The lack of an Illinois budget means the agency that administers state-funded college grant money for students can't pay schools to cover their tuition.
However, many schools in Illinois are crediting student accounts for the Monetary Award Program, or MAP, grants under the assumption that there will eventually be a state budget and the money will be paid to the universities and colleges. The acting director of financial assistance at the University of Illinois-Springfield says students won't be penalized because there's not a state budget.
More than 800 University of Illinois-Springfield students received MAP grant funding totaling just over $2.6 million last year.
The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports that University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois State University and Western Illinois University also are crediting MAP amounts in advance.
Northern Illinois University is also among schools crediting MAP amounts in advance.