90 NMC students ineligible for Pell grant last school year

Some 90 Northern Marianas College students failed to meet eligibility standards for the Pell Grant last school year.

NMC financial aid director Ray Basa reported yesterday that out of the 637 students who submitted applications for the federal scholarship fund in academic year 2003-2004, only 547 have been determined eligible.

Basa said the two main reasons students do not qualify for the scholarship are their financial status and academic progress.

“The Pell Grant is a need-based program. Applicants are required to report their family’s income and assets, as well as the family’s expected contribution to their education costs. Some families are apparently making enough money to send their kids to college,” Basa said.

Other students either did not meet the required grade point average for Pell recipients or took less than the minimum number of credits per semester, he added.

In related news, NMC dean of student development Kurt Barnes said the college has received the last batch of Pell awards for AY 2003-2004.

Over 60 students stand to receive reimbursement from the recently disbursed funds, which total around $180,000.

“Now, all we have to do is reconcile our figures with the U.S. Department of Education’s. Hopefully, they will consider getting us off reimbursement status,” Barnes said.

The USDE placed NMC on Pell reimbursement status—as opposed to advance status—due to the college’s failure to submit financial audits on time for four consecutive years.

The federal government later said the reimbursement status would be lifted as soon as NMC submits three consecutive batches of student files which contain an error rate of 10 percent or less.

NMC has succeeded in meeting the USDE’s condition with the help of Rafael Gonzales Management Inc., a Los-Angeles based consulting firm the college had hired to review packets of student applications before sending them to the USDE.

In an earlier interview, NMC finance director Raaj Kurapati said about half of NMC’s total enrollment and 75 percent of the college’s resident student population are receiving help through the Pell Grant.

Most of the Pell recipients are getting the maximum federal scholarship of $4,050 every year. In total, the college receives an average $1.5 million in Pell Grant awards annually, Kurapati said.