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Finance disburses $148K checks for SHEFA scholars
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Posted on Aug 07 2011
The Department of Finance disbursed on Friday pending checks for Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance scholars totaling $148,600.
SHEFA administrator Henry Hofschneider said the checks were disbursed around 3:15pm Friday and will be issued to students starting today. He advised students, however, to call the SHEFA office first to ensure that they are on the list of recipients. That number is 233-5995.
Hofschneider said the checks are for scholars in the spring 2011 semester. These checks have been pending at Finance in the last two months due to the government’s cash-flow problem.
About $90,000 worth of checks have to be released by Finance to complete the disbursement cycle for both spring 2011 and fall 2010 semesters, Hofschneider said. These pending financial awards cover $14,000 for spring 2011 scholars and $76,000 for Framingham State University graduates in the fall 2010 semester.
Hofschneider said that SHEFA will submit its list of eligible scholars for the fall 2011 semester once Finance issues all pending checks for the previous semesters.
A total of 776 applications were received for the new semester. About 82 have so far been found ineligible.
SHEFA scholarship funds are sourced from poker fees and license fees collected by the government. Each fiscal year, the legislature appropriates $3 million for SHEFA programs—grant in aid, field of study, and incentive. This fiscal year, the SHEFA board capped the disbursement of grant funds every academic term at $1.5 million to ensure the program’s continuity.
Hofschneider said the latest disbursement of awards would aid students in paying for their apartments, books, and tuition for the new semester. He expressed appreciation to Finance and Treasury for finally issuing the checks.
