DeKALB | Students no longer have to worry about their MAP grant for next semester, but it might be wise to start preparing for next fall now.

On Oct. 15, the state made the decision to restore funding of the MAP grants for students next semester.

“The Illinois General Assembly voted to approve a supplemental appropriation of $205 million to cover the MAP Grants for the 2010 Spring semester,” said Jane Jordan, associate director of the Office of Student Financial Aid.

One dominant discussion since this decision is ‘where will this money come from?’ In an Oct. 19 Chicago Tribune Article, Gov. Pat Quinn said he was going to borrow from about 600 special funds to pay for the restoration of the MAP grants. A week later, however, he was singing a different tune. Quinn said he is shelving this plan, and plans to borrow to pay for it.

Nevertheless, with this decision in place, student’s nerves can be at ease, at least for now.

“Students can be assured that the MAP grant will be funded for 2010 spring semester,” Jordan said.

This comes as a relief to MAP recipients like Sumera Singapuri, senior corporate communications major.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Singapuri said. “I would have had to contact financial aid and figure out some other way to pay for school, maybe take out a personal loan,” a move she did not want to make.

Now that this issue has been worked out, students should start paying attention to MAP grant funding for the 2010–2011 school year. Because next year’s budget has yet not been finalized, Jordan said, funding levels for the 2010–2011 MAP Grants are unknown.

This is not to say that there will not be MAP Grants, nor is it to say that the future of MAP Grants is definite.

“A strong and heartfelt message regarding the importance of providing educational opportunities for thousands of students was successfully sent to Illinois legislators these last months. This message will be a hard one to ignore in the next year’s budget negotiation,” Jordan said.

Students who will be seeking extra financial help next school year should start looking now. The financial aid office offers some advice.

“It is a good time for students to begin scholarship searches for the 2010-2011 year. We are already reminding students to complete their 2010-2011 FAFSA by the NIU priority filing date of March 1, 2010,” Jordan said. “Filing the 2010-2011 FAFSA early is imperative to assuring funds are available to eligible students for next academic year.”

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