Whether you’re planning to go to college, are attending now, or have recently graduated, College Zone can help you take all the right steps to make your experiences and transitions go smoothly.

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

Student Message Board

The Student 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.

Current and future student loan borrowers should 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 you plan to teach in Illinois after completing your college degree, don't forget 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.

Attention Illinois National Guard members who are attending an Illinois 2- or 4-year public college during the current term: the interactive application for the 2009-10 Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant Program, used to apply for the 2010 spring term (or spring and summer terms), is due to ISAC on or before March 1, 2010. Applications for summer term only consideration are due to ISAC on or before June 15th.

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 you (and your parent, if you are a dependent student) must use an electronic Personal Identification Number (PIN) from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Once obtained, the same PIN is used to complete 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 you 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 schedule.

More

2010-11 State Scholars

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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