Financial Aid Office announces early cutoff for MAP grant awards
Students and community members demonstrate Oct. 29 in the Martin Luther King Jr. Commons for an end to the Illinois budget impasse between Gov. Bruce Rauner and the General Assembly. A topic frequently mentioned at the rally was the funding of MAP grants.
January 20, 2016
The Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which allocates financial aid funding, anticipates an early cutoff this year for MAP grant awards, according to a Student Financial Aid Office email.
Illinois residents who file the FAFSA are chosen on a first-come, first-serve basis when being awarded MAP grant funding. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission suspends FAFSA applications from MAP grant eligibility if the applications are submitted after the cutoff.
MAP grants have gone unpaid to NIU and other Illinois universities this year due to the Illinois budget impasse. NIU has credited more than 5,000 students with MAP grants for the 2015-2016 academic year and said they will continue to do so this semester in an email to MAP grant recipients.
Financial aid award notifications will be posted beginning March 28, according to the Student Financial Aid Office.
Students can file the FAFSA at fafsa.gov.