Empty pockets, debating a promise

State debates Michigan Promise Scholarship; students wait to see if they owe more to MSU

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Naomi Schwartz kids she will spend more time in the Union to take advantage of free on-campus wireless Internet this semester, but her joke hints at many students’ increasing financial difficulties. The finance senior is not ordering cable and Internet for her apartment after learning she might not get all the scholarships she expected. She is not alone.

More than 7,700 MSU students are waiting as legislators decide the fate of the Michigan Promise Scholarship after the state Senate passed a bill to eliminate the program in June.

The scholarship awards Michigan students up to $4,000 toward in-state college or university tuition, but that sum potentially could be reduced to zero by a Senate bill. The award was granted based on results from the Michigan Merit Exam. If the grant is eliminated, MSU students who would have received it will end up being charged by the university. Freshmen and sophomores in the past received $500 per semester from the Michigan Promise Scholarship and students in their junior year could apply for the second phase of the scholarship to get $1,000 per semester.

“The funds are on hold,” said Rep. Joan Bauer, D-Lansing, who sponsored the House bill on higher education.

The House version of the bill appropriated $140 million for the scholarship in the 2009-10 fiscal year, but the Senate bill cut the program, she said.

For many students, that means the Michigan Promise was credited on their tuition bills even though MSU has not received any money from the state, said Val Meyers, associate director of MSU financial aid.

“We did put the award in as part of the aid package as a temporary credit on the bill,” Meyers said.

For students eligible for the award, tuition bills are calculated factoring in the scholarship.

“Most students have a bill where they pay $500 less than their tuition,” Meyers said.

Despite the university’s efforts, Meyers said many students have come into the financial aid office with questions about their scholarships and when the money can be expected. But the status of the Michigan Promise will remain uncertain until the House and Senate decide on a budget.

“Right now, the aid credit is supposed to expire Oct. 3,” Meyers said. “If the Legislature hasn’t set a budget at that point, the university will have to discuss what it’s going to do.”

If the state budget is not set by its Oct. 1 deadline, the status of many student’s scholarships would be uncertain and the Office of Financial Aid would have to decide whether or not to extend the temporary credit.

If the scholarship is eliminated, the university would have to charge students their tuition balances without it.

“(It) is extremely unfair and difficult for college students that they have to deal with the uncertainty going back to school and not knowing about their financial aid,” Bauer said. “It’s unfair to students.”

And for communication junior Lauren Flanagan, the missing scholarship came as a surprise.

“I was logging into StuInfo to check my classes and decided to check financial aid and all of a sudden it wasn’t there,” Flanagan said. “It was kind of frustrating because people were expecting that money to be there. It came out of nowhere — with no notice.”

The changes to the bill likely were made to solve other state issues, said Sen. Valde Garcia, R-Howell, who was not present for the Senate’s vote on the bill. Garcia was on duty with the National Guard but said the Senate was looking at the state’s bottom line.

“(The senators) were concerned about the pending budget deficit and felt that’s what they needed to do,” he said.

Michigan legislators face an Oct. 1 deadline to settle next year’s state budget, which includes making decisions about higher education funding.

Statewide, about 96,000 students are eligible to receive money from the Michigan Promise during 2009-10, said Ben Kohrman, communication director for Lt. Gov. John Cherry.

But now, students such as Schwartz are left scrambling to reduce their expenses and find other ways to pay for higher-than-planned tuition.

“I had to get more loans than I would normally want and not each much food,” she said.

She also picked up a second job working as a waitress at Conrad’s College Town Grill, 101 E. Grand River Ave. Schwartz already works in West Circle, but needed the extra income to pay for rent and textbooks. She will start her second job after Labor Day.

“It’s just a lot harder to make ends meet,” she said.

And that is true at the capitol as well.

Michigan’s budget has reached a $1.8 billion deficit in the general fund and another $1 billion shortfall in higher education funding, said Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

“The governor has made it clear the Michigan Promise scholarship has to continue, but we don’t know how it will look,” Boyd said.

The scholarship was a signal from the state that Michigan expects its students to continue education after high school, Boyd said.

For some students, the scholarship was a deciding factor in choosing schools.

Animal science sophomore Deb Navarre always knew she wanted to attend MSU, and she had friends whose decisions depended on the money.

“I know a lot of people that either chose to stay in Michigan or start directly to a university or four-year school instead of a community college,” she said.

Navarre is paying her tuition from savings and with the help of her parents, but said she might have to take out student loans sooner than she hoped.

“It puts more responsibility on me as far as having to take out loans,” Navarre said.

Despite the holds on Michigan Promise funding, the Senate bill does not necessarily determine the scholarship’s final outcome.

Definitive action will be taken on the bill once budget targets have been set by House and Senate leaders and the governor, Bauer said.

“We are waiting for top leadership negotiating to set budget targets for each department,” she said.

Once the target is set for higher education, senators and representatives will know how much funding can go into the Michigan Promise. The debate is about raising money, cutting programs or using federal stimulus money to cover all or part of the costs of the program.

“There’s still a lot of disagreement between the House and Senate,” Bauer said.

If the Michigan Promise is eliminated, the university will try to offer additional forms of need-based financial assistance, but that is not guaranteed, Meyers said.

“For some people, it will just be a bill,” she said.

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