MRS Payment

First Disbursement

The completed MRS Application, certified by the financial aid office, serves as the school’s payment request for the first disbursement. The school certification portion of the application requests the FAA to verify that the student is enrolled on at least a half-time basis and is:

• not in receipt of a baccalaureate degree;
• a resident of Illinois;
• a U.S. citizen or permanent resident;
• in compliance with federal Selective Service registration requirements; and
• in good academic standing.

Certified applications must be submitted to ISAC by the scheduled dates printed on the back of the MRS Application for payment processing. Additional payment dates may be scheduled by ISAC as necessary.

ISAC processes payment for the MRS Program on the scheduled dates and authorizes the State of Illinois Comptroller to issue the funds to the school. The award is made in two disbursements.

The student’s enrollment status is to be verified when each disbursement is received by the school. If the recipient has withdrawn from enrollment or drops to less-than-half-time status prior to receiving funds, the institution shall notify ISAC to prevent payment processing or, if funds have been received by the institution, the institution shall return the full amount of the funds to ISAC.

In an effort to streamline payment processing, ISAC has taken an initiative to modify the MRS Payment Authorization Roster and cover letter. This roster will now reflect the actual term in a single roster per term, eliminating multiple rosters for the same term, as well as providing a listing of all students for whom payments were processed, the amount for each student, the total amount for all students included in the payment run, and the invoice number. This roster along with a copy of the voucher is sent to the school. Either the voucher and/or invoice number from the MRS Payment Authorization Roster can be used to match with the check (or IPTIP transaction) that will follow from the State of Illinois Comptoller.

Second Disbursement

In order to request the second disbursements for MRS recipients, the institution responds to the MRS Payment Request Roster sent by ISAC with a cover letter and a College Certification Form. The students appearing on this roster are students for whom MRS applications were processed for first disbursement. Once students’ continued enrollments are verified, the roster is completed.

When completing the MRS Payment Request Roster, the columns labeled TERM and ENROLLED must contain codes specific to the information being requested for each student listed. The TERM field must contain one of the following codes which indicates the applicable term:

• 2 = 2nd semester
• 4 = 2nd quarter
• 5 = 3rd quarter
• 6 = summer semester
• 7 = summer quarter

The column labeled ENROLLED must contain one of the following codes which indicates each student’s enrollment status:

• F = Student enrolled full time
• P = Student enrolled part time (at least 6 credit hours)
• N = Student not enrolled at least half-time (6 credit hours)

The column labeled DISQUALIFY would be completed with one of the following codes, if applicable:

• 2 = Student disqualified - nonresident of Illinois
• 3 = Student disqualified - noncitizen
• A = Student disqualified - not in good academic standing

The completed roster and College Certification Form, signed by the Financial Aid Administrator, are sent either by mail or FAX to:

ISAC
Attention: School Services Department – D2A
1755 Lake Cook Road
Deerfield, IL 60015
FAX: 847.831.8549
School Services: 866.247.2172 (toll free)
e-Mail: isac.schoolservices@isac.illinois.gov