to communicate announcement information to students with suspended awards as prescribed in school policy and procedure.

The MAP system contains filters that will allow colleges to identify student records and create a custom report of those records placed in suspension status. Refer to the Identifying MAP Records in Suspension section below for information on how to identify.

Identifying MAP Records in Suspension

Schools may want to identify student records placed into suspension for a variety of reasons (i.e., file review, packaging, etc.). MAP records in suspension status will be indicated by a code of "S" in the “MAP Suspend” field on the MAP system via the GAP Access portal, reports and in the Eligibility Status File (ESF). New applications received after the suspense date will not be considered for an award.

The MAP system via GAP Access contains filters that allow colleges to identify student records and create a report. Refer to the instructions to run a report of suspended student records.

Identifying MAP Records Released from Suspension

Financial Aid Office or Business Office staff will want to be able to identify student records that have been released from suspension. There's no indicator in the system that identifies which student records were released; the suspense flag ("S") is simply removed. When records are released from suspense, ISAC will create an Eligibility Status File (ESF) update that will remove the "S" from the "MAP Suspend" field on MAP system screens and from the ESF Extraction Suspense Flag (position 94). Schools may then use their standard procedure to request payment for eligible students.

Below are two different options, or filters, to use in creating a report to identify student records released from suspension.

Prior to the release of suspended records, create a report of Suspended Student Records Using the Suspense Flag. This report can be used later to determine which released student records may be eligible for MAP payment. Colleges will be notified via the e-Messaging service in College Zone when the release of suspended MAP records will take place.

After the release of suspended records, colleges should use the initial "Application Receipt Date" filter in the system to create a listing of student records using a date range of released records. For example, by using the 2019-20 release from suspension dates (May 27, 2019 through and including June 26, 2019), a report can be created that will identify students by application receipt date.

The 'Application Receipt Date' filter is not restricted to use with suspension, it may be used for any type of student listing using a date range. This filter is also available on the Student List Payment screen.