By HOLLY WAGNER

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Students who counted on the state to help them with their college education are finding out that the help isn't there.

The funds supplied by the state to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) for college grants have been cut in half. The commission says that from January through June, the state received more applications than ever before. More than 200,000 eligible students requested assistance, up 27 percent from the previous year.

The state's largest financial aid program, the Monetary Award Program (MAP), will only pay for about 80 percent of the grants awarded to 169,000 students for fall, and no funds will be available to pay spring term awards.

The MAP cuts will affect about 600 of the 2,700 students expected at John Wood Community College this fall, and about 450 of more than 1,400 students expected at Quincy University, according to financial aid directors.

The cuts affect students all across the state, said John Letts, JWCC vice president of student services. These students are now looking at their options for an affordable, quality education and deciding that community colleges, where tuition is lower than most four-year schools, will make their MAP dollars go further.

"We're seeing about a 15 percent increase in enrollment," said Melanie Lechtenberg, director of financial aid.

JWCC is sending a letter to each of its MAP recipients to remind them that they will only receive funding for first semester, Lechtenberg said.

Knowing the funding will end after first semester "buys students and families time to consider other sources of funding," such as a student loan, said Kevin Brown, director of financial aid at QU.

It also adds to the pressure on legislators to restore the funding, Brown said.

"QU is hoping the state and governor will understand the importance of this program," he said.

QU students who qualified for the MAP grant were up this year, from 425 last year.

Students were warned in May that the cuts were coming, and were advised to complete their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as quickly as possible. The FAFSA is used to determine several awards made by the state.

MAP applications were cut off after May.

The MAP grant provides students with up to $4,968 depending on need. Aside from MAP, ISAC administers the Silas Purnell Illinois Incentive for Access, the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois, and grant programs for dependents of police, fire, and correctional officers, most other scholarship, grant, or loan repayment/forgiveness programs which will not be funded this year absent new revenues.

The federally funded Pell Grant is not affected.

-- hwagner@whig.com/221-3374