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103 students denied SHEFA aid due to non-compliance with regs
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Posted on Aug 23 2011
The Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance has so far denied financial assistance to 103 students this fall 2011 semester after being found ineligible for the program, according to administrator Henry Hofschneider.
He said that notices of denial were sent to the ineligible applicants this week.
SHEFA received 783 applications for assistance this fall semester. Of that number, 184 have so far been found eligible to receive financial assistance.
The board has already approved 78 applicants, while 106 more will be endorsed for the board’s approval next week.
Hofschneider estimated that around 525 students are eligible to receive awards this semester, based on his office’s preliminary assessment. The final number of those eligible will be known before classes start next month.
In the spring 2011 semester, SHEFA received over 700 applications, of which 498 were approved. In the fall 2010 semester, the number of applicants totaled 776; just 525 were approved to receive financial awards.
Despite the smaller amount of grants being awarded, Hofschneider said that they continue to get almost the same number of applicants, largely because of the financial hardships being experienced by many families.
SHEFA slashed all financial awards starting in the spring 2011 semester. The cuts ranged from 25 percent to 50 percent.
Due to the government’s dwindling financial resources, particularly revenue from poker licenses that fund the scholarship program, Hofschneider said that more cuts are in the offing for SHEFA awards.
The government’s cash-flow problem has also resulted in SHEFA awards being delayed several times. Spring 2011 scholars only got their checks early this month.
Hofschneider said that about $90,000 worth of checks still need to be released to complete the disbursement cycle for both spring 2011 and fall 2010 semesters. These awards cover $14,000 for spring 2011 scholars and $76,000 for Framingham State University graduates in the fall 2010 semester.
It is only after pending checks for fall 2010 and spring 2011 semesters are disbursed that SHEFA can ask for the release of the awards for the new semester, he added.
Each fiscal year, the Legislature allocates $3 million for SHEFA.
