NMC asked to reduce tuition

The chair of the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare yesterday urged the Northern Marianas College to lower its tuition charges for local students in effort to assist the cash-strapped government in funding its scholarship program.

Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider stressed the full subsidy being provided by both the CNMI and federal governments to the college for its operations should translate to substantial reduction in the tuition costs.

Such a move would also help keep a bulk of NMC students in school who have been forced to drop out this semester following a decision by the government to eliminate financial aid to part-time students.

College officials last week called on Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio to hold the implementation of the new policy that limits scholarships to full-time students attending the island’s lone higher learning institution.

They have warned that the stringent regulation on the Educational Assistance Program or EAP, which takes effect this semester, would force several part-time students out of school.

At least half of the NMC student population are part-time, who are also recipients of the locally-sourced college grant. Funding for this in FY 2000 has been cut by the Tenorio administration in view of the continuous financial woes confronting CNMI. (See related story on Page 4)

While the governor has agreed to review the policy, administration officials blamed NMC for its failure to inform students about the new requirement drawn up as early as August 1998.

Dan Nielsen, special consultant for education, told the HEW committee that the college had a full year to raise the issue with its part-time students; who expectedly were surprised that they could no longer apply for EAP.

While the policy is part of the austerity measures drawn up by the administration, it also aims to encourage students to attend college full-time so that they could get their diploma at a shortest time possible.

So far, NMC has yet to provide statistics and findings on students who were impacted by the new policy. Nielsen said a lot of the recipients under this category are government retirees as well as current employees who want to take up courses for higher salary.

“This is not new,” Nielsen said at the meeting, “the problem is with NMC. They continue not to inform their students.”

Board policy should be changed: Hofschneider believed it’s about time that the Board of Regents should begin cutting back tuition charges, saying that there is no justification in keeping the same rate when NMC receives appropriation from the government.

He also said a decision by NMC to provide a much-lower tuition charges to high school students of the Northern Marianas Academy must be extended also to part-time students.

The committee was informed during the meeting that NMC has signed an agreement with NMA to give a special rate of $25 per credit hour to its students.

At present, NMC charges $65 per credit hour for lower college levels and $85 dollars for higher levels. The college, however, imposes a higher rate for foreign students.

The information could not be independently confirmed, but HEW member Rep. David M. Apatang said the agreement with NMA is intended to encourage high school students to take college courses.

“If it is true… then it is also advisable for the administration to pursue the reduction of the tuition cost simply because the federal government and the CNMI are subsidizing the entire operations of the college,” Hofschneider told reporters after the meeting.

While he did not indicate the percentage of reduction, the representative underscored the need to change its policy on tuition costs in a bid to encourage larger number of island residents to pursue higher education at NMC.

Hofschneider said that if the lack of financial support is a major factor in discouraging them, “then we are doing students a disservice if the total appropriation of the federal government and the CNMI is not making accessibility to the college easier for greater number of students.”

Due to worsening financial crisis, the government has overhauled its scholarship programs by cutting the amount granted to students as well as by limiting recipients of the assistance.

NMC last year appealed for additional money after its EAP ran out of funds, triggering protests from students and prompting HEW to conduct oversight hearing on the financially-troubled college.