Whether you have a child planning for, currently attending, or graduating from college, College Zone can help you help them.

Click on the appropriate link (at left) to identify your child’s current grade or experience level.

Parent Message Board

The Parent 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.

 In observance of the Lincoln's Birthday and Presidents' Day holidays, ISAC offices will be closed on Friday, February 12th and Monday, February 15th. Our offices will reopen on Tuesday, February 16th. Access collegezone.com anytime, or send an e-mail message to an ISAC College Zone Counselor for questions or inquiries.

 The Higher Education Federal Tax Benefits Guide - 2009 Tax Year is available for students and parents at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) Web site. This document provides general guidance to federal education-related tax benefits, and includes links to more detailed information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Another valuable resource is the IRS Tax Benefits for Education: Information Center.

Parents: encourage your college students - whether current or future student loan borrowers - to review Your Federal Student Loans: Learn the Basics and Manage Your Debt. This publication from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) provides valuable information, including what types of federal student loans are available, how to successfully repay a loan, how private and federal student loans differ, what the consequences are when a loan goes into default status, and how to effectively manage debt.

If your son or daughter plans to teach in Illinois after completing their college degree, remind them that
March 1, 2010 is the priority consideration date to apply for the 2010-11 Illinois Future Teacher Corps (IFTC) Program (for college juniors and above), Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship Program, and Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver (SETTW) Program. Applications for each of these programs can be accessed here at College Zone.

The 2010-11 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available online, and should be completed as early as possible. When completing the FAFSA on the Web, remember that both you and your dependent student must use an electronic Personal Identification Number (PIN) from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Each individual obtains a PIN one time, and that same PIN is then used when completing each year's FAFSA.

Check out the College Zone Outreach Calendar for a listing of outreach events in Illinois, including College Awareness & Preparation (CAP) and College Goal Sunday (CGS) events that can help your student complete the financial aid application process. Several FAFSA completion seminars and other events will take place across the State of Illinois throughout the spring. Plan to attend the event that best fits your family's schedule.

More

2010-11 State Scholars

College Illinois!® 529 Prepaid Tuition Program

State Legislative Update

Outreach Calendar/Events

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

List of ISAC's Participating Lenders

Federal Student Aid's FAFSA4caster

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