Previous Story
NMC increases grant awards; doubles recipients of CACG
|
Posted on Sep 24 2011
By Moneth Deposa
Reporter
Reporter
The Northern Marianas College has increased the grant awards and doubled the number of students receiving financial aid from the federally funded College Access Challenge Grant.
Leo Pangelinan, dean of Student Services, said the college made the move because of dwindling financial assistance received by students from the local government.
Pangelinan is alluding to both the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance and the CNMI Scholarship Office scholarship programs, which are suffering from delayed disbursement of checks.
NMC is a recipient of the U.S. Department of Education’s College Access Challenge Grant Program that provides $1.5 million yearly for four years. It is a community collaborative effort aimed at helping students who are Native Pacific Islanders and come from low-income families in the Commonwealth to enroll, remain, and succeed in college.
According to Pangelinan, 2011 marks the fourth year of the grant cycle and he anticipates a decision for a new grant for school year 2011-2012, amounting to $1.5 million yearly.
In the past four years, NMC committed about $240,000 from the grant for scholarships while the rest of the fund went to programs such as Smart Seminars and Cash for College workshops, Pangelinan said. The $240,000 was availed of by about 190 students, each receiving $1,200 per semester.
Starting this year, he said NMC will commit $500,000 from the expected $1.5 million for the scholarship program of students.
“Because we will commit one-third of the grant funding for students’ scholarship, this means that each student will also receive a higher award from $1,200 per semester to $1,500 per semester. An estimated over 300 students will benefit from this grant.”
SHEFA cut all financial award amounts starting in the spring semester. The CNMI Scholarship Office is also evaluating its programs and policies.
“Because of the situation of the locally funded scholarship programs for our students, NMC felt that it’s prudent to increase the federal support to offset the decrease in local support,” he said.
Eligibility for the College Access Challenge Project is determined through the free application for federal student aid, FAFSA.
