Using College Illinois! prepaid tuition benefits
is easy. When the student (beneficiary) is eligible
to begin using benefits, an information package will
be sent to them. To use College Illinois! benefits,
the account must be paid in full, and the program must
have the student’s correct social security number
and current home (permanent) address. It is the student’s
responsibility to notify the school’s billing
office of his/her intention to use College Illinois!
benefits. The school will bill the program for tuition
and mandatory fees and payment will be made directly
to the school from the Illinois Student Assistance Commission
(ISAC), the state agency that administers College
Illinois!.
Each College Illinois! account includes the
number of tuition credit hours and mandatory fee payments
purchased under the prepaid tuition plan. Each semester
of a College Illinois! plan is the equivalent
of 15 credit hours. Since the account is maintained
by credit hours, the student may enroll for the number
of credit hours of his/her choice each semester. The
actual number of credit hours for which the student
enrolls is billed to College Illinois! and then
deducted from the student’s account. For example,
if the student has an eight semester prepaid tuition
plan (equal to 120 credit hours), and enrolls for 12
credit hours the first semester, 12 credit hours will
be depleted from the account and 108 hours would be
remaining for future use. One mandatory fee payment
is also deducted from the account each semester.
No adjustments will be made to an account for failed
courses or hours dropped after an invoice has been paid.
If the student withdraws from school after registration,
he/she must notify the school’s billing office
so College Illinois! will not be billed.
Since the school will not bill College Illinois!
for tuition and fees until after each semester begins,
tuition notices received from the school during the
semester may not reflect payment from the prepaid tuition
plan. Please check with the school’s billing office
for the most current status of the student’s account.
Attending an Illinois
public university or community college
If the student is attending a public university or
community college in Illinois, College Illinois!
will pay the undergraduate in-state or in-district
tuition and mandatory fees covered by the prepaid tuition
plan. Mandatory fees are those fees required as a condition
of enrollment for all students. College Illinois!
will not pay any other charges such as room and board,
books, course-specific fees or other expenses.
You do not need to notify College Illinois!
if the student attends a public university or community
college in Illinois. However, you must notify the school’s
billing office and direct them to request payment from
the program. College Illinois! provides a list
of eligible students to each Illinois public university
and community college so the school can verify the student’s
eligibility and then bill the program directly on behalf
of the student.
Public university plans can be used at community colleges
and vice versa, however, the plan will be depleted for
more/fewer credit hours depending on the plan type and
the school the student is attending.
Since each school requests payment differently, please
check with your school’s billing office for specific
details on how to arrange payment from the program.
The following school web sites have specific information
on using College Illinois! benefits:
If the student is attending a private or out-of-state
school, you need to notify College Illinois!
of the student’s school choice so we can provide
the information needed by the school to request payment
on the student’s behalf. This can be done online
by providing the information requested in the “Benefits”
section. You will need the account number and the account
owner’s PIN, if one has been established. Or,
you can download the Intent
to Enroll form and mail it to the program.
The amount paid to the school will be based on the
current mean-weighted average tuition and mandatory
fees at Illinois public institutions (depending on the
type of prepaid tuition plan). The student will be responsible
for any remaining tuition and fee costs. The mean-weighted
average for tuition and fees is adjusted prior to the
start of each school year to keep pace with tuition
costs at Illinois public institutions.
Payment amounts for the 2007-'08 school year will be available in early August, 2007. Payment amounts for the 2006-'07 school year are:
Semester Institutions
Public university: $262.50 per credit hour
Community college: $82.17 per credit hour
Quarter Institutions
Public university: $175.00 per credit hour
Community college: $54.78 per credit hour
If the full tuition amount is paid to the school in
advance, but College Illinois! benefits can be
used toward those costs, the school will need to request
payment from College Illinois!. After the payment
from College Illinois! is received, the school
will be responsible for refunding the excess amount.
A $15 processing fee will be deducted from the payment
to each private or out-of-state school the first semester
the student attends.
Current payment amounts
to private and/or out-of-state schools
If the student attends a private or out-of-state college
or university, the amount paid to the school will be
based on the current mean-weighted average tuition and
mandatory fees at Illinois public institutions (depending
on the type of prepaid tuition plan). The student will
be responsible for any remaining tuition and fee costs.
The mean-weighted average for tuition and fees is adjusted
prior to the start of each school year to keep pace
with tuition costs at Illinois public institutions.
Payment amounts for the 2007-'08 school year will be available in early August, 2007. Payment amounts for the 2006-'07 school year are:
Semester Institutions
Public university: $262.50 per credit hour
Community college: $82.17 per credit hour
Quarter Institutions
Public university: $175.00 per credit hour
Community college: $54.78 per credit hour
Scholarships and tuition
waivers
If the student receives a full scholarship which covers
tuition and mandatory fees, College Illinois!
benefits can be held for future use or refunded to the
purchaser. The amount of the refund is based on the
current cost of in-state or in-district tuition and
fees at the Illinois public institution the student
is attending or the average mean-weighted tuition and
fees at Illinois
public institutions if the student is enrolled at a
private or out-of-state
institution. Refunds are made to the purchaser of the
prepaid tuition plan. In order to process a scholarship
refund, a request signed by the purchaser and documentation
of the scholarship must be provided to College Illinois!
on a semester-by-semester basis. If the student decides
he/she will not need the prepaid tuition benefits, the
plan can be transferred to another family member by
having the purchaser designate a new beneficiary of
the plan.
If the student receives a partial scholarship for tuition
and fees, the College Illinois! benefits can
be used to cover the tuition and fees not paid by the
scholarship. If the school invoices College Illinois!
for a reduced amount of tuition and fees, the purchaser
can request a refund for the difference between the
invoiced amount and the amount available under the contract
for that semester.
Tuition waivers work similar to scholarships. College
Illinois! benefits can be used to cover any tuition
and fees not paid by the waiver and the remaining prepaid
tuition benefits can then be used in future semesters.
Or, the purchaser can submit a signed, written request
to College Illinois! for a refund of the balance
of tuition and fees for the current semester. Proof
of the tuition waiver must be provided to College
Illinois! on a semester-by-semester basis.
Eligible schools
College Illinois! benefits can be used at any
Illinois public university,
community college or at most public or private colleges
throughout the
country. Benefits may not be used at for-profit or proprietary
schools, with the following in-state exceptions: DeVry
University, Argosy University, The Cooking and Hospitality
Institute of Chicago, Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago and Schaumburg,
Midstate College in Peoria and Northwestern Business
College in Chicago.
Usage Statements
Each year the student will receive a usage statement
for the College Illinois! account. The usage
statement will show the number of credit hours and mandatory
fees deducted from the account for the school year and
the remaining balance on the prepaid tuition plan. Plan
usage may also be monitored online.
Any discrepancies should be reported to College Illinois!
at 1-877-877-3724, option 2.
Tax information
Current federal tax law allows all benefits paid to
public or private institutions nationwide to be exempt
from federal income tax. If you are a resident of Illinois,
all benefits are also exempt from Illinois income tax.
Delaying college / Delaying
use of benefits
If the student is not going to start college in the
year originally planned or does not intend to use prepaid
tuition benefits right away, you do not need to notify
the program. College Illinois! benefits can stay
in place until the student is ready to use them. If
the student later decides to start using benefits, he/she
should notify the school’s billing office. Every
College Illinois! student has up to 10 years
from the planned date of college enrollment to begin
using prepaid tuition benefits.
Financial Aid
Federal law effective July 1, 2006 requires that prepaid tuition plans be considered an asset of the parent in the determination of federal financial aid. As an asset of the parent, College Illinois! has only minimal impact on a student’s financial aid.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) requires the “refund value” be used when reporting prepaid tuition plans as an asset of the parent on the FAFSA. The refund value of all prepaid tuition plans for all beneficiaries owned by the parents of a dependent student should be reported. More information is available in the FAFSA link on the Benefits Information page when you access your account online. The annual statement sent to account owners each year in January also shows the amount that can be reported on the FAFSA.
