IIT: Students must repay MAP tuition awards due to state budget crisis

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois Institute of Technology students who thought their fall semester tuition was covered by a state MAP award was informed this week that, due to the state's continued budget crisis, they must repay the university.

READ THE FULL LETTER

The tuition credit was removed Wednesday and a hold has been placed on students' accounts who have not paid.

The state has yet to approve a budget for the 2016 fiscal year, which started in July. In the fall, the university credited student accounts in anticipation that state leaders would approve a budget and allow for funding of the Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP).

As a result of the stalemate, ITT told students in the letter that they "can no longer maintain the pending MAP credit that was issued to your student account for the Fall 2015 semester, and this credit will be removed from your account effective as of March 23, 2016, which will automatically trigger our system to place a registration hold on your account."

Students were also given the option to cover the cost their tuition with a no-interest MAP Grant Replacement Loan, which the university developed to allow students to pay their outstanding balance over a year starting in September.