State cuts reach private schools

Cuts to state financial aid programs for higher education in Massachusetts and neighboring states have even had an impact on private colleges and their students.

Overall, Massachusetts higher education appropriations for financial aid were slashed by 10 percent this year to $87 million according to Sarah Mealey, a Massachusetts Department of Higher Education spokeswoman.

‘ Some local private institutions have responded to the state grant cuts by stepping in to make up the reduced funding.

‘ Boston University faced about $450,000 in reductions to state funding of Gilbert Grants and MASSGrants for the 2009-10 academic year said spokesman Colin Riley.’

‘ MASSGrants are awarded to students with expected family contributions of less than $4618 and the maximum award is $1,900 for the 2009-2010 academic year. Funding for MASSGrants increased by 18 percent for this fiscal year, but an increase in eligible students resulted in each award being smaller.’

‘ Gilbert Grants are block sums that are sent to colleges and universities in Massachusetts to distribute to students from lower-income families. They range from $200 to $2,500 in amount.’

BU decided to make up the reductions with BU grants so that students were not faced with an additional financial burden, Riley said.’

‘ ‘The university deserves a lot of credit,’ Riley said.’

‘ Riley said the reduction was a ‘significant amount.’ He attributed the decrease in funding to the state’s fiscal crisis, which has resulted in Gov. Deval Patrick slashing billions of dollars from state spending.’

‘ ‘We understand the economic situation and significant reductions the governor is making, and unfortunately [student grant] programs were affected,’ Riley said.

‘ Northeastern University also experienced cuts to their expected state grant amounts for in-state students. Like BU, Northeastern decided to make up the reductions with increased grant money for students said Anthony Erwin, Northeastern’s director of university financial aid and scholarships.’

‘ ‘It was a significant expense,’ Erwin said. ‘The students who received those grants are the neediest and it is important to stand by them.’

‘ Susan Wilson, associate director of student financial aid at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that in cases where MIT students had state grants reduced, the student would be responsible for making up the difference.

‘There would be a less severe affect to our bottom line,’ Wilson said. ‘If a state cuts back, a student might have to borrow more.’

Local schools also had to deal with higher education grant cuts to students from other New England states because state grant programs are still honored when a student from another New England state goes to school in Massachusetts.

Northeastern has made up reduced funding from grant programs in Rhode Island, Maine and Vermont in the past two academic years Erwin said.’

GUESSING GAME

‘ Every spring, higher education institutions across the state send out financial aid award letters to returning and incoming students. These letters are sent out before the state budget process in Massachusetts and many other states is complete, which often results in disparities between what a school told a student that they would get for state grants and the actual amount the state awards.

‘When looking to state aid it is always a guessing game’ Clantha McCurdy, senior deputy commissioner of access and student financial assistance for Massachusetts, said.

‘ Erwin said Northeastern was warned that there would be cuts to the higher education grants by McCurdy’s office.

‘In other downturns where state funding was cut there was bad communication, but this year I have nothing but praise,’ Erwin said. ‘We have not had any surprises.’

McCurdy said her office sent out emails to inform schools that cuts would be coming. McCurdy said some schools were better prepared for the reduced state aid funding than others. She also said the schools that were most concerned about possible cuts called her office and asked for their best estimate of what the cuts would be.

‘Those schools that were conservative in their projections fared a bit better,’ McCurdy said. ‘Anytime we were in front of financial aid administrators we told them what to expect. No one was caught off guard.’

Eileen McGivney, a field organizer for MASSPIRG, a public interest group with student chapters throughout the state, said state cuts to grant programs disproportionately affect lower-income students.

‘Students from modest backgrounds graduate with more debt than their peers, which is not how financial aid programs are supposed to work,’ McGivney said. ‘To level the playing field, these students should be able to rely on enough scholarship aid that they don’t have to take on crippling debt levels to pay for a degree.’

McGivney said the decrease in state higher education aid is blunting the impact of increased education grants and loans from the federal government.

‘[Federal] grant aid should not supplant what state aid we have available for students in Massachusetts in order to ensure equal access to education,’ McGivney said.

Federal aid would increase further with passage of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which would provide $40 billion to increase Pell Grant funding. The bill has passed the House, but has yet to be taken up by the Senate.

In late October, Patrick announced $62 million in federal stimulus money would help offset state cuts in higher education, but none of the money was slated for state higher education grant programs, Mealey said.

MORE’ TROUBLE AHEAD

College and state financial aid administrators said they are worried that there could be even more cuts to state grants for students in the coming months.

‘I would not be doing my job right if I was not preparing for that possibility,’ Erwin of Northeastern said.’

‘ McCurdy said she would also not rule out further state cuts.

‘ ‘I do not anticipate other cuts, but if revenue does not come in there may be cuts to financial aid programs,’ she said.