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Senate follows up on plan to let students borrow vs scholarship checks
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Posted on Jan 24 2012
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
Reporter
The Senate is following up on its proposal to the CNMI Scholarship Office to allow eligible students to borrow against their scholarship awards to ensure that scholars will be able to pay their tuition on time, more than half a year since senators first brought up the idea with Finance and scholarship officials.
Senate Vice President Jude Hofschneider (R-Tinian) wrote a follow-up letter on Friday morning to CNMI Scholarship Office Jacqueline P. Che on the matter but as of yesterday, Hofschneider said his office has yet to receive a response.
In his one-page letter, Hofschneider said despite the current economic situation, it is important for the CNMI to continue to support students pursuing postsecondary education.
“However, CNMI Scholarship awards have been plagued with delays and are often released long after student payments are due,” the senator told Che.
Hofschneider said in order to resolve this issue, the Senate began discussions with the Marianas Public Land Trust in the summer of 2011 to ensure the timely release of scholarship awards by fronting the necessary funds for scholarship awards.
“The current administration, along with your office and the Department of Finance, then took over these discussions and opened them up to any interested banks. Unfortunately, the Senate has yet to hear any updates on this issue and already, students are entering a new college semester without their awards from the previous one,” Hofschneider said.
He pointed out that the delay in the release of scholarship checks is detrimental to all students who have been calling and requesting for support.
“Therefore, there is an immediate need to resolve this issue by forming a relationship with either MPLT or any interested bank,” the senator added.
The government has been delayed in releasing scholarship checks because of cash flow issues.
