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Students must face scholarship reforms
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Posted on Feb 10 1999
Students who are enjoying local educational grants will have no choice but to live with the future reforms that will be introduced in June by the CNMI government.
CNMI Scholarship Director Hilaria K. Santos and Teacher Academy Coordinator Joan B. Kani both shared this confidence that students could cope with present realities.
Santos said off-island students have been notified that educational aid for the summer term was suspended. This was also confirmed by Special Education Advisor Dan Nielsen who is drafting a letter to advise recipients of the $15,000 cap for full scholars and amendments on the other statutory programs.
Students are likewise encouraged to explore federal grants on education prior to availing the local aid, Nielsen said.
Kani is expecting that students under the teacher scholarship program will get $10,000 to cover their entire year. The group was previously appropriated with $12,000 each.
“They need to spread it over for the whole year. They will probably pick up some jobs to get by,” she said.
According to Kani, she is optimistic that students who are in the mainland could find part-time job and can get reasonable tuition fees and housing rates.
She cited Eastern Oregon University which charges state tuition fee of $1,000 for each term even to students who are not from there.
However, those who are studying in Hawaii and Guam will find it hard to survive with the reduced grant. She said both states are expensive even if their schools offer reasonable tuition fees.
On federal grants, both Santos and Kani believed that they can only assist students to a certain extent.
For instance, Guam has the Mobil scholarship program, Kani said. While colleges and universities do offer financial assistance.
“But they have to be on campus before they can apply. You can’t go to the States without enough money,” she said.
Full scholarship recipient John Oliver Gonzales said $15,000 is a reasonable amount and students can well survive with this funding. He attended Washington University and he remembered that he returned some money back to the CNMI Scholarship Office because the tuition fee was minimal.
