Thursday, June 18, 2009

State grants for college students could be slashed in budget cuts

Chi-Town:
Hundreds of millions of dollars in state financial aid funding for college students are up in the air amid massive budget cuts, and in a doomsday scenario, it could all run out by January.

Last year, the Monetary Award Program handed out $384 million to 145,000 students statewide, including $130 million to students at schools in Chicago.

But as the Illinois Student Assistance Commission saw applications for MAP grants for the coming school year increase 30 percent, the department is bracing to get only half of the $440 million it had expected to get.

“We have to give people fair warning so that they can make plans,” says Andrew Davis, the executive director of the Illinois State Assistance Commission. “I think it is appropriate to let them know that as of this point, there is no money.”

Under the worst-case scenario, students would only get $820 in aid for every $1,000 that had been promised for the fall semester, and no funding in the spring.
For those of you who are either in college or have people who are headed towards college.

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