SC tuition grant reduction leaves students searching for funds
Posted by The Skyliner on February 3rd, 2010Hannah Reynolds
Staff Writer
There has been a 22.2 percent cut in the money awarded to students by the South Carolina Higher Education Tuition Grants Commission for the 2010 spring semester. For North Greenville University, the cut means that more than 1,000 students have been affected for the spring semester, according to Mike Jordan, Financial Aid Director. This sizable reduction in funds received by students who attend private colleges and universities in South Carolina is $350 for those who were receiving the maximum grant amount.
According to Jordan, the Financial Aid office received a preliminary notice of the reduction in Nov. 2009. Financial aid bulletin e-mails were sent out to the student body on Nov. 20 to inform the students of a cut expected to be from $250 to $300. Students were not notified of the actual amount until Dec. 7, when the NGU financial aid office sent out another financial aid bulletin via e-mail.
Letters from the director of the Commission were mailed to students on Dec. 7 as well, explaining the reason for the cut. The necessity of reducing the grant, according to this letter, was due to “an unprecedented increase in eligible recipients.” In the letter, Earl L. Mayo, Commission Director, assures students that the reduction in the amount of the grant was not the result of any budget cuts passed by the state legislature. The reason for the cut was that the amount of money allocated for the grant had to be used for 11.1 percent more eligible students than expected for the spring 2010 semester.
By the time NGU was notified of the full amount of the cut in early December, most students had already paid their bills for the next semester. After e-mails were sent, the business office had to mail new bills to students who still owed money.
Although the commission makes clear that it had no other choice, this sudden decrease in grant money has been a hardship for many students at NGU. The late notice and the significant amount of the cut left many students in need of funds.
Freshman English secondary education, Sarah Brown said, “It’s just been very frustrating because I was counting on that money and that’s a lot of money to have to try and come up with when they drop it so quickly.”
Many students are also left wondering about the grant amounts for next year. The letter recorded that the maximum grant money awarded to eligible NGU students for the 2009-2010 school year was $3,150, which unexpectedly dropped to $2,800 with the increase in the number of eligible recipients. The projected amounts for 2010-2011 have not yet been announced.
Tags: Spring 2010, Vol. 110 - Issue 2