SIU plans to cover student MAP grants

SIU plans to cover student MAP grants Southern Illinois University will cover MAP grants for students for the fall 2016 semester on both the Carbondale and Edwardsville campuses.

The state’s Monetary Awards Program, or MAP, provides grants based on financial need to Illinois undergraduates who study at approved colleges and universities within the state.

“Funding of MAP grants is a covenant relationship between the State of Illinois and eligible students,” SIU system president Randy Dunn said in a news release. “Our university has a legacy of access, and we do not want to see eligible students denied the opportunity to pursue their academic and career goals.”

SIU covered the costs of the grants for both semesters during the 2015-2016 academic year. At SIU Carbondale, $11.5 million was paid to a total of 3,187 students. At SIU Edwardsville, $6.5 million was paid to 2,254 students.

A stopgap budget approved by the General Assembly and Gov. Bruce Rauner includes $8.4 million in MAP funding for the SIU system.

“That funding, together with the stopgap appropriation approved in April, catches us up for the MAP grants we covered during the 2015-2016 academic year,” Dunn said.

“We appreciate the bipartisan effort that we saw in Springfield last week,” he added. “However, that agreement was for a temporary budget, and no additional money has been provided yet for MAP grants for the upcoming year. We owe our students certainty that their education will not be disrupted this fall.”