Proposed cut could affect thousands of CMU students

Proposed cuts to the Michigan state budget could leave incoming Central Michigan University freshmen without $4,000 for their education.

“At this point in time, it’s not a question anyone can answer,” said Diane Fleming, associate director of Client Services in the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.

Last week, the state Senate Committee on Higher Education recommended eliminating the scholarship given to students that meet testing requirements. If removed, the state would free up $143 million.

CMU had 4,214 students receive the Promise Scholarship and the university received a total of $4,213,500 in state money in the 2008-09 school year.

The Michigan Merit Award, the program that granted students who graduated in 2006 and before $2,500 for test scores, gave out $183,011 to 126 students last year. More than 96,000 students currently receive the scholarship.

If the scholarship is eliminated, Fleming said more direct and parent-PLUS loans would be made available to students that would lose the funding.

“Some students may receive a revised student aid letter,” she said.

With tuition not being set until the July 16 Board of Trustees meeting, Fleming said scholarships and financial aid estimates what the board will set tuition at early in the summer.

“We are not looking at a significant loss of enrollment,” she said. “We’re not looking at their decision truly affecting financial aid packages.”

Fleming also said the funding would also not affect whether a student comes to CMU. She said while the funding is a good thing, it isn’t something that is a big factor with students’ decision to attend CMU.

“For a lot of students that receive the Michigan Promise Scholarship, it’s a very nice thing to have,” she said. “But they’re just not our most needy students. Their families can absorb the loss.”

Spokeswoman for Gov. Jennifer Granholm Liz Boyd said the House and Senate conference committee is slated to set its budget targets this week and meet to discuss the 2009-10 budget.

“This week, we expect all budget bills to move out of chambers,” she said.

Boyd said while the state is on target to have the budget approved by the beginning of the fiscal year – October 1 – she said she could not speak to what the committee will do with the Promise scholarship, including whether or not it will be reduced or eliminated altogether.

“I think you can read between the lines,” she said. “We’re going to have to consider a number of budget cuts. The conversations are very fluid.”

Fleming said the current state of the economy is a bigger factor than eliminating the Promise scholarship. She said students’ families are putting college a higher priority when it comes to spending.

“Families are making wiser choices in limiting their discretionary spending,” she said.

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