Joins Hundreds at Schools across Illinois to Rally for Scholarship Funds

October 7, 2009 - Governor Pat Quinn today joined hundreds of Illinois college students to call on the Illinois General Assembly to restore critical second-semester MAP funding for nearly 138,000 eligible students.

“Today I stand with students, teachers, administrators, lawmakers and everyday people to challenge the General Assembly to fully fund MAP grants,” said Governor Quinn. “When it comes to this important education funding issue, we will not accept a grade of ‘incomplete’ from the Legislature.”

The Illinois Monetary Award Program is a need-based grant available through the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC). Budget cuts by the General Assembly severely limited student aid for the 2009-2010 academic year, causing approximately 138,000 MAP grant recipients to receive only 50 percent of their award. Plus, an estimated 130,000 eligible students, who applied in Illinois after May 15, will receive no MAP aid at all.

The funding issue will be addressed in the upcoming General Assembly veto session, which takes place October 14-16 and October 28-30. Governor Quinn has urged the General Assembly to provide nearly $200 million necessary to completely fund MAP for the rest of this fiscal year.

Governor Quinn hosted rallies to save MAP grants at the University of Illinois-Chicago, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Bradley University, Black Hawk College, John Wood Community College and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

For more information, please visit SaveIllinoisMapGrants.org.