Illinois Student Assistance Commission partners with CAPPEX to provide college and scholarship search tool to college bound students
Students can access information on billions of dollars in local and national scholarships

[January 30, 2015]  CHICAGO - It’s officially FAFSA season—where students and families across the nation work to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the form that will determine eligibility for federal, state, and many college financial aid programs. What many families don’t realize is that there are often substantial dollars available through a host of scholarships—money that can supplement grant funding and help decrease the need to take on significant student loan debt. Students can now instantly identify available scholarship dollars for which they might be eligible through a new partnership between the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) and Cappex.com.

Available through the new ISAC Student Portal, Cappex provides students with instant access to detailed information on colleges across the country, provides thousands of student reviews, and lets students compare schools and their tuition and costs, and even determine their chances of admission. The tool also offers a database of information on over $11 billion in scholarships, and allows students to easily identify those that match their strength and skills.

“ISAC’s partnership with Cappex directly supports our agency’s work in helping to provide students and their families with both the knowledge they need to make informed college choices, and the funding that supports those choices,” said Eric Zarnikow, executive director of ISAC. “We are excited to make this free tool available to students and families throughout Illinois.”

In addition to the college and scholarship search tools from Cappex, the ISAC Student Portal provides other free best-in-class applications and tools to help students better navigate the financial aid process, manage their money and student loan debt, and access a host of career and job resources. Cappex will also be offered in conjunction with the activities of the ISACorps, a group of recent college graduates who act as near-peer mentors, working across the state directly with high school students and their families, as well as returning adults, to help facilitate the college-going process.

“Cappex has been a part of the college decision-making process for more than 6 million students,” said Chris Long, president and general manager of Cappex. “We are especially pleased to partner with ISAC to ensure that all Illinoisans have access to a tool that can empower them to take more control of decisions around college and their future.”

About ISAC
The mission of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) is to help make college accessible and affordable for students throughout Illinois. ISAC provides comprehensive, objective, and timely information on education and financial aid for students and their families--giving them access to the tools they need to make the educational choices that are right for them. Then, through the state’s flagship Monetary Award Program and other scholarship and grant programs ISAC administers—totaling more than $380 million in academic year 2014-15—ISAC can help students make those choices a reality. www.isac.org

About Cappex
Cappex.com is a comprehensive college search and scholarship portal that helps students and parents make college decisions. In addition to more than 3,000 college profiles with student reviews and college admission prediction tools like the What Are My Chances® Calculator, Cappex.com also allows parents and students to find their match from thousands of scholarships offered by companies and organizations around the U.S. Cappex also provides information on over $11 billion in scholarships – both offered by the colleges themselves and private scholarships. With more than 6 million student users, Cappex.com is the trusted source to help students find their ideal college fit, and where hundreds of colleges from across the U.S. and beyond go to connect with prospective students.

[Illinois Student Assistance Commission]