Scholarship Office may reduce its assistance

The NMI Scholarship Office yesterday said it may have to reduce the financial assistance it extends to scholars if it continues to operate under the current budget.

Scholarship administrator Merissa Seman-Rasa said that failure to pass a new budget for Fiscal Year 2009 may result in lower grant assistance for CNMI scholars both here and abroad. “I am hoping they would pass the budget,” she said.

Rasa’s office receives approximately $3.3 million every year based on the continuing budget resolution. From the figure, only a mere $50,000 is taken out for her and one other staffer’s wages.

“Most likely we will reduce the scholars’ assistance if there would be no new budget passed for this fiscal year,” Seman-Rasa said, adding that the current $1,980 financial assistance per scholar may go down to less than $1,500 per semester.

Per year, approximately $400,000 of the $3.3 million fund also goes to the honor scholarship program, according to the administrator.

In school year 2006-2007, majority of scholars were getting $1,500, which was increased to $1,980 in school years 2007-2008 and 2008-009.

Seman-Rasa said there are a total of 1,090 scholars under the educational assistance program, the biggest recipients among all its programs.

In the past five years, she said their numbers have been “stable.”

Seman-Rasa also disclosed that from the original five personnel, her office now employs only two staff, including herself.

“We’ve been understaffed,” she said, adding they do all the collections, filing, and assisting scholars in their requirements.

The scholarship office was also not spared from the 5.5 percent across-the-board budget cut recently implemented by the Fitial administration.

The CNMI Scholarship Office offers three scholarship programs in addition to part-time scholarship grants. These include honor scholarships, which provide up to $15,000 yearly to qualified applicants; the teacher scholarship program, which provides up to $12,000 yearly per student; and the educational assistance grant, which has 1,090 beneficiaries. Each scholar is provided $1,980 per semester, equivalent to over $3,000 for Spring and Fall semesters.

Law yet to be enforced

Early last year, the governor signed Public Law 15-109, which established the scholarship program for medical students and teachers on island.

However, Seman-Rasa confirmed yesterday that the law hasn’t been implemented by her office due to lack of funding.

Under the law, $250,000 is identified to be used for teachers and medical scholarship program. Fifteen individuals are set to benefit each term from the program: five medical students and 10 for teachers’ scholarship.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t implemented it because they [Legislature] haven’t given us the money for the purpose,” she said.

She disclosed that if CNMI Scholarship Office enforces the law, “we may get the money from the same funding source, which is not enough.”

Seman-Rasa hopes that funding for this purpose will actually be provided so her office could begin the program.