Students who have not applied for Monetary Award Program grants may be out of luck.

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission announced that students who had not filled out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid as of March 2 would not be considered for the state-funded award, which is based on a student’s financial need for an upcoming school year.  Terri Harfst, SIU’s director of financial aid, said students were considered for last year’s grant until March 19, 2012. While the date has now come and gone, university students and staff outlined various reasons why the results could be positive or negative.

Harfst said her office had an idea of the grant’s outlook before the announcement.

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“They gave us a notification this year that MAP grants were probably going to go quicker than they did in the previous year, and so at SIU we did a lot of outreach to our continuing students, as well as our prospective students,” she said.

Harfst said her office performed financial aid and FAFSA presentations throughout the month of February. Her office also assembled booths in the dining halls, the Recreation Center and the Student Center, she said.

“We were encouraging our students to apply as soon as possible because we didn’t have a date when they would cut off, but we knew it would be sooner than March 19,” she said.

Even with students applying earlier, the amount of recipients may be stagnant.

According to ISAC’s 2012 data book, 369,674 students were eligible for fiscal year 2012 MAP grants, but only 158,349 received them. This year, ISAC announced  once again that less than half of eligible students will receive the aid. If less appropriations are awarded, the amount of eligible students who receive the grant will be even less than fiscal year 2012, according to ISAC data.

Total fiscal year 2012 MAP grant funds were slightly less than $412 million, according to the data. Preliminary ISAC information shows total fiscal year 2013 funds at $350 million. However, the Illinois General Assembly appropriated $371 million for MAP fiscal year 2013, and the ISAC website states the actual appropriations may be more or less than the figure used in their information, dependent on General Assembly and governor approval.

Harfst said ISAC tries to forecast the cutoff date based on how many applications were filed and the need they see from those applicants as well as their own Illinois allocations. Because of that, the earlier date may happen because of students who apply earlier with a greater need. The financial aid office monitors the cutoff date day by day, she said.

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Because the MAP grant is a statewide program, Harfst said she can’t predict whether the university will be affected.

Even if a student applies after the cutoff date, they might still receive aid, she said. Last year, ISAC added another week to the suspension date, which meant students were still eligible until March 26.

University President Glenn Poshard said even when MAP grant funds increased, they only supported half of those who qualified, and this year is no different. Poshard said the cutoff date is often unfair to students who are still considering their college options and have not received news of their college acceptances.

“The MAP grant has been stagnate for quite a while,” he said.

Poshard said the grant’s first-come, first-serve acceptance is an issue because students with good academic backgrounds don’t finish their FAFSAs early enough, as some are still waiting on college acceptance letters and considering which to attend.

“That’s been the frustration before because there have been a lot of excellent students (who) just didn’t make up their mind and weren’t able to get the application in on time,” Poshard said.

Administration agree students should file their financial-aid applications as soon as possible, but students differ on whether the shortened deadline is fair.

Hannah Harris, a senior from Carterville studying elementary education, said the cutoff change is understandable.

“Funding is a big issue everywhere, so I don’t think students should be surprised, especially with Illinois,” she said.

Prince Rule, an undecided sophomore from Chicago, said he disagrees with the deadline because students already face numerous college deadlines and often cannot cover education costs.

“To put a deadline on it rushes students who are already busy and pressured with school and paying for it,” Rule said. “It’s an outrage; it’s crazy to provide less MAP grants and not do something to replace it.”

Rule said as tuition increases, grants become more important.

“I feel like it is a big, key thing that the school aid is provided for urban areas or low income families,” he said. “It really benefits students all around.”

MAP grant applications suspended earlier than anticipated