Suspension of MAP Award Announcements

ISAC continues to announce MAP awards until projections indicate that the dollars appropriated will be exhausted by the number of awards already announced for the year. Applications received after this point are placed in award announcement suspension. If it becomes necessary to suspend the processing of award announcements in order to remain within appropriated funding levels, such action is applied concurrently to all students.

The status of suspended awards will be evaluated as more information becomes available and, if application volume and claim rates support such action, some suspended awards may be released. Any suspended awards that might be released in the future would remain subject to the MAP priority considerations dates of the academic year that awards are suspended.

Limited Release of Suspended 2011-12 MAP Awards

ISAC is releasing MAP grants from suspended status for students whose Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) receipt dates were March 26, 2011 through (and including) April 8, 2011. The released records will be available for payment, and may be viewed in MAPnet, starting Wednesday, January 11, 2012. All MAP grants for eligible students with initial FAFSA receipt dates on or after April 9, 2011, remain in a suspended status.

Colleges are encouraged to identify those students who are impacted by the limited release of 2011-12 suspended MAP awards and submit their payment requests (including for the first term) as soon as possible.

The 2011-12 MAP Applicant Award Status Chart provides an overview of categories for students based on the initial application (FAFSA) receipt date. Refer to the sections below for information on how to identify records in a suspension status or released from suspension in MAPnet and on the Eligibility Status File (ESF).

Suspension of 2011-12 MAP Award Announcements

ISAC suspended the announcement of 2011-12 MAP grants for all students whose initial 2011-12 FAFSA is received by the Central Processing System (CPS) on or after March 26, 2011. Beginning Tuesday, March 29th, MAP records in suspension will be available in MAPnet and show on the appropriate MAPnet screens and reports, as well as in the Eligibility Status File (ESF) Extraction.

Colleges must suspend announcements of MAP awards to students whose initial FAFSA receipt date is on or after March 26, 2011. ISAC is not notifying affected applicants that their awards have been placed in suspension status. Schools are advised to communicate announcement information to students with suspended awards as prescribed in school policy and procedure.

Identifying MAP Records in Suspension

Schools may want to identify student records placed into suspension for a variety of reasons (i.e., file review, packaging, etc.). MAP records in suspension status will be indicated by a code of "S"  in the "MAP Susp" field on MAPnet and in the Eligibility Status File (ESF). New applications received after the suspense date will not be considered for an award this year.

MAPnet contains filters that allow colleges to identify student records and create a report. Refer to the instructions to run a report of suspended student records using the MAPnet system.

Identifying MAP Records Released from Suspension

Financial Aid Office or Business Office staff will want to be able to identify student records that have been released from suspension. There's no indicator in MAPnet that identifies which student records were released; the suspense flag ("S") is simply removed. When records are released from suspense, ISAC will create an Eligibility Status File (ESF) update that will remove the "S" from the "MAP Susp" field on MAPnet screens and from the ESF Extraction Suspense Flag (position 94). Schools may then use their standard procedure to request payment for  eligible students. 

Below are two different options, or filters, to use in creating a report to identify student records released from suspension.

• Prior to the release of suspended records, create a report of Suspended Student Records Using the Suspense Flag. This report can be used later to determine which released student records may be eligible for MAP payment. Colleges will be notified via the e-Messaging service in College Zone when the release of suspended MAP records will take place.
• After the release of suspended records, colleges should use the initial "Application Receipt Date" filter in MAPnet to create a listing of student records using a date range of released records. For example, by using the 2011-12 release from suspension dates (March 26, 2011 - April 8, 2011), a report can be created that will identify students by application receipt date (initial FAFSA receipt date).

The 'Application Receipt Date' filter is not restricted to use with suspension, it may be used for any type of student listing using a date range. This filter is also available on the Student List Payment screen.