Springfield . . . A group of McKendree College students talk with State Senator Kyle McCarter Thursday afternoon in the hallway just outside his Capitol office about providing additional funding for Illinois’ Monetary Award Program (MAP). 

MAP is a college scholarship program that has become increasingly more important in providing lower-income students the opportunity for a college education.  McCarter is a supporter of MAP and told students the scholarships are an investment in Illinois’s future. 

A short time later, McCarter and his Senate colleagues overwhelmingly approved legislation to provide new authorization for the Governor to fully fund MAP.  Previously, the Governor had chosen to only provide half of the funding needed for MAP awards in the 2009-2010 school year. 

McKendree College wasn’t the only college and university represented at the Capitol October 15.  Senator McCarter also met with students from Millikin University in Decatur and Greenville College in Greenville.  Additionally, hundreds of other college students from across the state visited Springfield to lobby for reinstatement of the MAP funding.  The action by Senate and as well as by the House of Representatives gives Governor Quinn authorization to provide $205 million for MAP for the remainder of the school year, specifically the 2010 spring semester.  During floor debate in the Senate, lawmakers pointed out that the Governor has the ability to fully finance the MAP program. The General Assembly allocated $1.2 billion in discretionary funding earlier this year that Quinn could use to finance the MAP program, yet he has so far chosen not to use that revenue to finance MAP scholarships.

It’s estimated that approximately 138,000 students would have been affected if lawmakers had not approved the additional authorization.