MAP grants provide relief for NIU students University spokesman says MAP grants should be available on time - DREW ZIMMERMANE, Daily Chronicle

In her first year at Northern Illinois University, sophomore chemistry major Racquel Vonch of Joliet was financially secure enough to survive without the assistance of a Monetary Award Program grant. Heading into the 2017-18 school year, however, Vonch became one of thousands of Illinois undergrads who, reliant on the assistance program for low-income students, anxiously waited to see whether the Illinois General Assembly would release MAP grant funding as part of an agreement to end the state’s budget impasse. “I received good financial standing with NIU as a freshman, and with the financial packet I had as a freshman, I was sold [on attending] the university,” Vonch said. “I was worried about the budget and not getting a MAP grant or to come up with the money if I had to pay it back.” http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2017/08/11/map-grants-provide-relief-for-niu-students/ae09vm2/