Eastern pledged to cover the 5 percent reduction to the Monetary Award Program for students during spring semester.

On Dec. 15 the Illinois Student Assistance Commission notified all Illinois universities that they needed to reduce the MAP grants for spring 2011 by 5 percent. This was in order to avoid exceeding the overall 2010-11 MAP grant appropriations.

The administration approved the use of Eastern’s waiver budget to cover money that was taken away from students who received the MAP grant for this school year.

The MAP grant is a state-funded program. The award is given to eligible students who have applied by the deadline, said Jerry Donna, the director of financial aid.

Eligibility requirements include Illinois residency, maintaining a good GPA, and being enrolled in at least three course hours for the semester.

The number of students who applied before the deadline date increased this term. The state did not have enough money to cover the awards for all eligible students.

Donna said the state decided to decrease the award in order to give all students at least some money.

“This decrease affected approximately 3,000 students at Eastern,” Donna said.

The amount of money that decreased varied based on the amount originally awarded. If awarded a full MAP Grant, the amount of the award would decrease by about $124, Donna said.

“It’s important to the administration, and me, that we cover this for the students,” Donna said.

The amount of money that is needed to cover the deduction is somewhere between $250,000 and $290,000, Donna said.

The MAP grant will not decrease further next year, Donna said. The ISAC task force has a proposal to not only help keep the MAP grant but to increase it.

Some of the new Illinois tax increases may be appropriated to the MAP program, depending on the state’s decision.

If the MAP grant does not increase or decrease there are some things students could do in order to get money that is not covered by the MAP grant.

Teresa Newell, a financial aid adviser, said she tells students to fill their FAFSA forms out as early as possible.

Searching for scholarships through Eastern and internet search engines are other good ways of getting money to pay for school, Newell said.

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu