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 holiday, ISAC offices will be closed on Monday, February 13, reopening on Tuesday, February 14. Access collegeillinois.org anytime, or send an e-mail message to the ISAC Call Center for questions or inquiries.

Online resources are available to assist your son or daughter in deciding which Illinois college to attend. Encourage your student to use the Explore Schools option of the What's Next Illinois website to locate Illinois colleges that meet the specific selection requirements they choose. Also check out the Handbook of Illinois Postsecondary Institutions and the interactive Map of Illinois Colleges (which are available for students at collegeillinois.org) to help your child narrow the search.

If your son or daughter plans to teach in Illinois after completing their college degree, remind them that March 1, 2012 is the priority consideration date to apply for the 2012-13 Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship and Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver (SETTW) programs. Applications for each of these programs can be accessed at the collegeillinois.org website.

The 2012-13 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is available online, and should be completed as early as possible. Although some taxpayers may need to delay the filing of their tax returns, families in this situation are encouraged to complete the FAFSA with estimated tax information so as not to delay its filing. Several resources are available to assist students and their families with the financial aid application process, including an Outreach Activities Calendar that lists FAFSA completion seminars and other events taking place across the State of Illinois and FAFSA on the Web Worksheets (in English and Spanish) that can help streamline the FAFSA process.

More

2012-13 State Scholar Announcements

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