Section 2730.40  Institutional Procedures

a)         The institution must establish a qualified applicant's initial eligibility before requesting payment from ISAC.  A valid Illinois National Guard Grant eligibility letter may be used for this purpose.

b)         If a student is eligible for, and has indicated to the institution the intent to receive, educational assistance through the Post-9/11 GI Bill (38 USC, Chapter 33), the institution must first apply Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to the student's financial aid award. ING Grant benefits can then be used to cover the remaining ING Grant eligible tuition and fees.

c)         Institutions must report the total number of hours for which payment is being requested (including credit and noncredit hours) so that ISAC can accurately track the recipient's use of eligibility units.

d)         ING Grants are paid directly to the approved institution of record that certifies to ISAC that the applicant is an eligible recipient.

1)         ISAC will annually establish priority claim dates for the submission of payment requests and inform institutions of the required priority dates.  For the fall term, the priority claim date will be during the month of December; for the spring term, the priority claim date will be during the last two weeks of March or the first two weeks of April; for the summer term, the priority claim date will be during the month of July.

2)         Late payment requests will result in delayed processing of payments.  Payment requests are processed in the sequence of receipt by ISAC and as funds are available.

3)         Institutions may submit payment requests beginning 10 days prior to the start of classes for the term for which payment is being requested.

e)         Claims will be paid as follows:

1)         first semester and first quarter claims received by the designated deadline date will be paid, or prorated if funding is insufficient to pay all claims in full;

2)         if funds remain after first semester and first quarter claims are paid, then second semester and second and third quarter claims received by the designated deadline date will be paid, or prorated if funds remaining are insufficient to pay all such claims in full;

3)         if funds still remain after the preceding claims are paid, summer term claims received by the designated deadline date will be paid, or prorated if remaining funds are insufficient to pay all summer claims in full;

4)         in the event that funds are not exhausted by summer term payments, claims received after the designated deadline dates will be paid or prorated; and

5)         timely claims for the difference between in-district/state and out-of-district/state tuition for recipients who do not qualify for chargebacks will be considered for payment at the same time, and in the same priority order, as all other timely claims, in accordance with the provisions of this subsection (e).

f)         Payments on behalf of a recipient will be made to only one institution per term. For any institution that has a concurrent registration opportunity, the same payment policy will be in effect as that used in the Monetary Award Program. (See: 23 Ill. Adm. Code 2735.40(h).)

g)         Institutions are required to reconcile payments, both payment data and actual funds, received through ING and, as applicable, submit all necessary corrections to student records on a timely basis.

1)         Within 30 days after and including the date of receiving payment of any ING funds claimed pursuant to this Section, the institution shall credit the ING funds against the recipients' tuition and eligible fee charges for the appropriate term.

2)         Within 30 days after the end of an academic term during which ING funds are credited to recipients' tuition and eligible fee charges, institutions must reconcile data received from ISAC as a result of payment claim processing against the eligibility status throughout that term for each student for whom payment claims were made. In reconciling the data with student eligibility, an institution must determine whether:

A)        The amount of the claim applied to a student's tuition and eligible fee charges exceeded the amount that the student was eligible to receive for any reason, including as a result of billing errors or retroactive withdrawals; or

B)        The amount of the claim applied to a student's tuition and eligible fee charges was less than the amount that the student was eligible to receive for any reason, including as a result of billing errors or retroactive withdrawals; or

C)        The amount of the claim applied to a student's tuition and eligible fee charges equaled the amount that the student was eligible to receive.

3)         Any institution that determines that the amount of a claim applied to a student's tuition and mandatory fee charges either exceeded the amount that the student was eligible to receive or was less than that amount must submit an accounting of all such adjustments to ISAC within 30 days following the end of the applicable term.

4)         For any claims determined to exceed the amount that the student was eligible to receive, the amount in excess paid for the claims shall be remitted to ISAC within 45 days after the end of the applicable term unless the payment is received after the end of the regular school year. If the payment of claims is made after the end of the regular school year, the institution shall have 60 days following receipt of the payment to complete reconciliation and remit any funds due to ISAC.

5)         Award payments made in the name of one recipient cannot be applied to another recipient at the same institution. A refund of the payment made must be submitted to ISAC, and a supplemental request for payment must be processed for the proper recipient.

(Source:  Amended at 44 Ill. Reg. 11008, effective July 1, 2020)