When Illinois created the Monetary Award Program (MAP) in 1967, it did so to broaden access to higher education by covering the full cost of tuition at its public colleges for all low-income students. But decades of underinvestment have had the opposite effect: Thousands of eligible students still have insufficient financial support, or no support at all.
So after years of underfunding and lost opportunity, the state’s landmark investment last year of an additional $122 million for MAP was a huge victory, increasing the maximum award from $5,496 to $7,200 and providing awards to all eligible applicants.
