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VOL. 25, NO. 1IGSL, 1B
July 2007
Welcome to the July 2007 ISAC Update for financial aid administrators and business officers. This version of the electronic ISAC Update is a compilation of e-Messages sent through College Zone’s e-Messaging service throughout July. This e-Messaging service has replaced ISAC’s use of printed newsletters, the ILASFAA ListServ, and special e-mail lists as our primary means of communicating information to you.
The articles in this Update have been organized according to the FAA Zone subscription groups to which the messages were distributed via College Zone’s e-Messaging service.
Questions?
Questions regarding information in this ISAC Update can be directed to School Services at 866.247.2172 or at schoolservices@isac.org. 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
Suspension of 2007-08 IIA Program Award Announcements
Sent to Financial Aid Directors, Financial Aid Administrators, MAPnet Users and Business Officers on July 31, 2007 Suspension of IIA Award Announcements Effective
August 7, 2007
Due to current trends in the number of eligible applicants and expected payment claim rates, the anticipated appropriations for the 2007-08 Silas Purnell Illinois Incentive for Access (IIA) Program are fully committed. As a result, ISAC will suspend the announcement of IIA grants for all students whose initial 2007-08 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is received by the Central Processing System (CPS) on or after August 7, 2007. This affects freshman students with zero Expected Family Contributions (EFCs) regardless of enrollment status. The IIA Suspension of Award Announcements page has been updated at collegezone.com.
ISAC will evaluate the status of suspended awards as more information becomes available and, if application volume and claim rates support such action, may release some suspended awards.
Information regarding anticipated suspension of Monetary Award Program (MAP) award announcements is provided in the last section of this message.
Student Award Announcements
Colleges will need to suspend announcements of IIA awards to students whose initial FAFSA receipt date is on or after
August 7, 2007.
Identifying Records in Suspension Status
Student records with IIA awards in suspension status will be notated in MAPnet and the Eligibility Status File (ESF) by a code of "S" in the "IIA Suspend" field, and IIA records not in suspension status will show a code of "N" in this field. The "IIA Suspend" code displays in MAPnet on the "Student Detail," "Edit MAP Code," and "Student List Eligibility: View" screens, and is included as a selection option for viewing on the Filter screen. The field is also included on the IIA Eligibility Report within MAPnet.
Suspension of 2007-08 MAP Award Announcements Anticipated for Mid-August
If current trends continue, ISAC anticipates suspending the announcement of 2007-08 MAP grants in mid-August. As specific details become available, we will keep you apprised via standard College Zone communications (e.g., Message Boards,
e-Messages, and/or Program News updates).
2006-07 MAP Late Claims Released Through July 1, 2007
Sent to Financial Aid Directors, Financial Aid Administrators, MAPnet Users, and Business Offices on July 17, 2007 2006-07 Monetary Award Program (MAP) late claim requests that were received at ISAC on or before Sunday, July 1, 2007 have been released for payment and processed, with all results available via MAPnet as of today (Tuesday, July 17, 2007).
No additional 2006-07 MAP late claims will be released.
Please refer to the July 10th e-Message for details regarding accessing payment results via MAPnet, as well as reminders about returning amounts owed and generating reports for
2006-07 MAP.
Commission Meeting to be Held Friday, July 20, 2007
Sent to Financial Aid Directors and Financial Aid Administrators on July 16, 2007 The next regular meeting of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday, July 20th at Kankakee Community College in Kankakee.
The tentative agenda for the meeting includes:
- Medium Term Financing Facility
- Partial Sale of Student Loan Portfolio
- College Illinois! Prepaid Tuition Plan Marketing Agent Selection
- College Illinois! Prepaid Tuition Plan Investment Consultant Selection
- Executive Session
There will be no Executive Briefing Conference Call following the July Commission Meeting.
2006-07 IIA Program Late Claims Released Through
July 1, 2007
Sent to Financial Aid Directors, Financial Aid Administrators, MAPnet Users, and Business Offices on July 13, 2007 2006-07 Silas Purnell Illinois Incentive for Access (IIA) Program late claim requests that were received at ISAC on or before Sunday, July 1, 2007 have been released for payment and processed, with all results available via MAPnet as of today (Friday, July 13, 2007).
No additional 2006-07 IIA Program late claims will be released.
Please refer to the July 9th e-Message for details regarding accessing payment results via MAPnet, as well as reminders about returning amounts owed and generating reports for the
2006-07 IIA Program.
2006-07 MAP Late Claims Being Released for Payment
Sent to Financial Aid Directors, Financial Aid Administrators, MAPnet Users, and Business Offices on July 10, 2007 Late claims (payment requests received after the applicable priority claim deadline) received at ISAC for the 2006-07 Monetary Award Program (MAP) will be released for payment according to the following schedule:
- On Friday (July 13, 2007), late claims received on or before April 30, 2007 will be processed. Payment results will be available in MAPnet on Monday,
July 16, 2007.
- On Monday (July 16th), ISAC staff will evaluate the amount of funds that remain available after the completion of Friday's processing, and then determine if additional late claims can be released. If so, processing will take place on July 16th for claims received beginning on May 1, 2007 and continuing through the latest date possible (if there are sufficient remaining funds, claims received through July 1, 2007 will be processed). Payment results will be available in MAPnet on Tuesday, July 17, 2007. A separate e-Message will also be sent on July 17th, notifying schools of the date through which 2006-07 MAP late claims were processed.
MAP records held as late claims are identified in MAPnet with a Reject Reason Code of "Y." Results for late payment requests that are processed will be available via MAPnet as outlined above. Payment results will appear on MAPnet's Payment Results reports, Student List Payment screen and the Payment Detail screens for MAP.
Claims received after July 1, 2007 will not be paid since July 1st was the final date by which claims were to have been received at ISAC for 2006-07 payment processing.
Returning Amounts Owed
Note: Because late claim payments will impact any amounts owed to ISAC, please hold manual refund checks until after the release of late claims.
ISAC staff continues to monitor 2006-07 MAP data and, as necessary, will send letters to financial aid directors containing the projected outstanding amount each institution is expected to refund to ISAC. You will be notified via the usual means of communication (e-Messages, the FAA Message Board and/or the MAP Program News section at collegezone.com) as letters are sent.
Due to the offset process, funds are to be returned to ISAC only after a final reconciliation has been completed to close out the regular school year. Business officers are encouraged to work with staff from their institution's financial aid office to reconcile student awards and accounts. When returning funds to ISAC, be sure to include proper documentation [including the current version of the Gift Assistance Programs Check Return Form, which includes a field to specify the term(s) for which funds are being returned and is dated "4/06" in the footer]. As a reminder, do not send refund checks to ISAC without providing the appropriate corresponding adjustment data via MAPnet.
Cancellations to previously paid awards that result in refunds will continue to be accepted and processed through MAPnet until July 27, 2007. July 27th is the last date that cancellations, refunds, or reductions may be submitted via MAPnet.
Reminder: Run 2006-07 MAPnet Reports Prior to August 3rd
Effective August 3, 2007, the MAPnet application for 2006-07 becomes available for historical view only. Be sure to generate all necessary 2006-07 reports prior to this date, including Payment Results Reports and Payment Results Summary Reports. Instructions for generating these reports are provided in the Payment (for MAP and the Silas Purnell Illinois Incentive for Access Program) and MAP Plus Payment (for the Monetary Award Program Plus) chapters of the 2006-07 MAPnet User Guide.
2006-07 IIA Program Late Claims Being Released This Week
Sent to Financial Aid Directors, Financial Aid Administrators, MAPnet Users, and Business Offices on July 9, 2007 Late claims (payment requests received after the applicable priority claim deadline) received at ISAC for the 2006-07 Silas Purnell Illinois Incentive for Access (IIA) Program will be released for payment this week, according to the following schedule:
- On Wednesday (July 11, 2007), late claims received on or before March 31, 2007 will be processed. Payment results will be available in MAPnet on Thursday,
July 12, 2007.
- On Thursday (July 12th), ISAC staff will evaluate the amount of funds that remain available after the completion of Wednesday's processing, and then determine if additional late claims can be released. If so, processing will take place on July 12th for claims received beginning on April 1, 2007 and continuing through the latest date possible (if there are sufficient remaining funds, claims received through July 1, 2007 will be processed). Payment results will be available in MAPnet on Friday, July 13, 2007. A separate e-Message will also be sent on July 13th, notifying schools of the date through which 2006-07 IIA late claims were processed.
IIA Program records held as late claims are identified in MAPnet with a Reject Reason Code of "Y." Results for late payment requests that are processed this week will be available via MAPnet as outlined above. Payment results will appear on MAPnet's Payment Results reports, Student List Payment screen and the Payment Detail screens for IIA.
Claims received after July 1, 2007 will not be paid since July 1st was the final date by which claims were to have been received at ISAC for 2006-07 payment processing.
Returning Amounts Owed
On July 6th, letters were mailed to financial aid directors containing the projected outstanding amount each institution is expected to refund to ISAC for the IIA Program. The amount indicated in the letter is reflective of activity reported to ISAC to date. Any subsequent reconciliation transactions would impact the final returned amount.
Due to the offset process, funds are to be returned to ISAC only after a final reconciliation has been completed to close out the regular school year. Business officers are encouraged to work with staff from their institution's financial aid office to reconcile student awards and accounts.
The final outstanding amount due, with proper documentation, is to be returned to ISAC on or before July 20, 2007. Be sure to use the current version of the Gift Assistance Programs Check Return Form, which includes a field to specify the term(s) for which funds are being returned and is dated "4/06" in the footer. As a reminder, do not send refund checks to ISAC without providing the appropriate corresponding adjustment data via MAPnet.
Cancellations to previously paid awards that result in refunds will continue to be accepted and processed through MAPnet until July 27, 2007. July 27th is the last date that cancellations, refunds, or reductions may be submitted via MAPnet.
Reminder: Run 2006-07 MAPnet Reports Prior to August 3rd
Effective August 3, 2007, the MAPnet application for
2006-07 becomes available for historical view only. Be sure to generate all necessary 2006-07 reports prior to this date, including Payment Results Reports and Payment Results Summary Reports. Instructions for generating these reports are provided in the Payment (for the Monetary Award Program and IIA Program) and MAP Plus Payment (for the Monetary Award Program Plus) chapters of the 2006-07 MAPnet User Guide.
State Legislative Update Posted (July 9, 2007)
Sent to Financial Aid Directors and Financial Aid Administrators on July 9, 2007 A new State Legislative Update has been posted for your reference at collegezone.com. This Update, dated
July 9, 2007, reflects activity which has taken place during the 95th Illinois General Assembly spring session since the date of our last Update.
As you are likely aware, after failure to meet the June 30th deadline to establish a budget for the new fiscal year which began on July 1st, a one-month maintenance budget was approved on July 2nd, keeping state government operating while discussions continue on a comprehensive 12-month budget.
As always, we remind you that the session has not yet concluded and the status of the bills contained in the Update, and any other new proposals, will likely change as compromises and agreements are reached. ISAC staff will continue to monitor the progress of all bills relating to higher education throughout the remainder of the session and post new Updates as appropriate. The State Legislative Update can be accessed through College Zone's e-Library, #13, ISAC Announcements, Press Releases & State Legislative Updates. We will notify you when a new Update is posted.
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FINANCIAL AID ADMINISTRATORS
Website Outage this Afternoon
Sent on July 23, 2007
Due to unforeseen technological issues, access to collegezone.com will be interrupted later this afternoon.
While it is expected that the maintenance necessary to resolve the issue will take a maximum of only 5 minutes once initiated at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon, a worst-case scenario could involve collegezone.com being unavailable until sometime tomorrow, Tuesday, July 24th. Please bear with us if you're unable to access our Web site during this time.
If the expected outage extends into Tuesday, we will notify you via this e-Messaging service once access to collegezone.com has been restored.
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FINANCIAL AID DIRECTORS
Seeking Your Feedback
Sent on July 10, 2007 Earlier this week, we sent reminder letters to financial aid directors asking for a few minutes of your time to complete the recently mailed School Satisfaction Survey. Your feedback through the survey, assessing ISAC's products and services, is invaluable to us as we strive to better serve not only the college-bound students of Illinois, but also you - our partners in providing access to higher education.
If you have already completed and returned the survey, we appreciate your promptness. If you haven't yet done so, we'd like to hear from you as soon as possible. A second copy of the survey, as well as a postage-paid envelope were provided with the reminder mailing for your convenience in returning the survey to us. Any questions regarding the survey can be directed to Shana Rogers at srogers@isac.org or 217.782.8741.
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PUBLIC SCHOOLS - PARTICIPATING IN THE ING GRANT AND IVG PROGRAMS
FTP File Specifications for the 2007-08 IVG Program Now Available at College Zone
Sent on July 20, 2007
File layout specifications to allow for the transmission of 2007-08 Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) Program payment claims via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) are now available to download or view online via the Electronic Tools section of the e-Library at collegezone.com.
This information is being provided to assist schools as they prepare for the upcoming launch of IVG Payment Online, which will allow schools to submit IVG Program payment requests via FTP, as well as via the My Zone portal. ISAC will notify schools once we are ready to begin accepting summer term claims for IVG (currently, anticipated for late summer). As a reminder, IVG Payment Online replaces the paper and diskette processes with a secure, electronic method of submitting payment claims for the IVG Program. In order to safeguard your students' confidential data, please do not submit any 2007-08 payment claims (for any terms, including summer) via diskette or paper.
Reminders
- Schools that previously created IVG Program data for diskettes should now create data in a format for FTP exchange.
- The same FTP access that is used for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) will also be used to exchange IVG data via FTP.
- Contact a School Services Representative (as indicated below) for assistance in being set up to exchange data via FTP.
Future Updates
Watch for future e-Messages, and continue to regularly visit the IVG Program News section at collegezone.com, for more details (including specific implementation dates, etc.) regarding the availability of this new enhancement to My Zone's Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) Program area.
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FFELP PARTICIPANTS
Latest School DAAR Report Available
Sent on July 3, 2007 and July 18, 2007
The Notification of Student Loan Borrower DAAR Status report (School DAAR Report) for your school is now available on College Zone's My Zone. This online version has replaced the paper rosters ISAC sent in the past.
The School DAAR Report is non-cumulative and is available twice a month to those institutions with students for whom ISAC, as the guarantor, has received a Default Aversion Assistance Request (DAAR) during the reporting time period. Each time a new School DAAR Report is made available online, an e-Message will be sent to the "FFELP Participants" e-Messaging subscription group.
Accessing School DAAR Reports at My Zone
My Zone is a portal available in the FAA Zone at collegezone.com that allows postsecondary schools online access to student-specific data in a secure environment. If you have not yet signed up to participate in My Zone, proceed to the FAA Zone front page and select the My Zone Quick Link.
For complete information and instructions to access your school's DAAR Report, proceed to the FAA Zone front page and select the My Zone Quick Link in the right margin of the page.
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ISAC UPDATE GROUP
Electronic ISAC Update for June 2007 Available at College Zone
Sent on July 2, 2007 The June 2007 edition of the ISAC Update is now available for your review within the ISAC Publications section of College Zone's e-Library. This version of the monthly electronic ISAC Update is a compilation of e-Messages sent to financial aid administrators and business officers in June via College Zone's e-Messaging service.
Topics covered in the June 2007 ISAC Update include:
- MAP Recompute Successfully Implemented - 2007-08 MAPnet System Available
(sent June 29, 2007)
- 2007-08 Recompute Formula - Reflected in MAPnet
June 29th
(sent June 26, 2007)
- 2006-07 MAP Plus Late Claims Released on June 22, 2007
(sent June 25, 2007)
- Commission Meeting Summary: 2007-08 MAP Recompute Formula Approved
(sent June 22, 2007)
- IVG Payment Online Status Update
(sent June 19, 2007)
- Commission Meeting to be Held Friday, June 22, 2007
(sent June 15, 2007)
- Update on MAP Payment Status
(sent June 11, 2007)
- State Legislative Update Posted (June 8, 2007)
(sent June 8, 2007)
- Results of 2006-07 MAP Plus Payment Run (June 1st) Now Available in MAPnet
(sent June 5, 2007)
- Latest School DAAR Report Available
(sent June 4, 2007 and June 19, 2007)
- Returning Amounts Owed for 2006-07 IIA
(sent June 1, 2007)
- Electronic ISAC Update for May 2007 Available at College Zone
(sent June 1, 2007)
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