ISAC Announces Byrd Honors Scholars

1,128 Illinois students to receive $1,500 scholarship each

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) has announced the Illinois 2008-09 Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholars. This year’s honorees include 1,128 students selected from across the state, including 289 new scholars and 839 scholars who are renewing their award.

Each student will receive a $1,500 college scholarship for each of four years, with a 2008-09 appropriation of $1.72 million for Illinois students.

The Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholars Program is a federally-funded, state-administered scholarship program designed to recognize high school seniors who have exceptional grades and show promise of continued academic excellence.

The program was created in 1985 by U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D - WVA), the only person ever to earn an undergrad and law degree while serving in Congress. Byrd was inspired to create the merit-based federal scholarship after seeing bright, hard-working students from the West Virginia hills who could not afford college. In 1969, Byrd created a program to give every high school valedictorian in West Virginia a savings bond. That idea grew into the Byrd Honors Scholarship program which this year is awarding $40.3 million to 26,856 students nationwide.

“The Illinois Student Assistance Commission is so proud of our Byrd Honors Scholars,” said Andy Davis, ISAC Executive Director. “We salute them, as well as their families and teachers for this achievement.”

Awardees are selected by ISAC based on academic data from the end of the junior year, and ACT, SAT or Prairie State Achievement Exam scores. To ensure geographic balance, winners are chosen from 15 Illinois districts and on an at-large basis. There is no application to complete for the Byrd Honors Scholarship Program. Students are automatically considered when their high school guidance counselor submits information to ISAC for the selection process.

Initially, the Byrd Honors Scholarship was a one-time award, but since 1993, each winner could renew the scholarship annually for three more years. Once a student has been named a Byrd Honors Scholar, he or she may renew the award by maintaining satisfactory academic progress and full-time enrollment, and not defaulting on any student loans.

Davis urged every Illinois high school student to visit ISAC’s website (http://www.collegezone.com/) for information about the many college financial assistance programs available. The innovative site also offers career counseling services, a planning timeline, virtual campus tours and online applications.

Created in 1957, ISAC is the state’s central provider of college aid. The agency oversees the successful Monetary Award Program (MAP), as well as the Illinois Veteran Grant program and service-related programs to encourage students to pursue careers in teaching or nursing. Last year, ISAC issued 185,000 grants totaling $448 million and guaranteed $1.2 billion in student loans. Its 529 prepaid tuition program – College Illinois! – has enabled 27,000 Illinois families to prepay more than $1 billion in tuition and fees.