MAP Grant Funds Not Distributed Equally

Following the signing this week of an emergency funding bill for higher education in Illinois, money for the Monetary Award Program, or MAP grants, has been released. But while students attending colleges on the semester system will receive about half the money they were expecting, those on the quarter system will get just one-third.

Lynne Baker, from the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, says the decision was made to distribute the money as quickly as possible, despite the difference between the quarter and semester schools.

"If we'd tried to pro-rate the money," sha said, "it could have taken more than a month to distribute."

She says normal procedure is to pay claims for the first semester and first quarter, all at the same time. So that's what's happening now. 

Payments for the second quarter and second semester are now possible after June 1. 

"We will prioritize any future money for the quarter schools." Baker said.

The quarter schools include Augustana College, Knox, Lake Forest, North Central, Robert Morris, DePaul, Northwestern, and the University of Chicago. 

A spokesman for Augustana says it will contest the allocation by the student assistance commission.