Fall semester ends with SHEFA grants for scholars still pending

Off-island and on-island scholars are worried that they may not able to continue their studies next semester due to the government’s continued failure to issue them their financial assistance.

Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance administrator Henry Hofschneider disclosed yesterday that no checks have been disbursed to their scholars since August due to the government’s cash flow problem.

With the fall 2011 semester just ending in many universities and colleges, students are now required to enroll for the next semester’s course—which is being hampered by the delayed checks from the Commonwealth, he said.

Hofschneider said that students are pleading and begging for the release of their checks because they want to use it for enrollment and to settle outstanding bills.

He said they have no choice but to explain to scholars the government’s shaky financial situation. Checks for SHEFA scholars are sourced from poker fees and license fees collected by the government. Many poker machines did not renew their licenses in the past three months, he said, affecting the government’s collection for scholarship programs.

The Department of Finance last disbursed checks to SHEFA scholars in August 2011, amounting to $148,000.

Hofschneider said that he received information from Treasury that the available amount for scholarship is not enough. “I was informed that Treasury has only 24 percent [of what we requested for disbursement] available now for our scholars, which will only cover a few students,” he said. This amount may be disbursed based on a priority list.

Records show that close to $1 million in financial grants have yet to be disbursed to SHEFA scholars for three academic terms.

For the fall 2010 semester, 16 checks are still pending totaling to $75,200 for Framingham State University students. SHEFA also returned four checks worth $5,600 to Treasury due to some errors.

For the spring 2011 semester, 12 checks have yet to be disbursed, totaling $13,400.

This fall 2011 term, 512 students are still waiting for their checks. Total pending awards for this period is $852,000.

Overall, SHEFA still has $946,200 in pending financial checks for its scholars here and off-island.

Each fiscal year, the Legislature appropriates $3 million for SHEFA programs.