Welcome to the Counselor Zone

At your fingertips, High School Counselors/Personnel, College Admission Counselors, library and community agency staff have access to a centralized source of information concerning college planning, paying for school, and career planning information for students and their parents, as well as information concerning ISAC's programs, processes, and resources.

Counselor Message Board

The Counselor Message Board is updated each week. New messages for the week are identified by the symbol. Items under the More section, located toward the bottom of the page, provide links to information on topics that were recently listed on this Message Board.

 As you guide your college-bound students through the financial aid application process, be sure to regularly visit the “Important Dates” section of the 2012-13 FAFSA Completion area (located within the e-Library at collegeillinois.org) for a listing of the latest updates and electronic announcements from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Updates are listed in chronological order by month, and the most recent date on which new information was posted is indicated at the top of the page

Proposed administrative rules to accommodate the transition of funding from the Illinois Future Teachers Corps (IFTC) to the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program are available for review through the expiration of the public comment period on June 11, 2012.

Your college-bound seniors who may be planning to take out a Direct Subsidized Student Loan that will be disbursed on or after July 1, 2012 should be aware that – absent Congressional action - the interest rate for such loans will be set at 6.8% (which is double the 3.4% interest rate that applies to undergraduate Direct Subsidized Student Loans disbursed before July 1, 2012). Further details are provided in a recent posting from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) at Student Aid on the Web, along with a link to information regarding other new requirements for the federal student aid programs resulting from recent legislative changes.

A recent press release from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announces that 2012 Presidential Scholars have been selected. The outstanding high school seniors receiving this honor include one male and one female from each state, the District of Columbia (DC) and Puerto Rico, and from U.S. families living abroad. In addition, 15 high school seniors were chosen at-large, and 20 were named Presidential Scholars in the Arts. A ceremony honoring this year's Presidential Scholars will take place on June 16, 2012.

According to a May 1 electronic announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the updated 2012-13 Federal School Code (FSC) List of Participating Schools is available to access via the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website. The FSC List, which contains the unique codes assigned by ED for schools participating in the Title IV federal student aid programs, is only available electronically (as a PDF or Microsoft Excel XLS file) - it is no longer distributed in hard-copy format. Updated PDF and XLS files are posted at IFAP on a quarterly basis.

As a high school counselor, you may receive questions from college-bound seniors who are having difficulty obtaining the income verification that might be required in order for the college to determine the student’s financial aid eligibility. To help you counsel your students, you may be interested in reviewing a recent Dear Colleague Letter (DCL GEN-12-07) in which the U.S. Department of Education (ED) provides updated guidance concerning the documentation that colleges must obtain to verify income and tax information.

As was explained in an e-mail message that was sent to students who may potentially be eligible for the Monetary Award Program (MAP), there are currently two fiscal year 2013 (FY13) budget proposals being considered for the State of Illinois. These two proposals would likely result in significantly different levels of 2012-13 MAP funding. Further details are provided on the Save MAP Funding page at collegeillinois.org.

As Illinois moves forward on its goal to increase the proportion of adults in Illinois with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60% by the year 2025, a second College Changes Everything conference will be held on July 12, 2012, at the Tinley Park Convention Center. Refer to the April 10 e-Message for further details, and watch for an upcoming announcement with information about conference registration.

An April 6 e-Message includes important reminders regarding the College Illinois Transcript Exchange (CITE), including the fact that participating colleges can register for "Docufide Receiver" (which will allow them to access transcripts that are sent by high schools via the College Illinois Transcript Exchange).

Note that, after the April 6 e-Message was sent, a new schedule was implemented for the informational webinar being offered for counselors whose high schools have not yet registered to participate in the College Illinois Transcript Exchange. There are now two remaining webinars that will be offered at 10 a.m. (CT) on the following Wednesdays during the summer of 2012: June 6 and July 11.

2012-13 State Scholars
      (announcements and sample press release)

2011-12 ISAC Administrative Rules

College Illinois!® Prepaid Tuition Program

State Legislative Update

Outreach Calendar/Events

U.S. Department of Education's Federal Aid First

Federal Student Aid's FAFSA4caster

FAFSA Completion Information