CHICAGO (WIFR) -- The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) announced that through September 2, 2010, it has received 101,882 eligible Monetary Award Program (MAP) grant applications since the agency began denying eligible applicants due to exhaustion of funds on Monday, April 19.

“The Monetary Award Program is an essential tool for increasing the number of Illinoisans with postsecondary credentials and degrees in order to ensure individual opportunity, meet future workforce needs, and foster growth in the state economy,” said ISAC Executive Director Andrew Davis.

“Each year, it provides the resources for over a hundred thousand students to follow their college dreams and then enter the workforce with an excellent education.”

Although this year’s eligible denied applications are projected to far exceed last year’s total of approximately 120,000 eligible students, ISAC encourages students complete the FAFSA in order to
qualify for federal grants and subsidized loans in addition to possible institutional financial aid.

Of those denied the state's flagship need-based college financial aid program thus far, 70.5 percent (71,834) selected a community college as their top choice on the 2010-11 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is the form used to apply for MAP and federal student aid. Just over 13 percent (13,698) selected a public four-year school and approximately 10.4 percent (10,597) chose an in-state private two-year, four-year, or hospital college. Just over five and a half percent (5,755) chose proprietary schools.