Read the Annual Report 2008 PDF.

Click here to hear U.S. Senator Dick Durbin talk about the importance of IEF Scholarships.

Click here to watch the "Newsmakers" video about the IEF airing on CNN Headline News.

Read the Chicago Sun-Time article on the IEF: "Program Invests in Student Success". PDF

Read the Chicago Social article on the IEF's First Annual Food & Wine Tasting Event. PDF

Financial Aid Resources

Your search for funds to pay for college begins with understanding the different types of financial aid. There are two primary types of aid:  scholarships (also referred to as grants), which do not need to be repaid and loans, which must be repaid. Although student loans may be unavoidable in some circumstances, students should conduct a thorough search for grants and scholarships before applying for loans.

The Illinois Education Foundation provides “last-dollar” scholarship funds for students with financial need. Candidates for IEF programs are responsible for applying for all government-based grant aid by completing the Federal Application for Free Student Aid (FAFSA) prior to submitting an application to IEF programs.

About the FAFSA
The FAFSA is the federal application for financial aid, and it is also used to apply for aid from other sources, such as your state or school.  For the 2007-2008 school year, the deadline to submit the FAFSA to the U.S. Department of Education was July 2, 2007.   All students who apply for IEF scholarships must file the FAFSA before submitting an application to the IEF.

A comprehensive set of Frequently Asked Questions related to the FAFSA may be found by going to the U.S. Department of Education website: www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Online Resources
General Information: www.finaid.org
Federal Aid: www.studentaid.ed.gov
FAFSA: www.fafsa.ed.gov
Scholarship Clearinghouse: www.fastweb.org
African-American Students: www.blackexcel.org
Latino/Hispanic Students: www.hsf.net
Scholarship Scams:  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/scholarship/index.html


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