NASSGAP 2007

1. Park City Utah October 21 – 24, 2007 State Updates NASSGAP 2007

2. NASSGAP State UpdatesNebraska Nebraska created a new scholarship program to assist high school students who are taking college courses.  The Access College Early (ACE) scholarship will pay the tuition and mandatory fees of dual-enrolled high school students taking classes at a Nebraska college or university.   To be eligible, students, or the student's parent/guardian, must qualify for at least one federal benefit program (SSI, Free or Reduced Price Lunches, TANF, Food Stamps, WIC) or have suffered an extreme family hardship (flooding, loss of job, medical emergency, etc). The goal of ACE is to increase the college-going rate of Nebraska students

3. NASSGAP State UpdatesTennessee Tennessee’s lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship has increased to $4,000/year. Even so, lottery revenue is outpacing scholarship expenditures, and a large reserve (currently nearly $400 million) is building. There is political pressure to spend down this reserve by expanding the family of student aid programs funded through lottery revenue.

4. NASSGAP State UpdatesTennessee HOPE Scholarship retention requirements are also a topic of political discussion. Initial eligibility requires either an ACT score of 21 or a high school GPA of 3.0. Because retention requires a college GPA of 3.0, it is easier to qualify for the HOPE Scholarship than to keep it. In fact, only about half of the freshmen HOPE Scholarship recipients maintain their eligibility into the sophomore year. Those losing their HOPE Scholarships tend to be disproportionately minority and low-income, which has added fuel to the political debate.

5. NASSGAP State UpdatesTennessee Tennessee’s primary need-based grant program (the Tennessee Student Assistance Award, or TSAA) received its first funding increase in five years. The state appropriation increased by nearly one-third, to $57 million. Most of this increase was from a one-time infusion of cash ($10,000,000) from the $400 million lottery reserve mentioned above.

6. NASSGAP State UpdatesTennessee Tennessee’s plan to decentralize its outreach staff is now complete. Previously, three outreach specialists worked out of the Nashville office. Now, five outreach specialists work from five regional offices spread across the state. Four regional offices are on university campuses in donated space, and one regional office is housed in our agency’s main office in Nashville. Outreach specialists meet primarily with high school counselors and college financial aid officers. They conduct financial aid programs and parent nights, and attend college fairs. Plans are to expand services into the middle schools, industry, and community organizations (churches, Boy’s Club, Girl’s Club, etc.)

7. NASSGAP State UpdatesNevada College Goal Sunday The third Nevada College Goal Sunday event was held on January 28, 2007. NSHE institutions and partners expanded their number of sites from 10 to 13 sites across the state, helping students and their families complete the FAFSA. Attendance at the event increased slightly over the previous year. Due to this year being the terminal year of a three-year grant, NSHE institutions elected not to continue this event, rather they will focus on the larger issue of improving Nevada’s college-going rate.

8. NASSGAP State UpdatesNevada GEAR UP The Nevada Department of Education (NDE) was awarded a second GEAR UP grant of $18 million, to assist low-income students through middle and high school to prepare for college. This Fall the high school graduates from the first Nevada GEAR UP have enrolled in NSHE institutions, and will received a GEAR UP grant that will continue each semester provided they enroll and complete 12 credits. NSHE and NDE have initiated a data exchange in order to automate the program.

9. NASSGAP State UpdatesNevada Governor Guinn Millennium Scholarship Nevada’s merit-based scholarship program continues to improve the state’s college participation and retention rates more successfully than any preceding program. Since its inception, over 66,660 Nevada high school graduates have been eligible for the Millennium Scholarship. Of this number, 41,561 Millennium scholars used their scholarship to attend an NSHE institution or Sierra Nevada College. Through Spring 2006, the program disbursed $151.4 million to students.

10. NASSGAP State UpdatesNevada State-funded Financial Aid The Nevada Legislature held its 74th session this past Spring. The appropriation from the state for need-based financial aid increased slightly from $15.1 million in FY07 to $16.1 million in FY08. This is primarily due to the commitment by NSHE institutions to devote more state funding to financial aid. Unfortunately NSHE’s request to the Legislature to fund new scholarship programs was not successful. Student-funded Financial Aid The NSHE Board of Regents continues to support need-based aid by setting aside a portion of fee increases (up to 50%) for financial aid. For FY08 this is funded at $14 million across the NSHE.

11. NASSGAP State UpdatesKansas During the 2007 legislative session, our four teacher service scholarship programs were combined into one program. The previous four programs had different requirements and service obligations and did not offer much flexibility for less than full-time enrollment. Key aspects of the new scholarship program allow students to be enrolled in either part-time or full-time courses and allow scholarship opportunities for current teachers who are taking courses toward licensure or endorsement in hard-to-fill disciplines or planning to teach in under served geographic areas of the state. In addition, over $1 million was added to this program in an effort to help address the state’s teacher shortage.

12. NASSGAP State UpdatesKansas Also, during the 2007 session, a program that was added to omnibus funding at the end of the 2006 session was placed into statute. This was the Nurse Educator Service Scholarship. In a state study that was conducted in 2005, it was determined that a critical issue with regard to the state’s nursing shortage was the shortage of qualified nursing faculty and equipment to educate our students. Part of the funding for the scholarship goes toward teaching positions and equipment. The remaining funding goes to scholarship assistance for those students seeking advanced degrees in nursing and will obligate themselves to teach in a Kansas nursing school program one year for each year of assistance that they have received.

13. NASSGAP State UpdatesKansas In addition, $1.5 million was added to our largest need-based grant program – the Kansas Comprehensive Grant – bringing the total funding in this program to $15.6 million. We have estimated that this will allow us to award approximately 800 more students with grants in the state.

14. NASSGAP State UpdatesKansas One of the front burner issues, expected during the 2008 session, is a challenge to the Kansas Immigrant Tuition Law. During the 2004 session, legislation was enacted that allows for immigrant students to pay resident tuition at our state’s regents institutions. The law allowed immigrants who, attended a Kansas high school for at least three years, earned either a diploma or a GED, and signed an affidavit stating that they will apply for U.S. citizenship to pay in-state tuition rates. There have been some challenges to this and it seems that opposition is beginning to pick up some speed going into the 2008 session.

15. NASSGAP State UpdatesKansas All-in-all, we feel that we were very fortunate during the 2007 legislative session with the additional funding that we received. Kansas is blessed with having a very pro-education Governor, Kathleen Sebelius.

16. NASSGAP State UpdatesNew Hampshire New statute Foster Child Tuition Waiver, allows up to 20 former foster children to receive a tuition waiver to attend any NH public 2- or 4-year institution. We are currently developing rules and the application process. Publics were not happy since they have to foot the bill.

17. NASSGAP State UpdatesNew Hampshire Legislation in the works A bill to recruit large animal veterinarians through loan repayment, grants (still undecided); either be housed with State Veterinarian or us (hope it goes to Agriculture) A bill to clarify our career school licensing function Multiple bills to grant tuition waivers to members of the National Guard, Army, etc. The publics are not happy because they would have to foot the bill. Not sure how this will go. Study committee on nursing programs. Question is, who will initially approve a program, Board of Nursing, Legislature or us? Hopefully will not impact financial aid

18. NASSGAP State UpdatesVirginia Virginia is experiencing huge gains in student financial aid. From FY06 to FY07 there was a $13.8 million increase in need-based aid for students attending a public institution and nearly $10 million increase in resident benefits for students attending a private institution.

19. NASSGAP State UpdatesVirginia A new program has been passed that will encourage students to take advantage of a 2+2 program by beginning their education at a two year college. The Virginia Two Year College Transfer Grant program is available to these students who demonstrate financial need. There are some unusual elements to the program that restricts eligibility to those who are first-time freshman as of fall 2007 and with financial need, GPA, enrollment, and degree program elements included in the criteria.

20. NASSGAP State UpdatesVirginia Dependents of military members who were killed in action or disabled have received free tuition/fees but now have an additional $750 stipend (grant) that will help with other educational costs. Virginia continues to review how to be more military-friendly and has increased availability of reduced tuition to military members.

21. NASSGAP State UpdatesVirginia A recent revenue shortfall has resulted in state-wide budget cuts that will impact general fund for the colleges and universities. The amounts per institution and impact of those cuts are yet to be determined.

22. NASSGAP State UpdatesIndiana The Governor recently appointed Mr. David Reynolds as The State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana (SSACI) new Executive Director. Mr. Reynolds was the former Deputy Director of the Indiana State Budget Agency.  The agency is in the process of converting to an updated Grant Award and Delivery System (GRADS) based on .NET C# platform.   Agencies interested in learning more about Indiana’s updated grant award system encouraged to contact Dennis Obergfell.

23. NASSGAP State UpdatesIndiana The Indiana General Assembly will reconvene in January of 2008 but it will be a non-budget session.  In the meantime the agency is still working on implementing two new programs (one has to do with deployed members of the Indiana National Guard and the other with students pursuing the degrees in the area of insurance), both of which were passed by the legislature in May of 2007.  In addition the agency must expand its 21st Century Scholars program to 6th graders beginning in July of 2008, but was not appropriated the administrative funds with which to do so successfully.

24. NASSGAP State UpdatesIllinois Illinois has seen some recent focus on financial aid for nursing. A new program for 06-07, the Nurse Educator Scholarship program, provided $447,000 for 28 scholarships to nurse educators. Awards are for tuition and fees plus stipend with the maximum award for 06-07 at $26,076. Two additional programs, the Nurse Educator Loan Repayment Program and the Veteran's Home Nurses Repayment Program will be implemented for 07-08. These programs will repay qualified educational loans up to $5,000 per year for nurse educators and nurses at veteran's homes who meet the work requirements.

25. NASSGAP State UpdatesAlaska ACPE request to use Alaska Student Loan Corporation funds to endow AlaskAdvantage Grant Program in perpetuity does not make it through budget hearings Pending HEA reauthorization and associated NPRM create prohibitions for lenders that would directly contradict Alaska state law relative to Commission responsibilities and result increased costs to Commission

26. NASSGAP State UpdatesAlaska Enactment of the CCRA combined with Department Determination that Alaska will no longer be eligible for a large portion of its previous 9.5% floor billings may result in need for Alaska to reduce borrower benefit amounts on its FFELP loans, although Alaska will continue to pass 100% of federal payments received relative to federal lending on to borrowers as cost reductions ACPE becomes state CIS operator (www.akcis.org), providing robust, interactive career and education exploration tool at no change to students and teachers statewide ACPE partners with the National College Access Network (NCAN) to conduct gap analysis relative to statewide college access programs and services

27. NASSGAP State UpdatesAlaska Tuition increase of 10% over next two years approved for the University of Alaska. Legislature approves funding to double the number of Alaska students participating in WWAMI medical education program. WICHE is providing Alaska technical support under its Escalating Engagement grant, designed to lead to better statewide coordination of access and success-related programs and services.

28. NASSGAP State UpdatesSouth Carolina Tuition Grants Program The SC Tuition Grants Program was enacted in 1970 by the SC General Assembly as a “need-based” program for South Carolina residents attending in-state, independent colleges on a full-time basis. In the current 2007-2008 school year, approximately $34.6 million will be awarded to 12,700 students attending the 21 eligible SC independent colleges. The maximum award for 2007-2008 is $3,200 and the average award is approximately $2,750. Bob Jones University, located in Greenville, SC, was recently added as the 21st. participating SC independent college as a result of legislation passed by the SC General Assembly during the 2007 session.

29. NASSGAP State UpdatesSouth Carolina Tuition Grants Program A new feature begun in the 2005-2006 award year that has been very successful is the use of electronic award notifications in place of the paper award letters. The SC Education Assistance Authority, the state agency governing the SC Student Loan Corporation, is providing the service at no cost to the SC Tuition Grants Commission. The experience thus far has been that approximately 90% of the eligible students have valid e-mail addresses (taken from the FAFSA) to which award notifications have been sent. The 10% without e-mail addresses are mailed paper award notifications. The savings to the SC Tuition Grants Commission from postage alone has been almost $15,000 per year not including cost of paper and employee work time.

30. NASSGAP State UpdatesSouth Carolina Tuition Grants Program Merit-based programs continue to be highly emphasized in South Carolina with over $221 million awarded in 2006-07. The state’s top merit program, the Palmetto Fellows Program ($7,500 award), was funded at $32 million, the LIFE Scholarship Program ($5,000 award) was funded at $135 million, the HOPE Scholarship Program ($2,800 award) was funded at $6.3 million, and the Lottery Tuition Assistance Program (Technical College students) was funded at $48.8 million. Approximately 80,000 SC students receive merit-based assistance each year through the merit-based programs. New in the Fall of 2007 are merit scholarship enhancements of up to $2,500/year for math and science majors.

31. NASSGAP State UpdatesSouth Carolina Tuition Grants Program Budget Request for 2008-09: Additional $1.6 million requested to increase maximum grant from $3,200 to $3,350 (matches 5% HEPI increase for 2006).

32. NASSGAP State UpdatesPennsylvania Richard E. Willey, President and CEO of PHEAA, will retire effective December 31, 2007. Mr. Willey has been in his current role since 2002. A national search will be conducted for his replacement.

33. NASSGAP State UpdatesPennsylvania The Pennsylvania State Grant program was level funded for 2007-08 by the Commonwealth. The $386,198,000 state appropriation will be supplemented by a $75,000,000 supplement from AES business earnings and other PHEAA resources. The maximum PA State Grant award is $4,700 for 2007-08.

34. NASSGAP State UpdatesPennsylvania A new Nurse Educator Shortage Initiative was funded by the state with $2,450,000 for 2007-08. PHEAA will administer the Pennsylvania State GEAR UP Scholarship program beginning with 2008-09. Graduates selected from seven eligible high schools who are Federal Pell Grant eligible and attending a Pennsylvania school on at least a half time basis in a degree program will be eligible.

35. NASSGAP State UpdatesConnecticut Capitol Scholarship Program The state’s need and merit-based aid program administered by the Connecticut Department of Higher Education received a $.5 million increase in state funding and eligible for LEAP and SLEAP funding for FY08, allowing a total program increase of 6% over FY07. As of Fall 2007, over 5,981 students will be awarded Capitol Scholarships, an increase of 481 grants available to needy Connecticut students. The maximum award amount is $3,000, and the average student award is $1,767.  For FY07 a total of 5,927 students received awards from this program.

36. NASSGAP State UpdatesConnecticut Connecticut Aid to Public College Students and Connecticut Independent College Student Grant Programs Provide funding from the state which is paid directly to state public and private institutions to award aid to needy Connecticut students.  Over 16,000 aid recipients are awarded between the two programs, totaling over $54 million in financial aid grants. This represents a total funding increase, between the two programs, of $22 million, or 67% increase over FY07, the largest increase ever.

37. NASSGAP State UpdatesConnecticut Minority Teacher Incentive Program (MTIP) State-funded program with close to $500,000 in annual allocations.  Provides up to $5,000 per year for up to 2 years in scholarship aid to students enrolled in their 3rd and/or 4th year of a teacher preparation program at a Connecticut college and up to $2,500 per year for up to 4 years in loan reimbursement stipends for previous scholarship recipients who are teaching in Connecticut public schools. For FY07 the program assisted 95 students with in-school grants totaling $340,500, and 60 teachers with loan stipends totaling $146,374.

38. NASSGAP State UpdatesConnecticut Weisman Scholarship This program was established with private funding and follows MTIP award eligibility and criteria, with the difference of Weisman funding earmarked for students preparing to teach middle or high school math or science at a Connecticut public school. For FY07 the program assisted 4 students with aid totaling $20,000.

39. NASSGAP State UpdatesConnecticut Other student financial aid programs administered through the Connecticut Department of Higher Education include: Awards to Children of Deceased and Disabled Veterans, Connecticut GEAR UP I& II Scholarship Programs, and the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program.

40. NASSGAP State UpdatesRhode Island Although many Rhode Island state agencies experienced significant cuts in their FY 2008 budgets, RIHEAA was fortunate to receive a 74% increase in our state appropriation for the RI State Grant Program. This increase, however, was coupled with a 48% decrease in revenue from our college savings program used to supplement the grant program. The result was an overall 11% increase from FY 2007 to FY 2008 in state grant program spending.    All state agencies have been asked to submit a FY 2009 budget that represents a 10% cut from FY 2008. This cut would result in a $1.1 million decrease in state grant spending.

41. NASSGAP State UpdatesRhode Island Rhode Island's CollegeBoundfund College Savings Program continues to be the second largest savings program in the country. We are in the process of expanding the income qualifications for families to participate in the program's matching grant component. RIHEAA is in the process of developing a student portal - Way To Go RI.org - that will provide students, parents, counselors and teachers the tools to explore colleges and careers, prepare for standardized tests, locate scholarships, track academic progress, electronically submit transcripts, and participate in a host of other activities that will guide the student along the path to college and a career.

42. NASSGAP State UpdatesMaine FAME, received level funding in FY 08 & FY 09 for its State Grant & other loan forgiveness programs. The Next Gen College Savings Plan will provide 5.5 million dollars for the State Grant Program in Academic 07-08, these funds will allow full-time & part-time students to have parity for the EFC cut-off . The EFC cut-off will be 7,000 for eligible students. The allocation for the State Grant Program will exceed 17 million dollars for AY 07-08.

43. NASSGAP State UpdatesMaine FAME is also in the process of reviewing all of the grant & loan programs business rules and processes to achieve lean processing. We are also designing a new database which should be student centrex rather than by program which should assist FAME staff in the management of the multiple programs that we administer.

44. NASSGAP State UpdatesMaine A new initiative in Maine that passed in the last Legislative session called Job Creation Through Educational Opportunity Program, this program provides a tax credit to reimburse educational loan payments for any Maine resident who earns an associate or a bachelor’s degree in Maine and lives works or pays taxes in Maine after earning that degree. FAME is not directly involved in the administration of this program but is serving an advisor to the State Board of Education who is drafting the rules for the program.

45. NASSGAP State UpdatesIowa The General Assembly enacted two new programs this year – the All Iowa Opportunity Scholarship and the All Iowa Opportunity Foster Care Grant. Both are new programs that have major supporters – a prominent Senator and the Governor. Both the Senator and the Governor have advocated for these programs to be put in place immediately and have been closely involved with administration and the writing of Administrative Rules. New on-line applications were created for both programs and the Commission is working to get funding to students as quickly as possible.

46. NASSGAP State UpdatesIowa The General Assembly eliminated loan forgiveness programs for nurses and teachers and established loan repayment programs for nurses and teachers. This has caused much confusion among students who are studying to be nurses and teachers and among those already working in these professions. Many hours have been spent informing the general public about the difference between loan forgiveness programs and loan repayment programs.

47. NASSGAP State UpdatesIowa The General Assembly also required a study of the payment process for students who are eligible to receive funding under the Iowa Tuition Grant Program – the state’s largest need-based grant program. The program provides an all-or-nothing award based on Expected Family Contribution. Some members of the General Assembly believe funds should be awarded on a sliding scale, much like the Pell Grant. Over the years, college and university officials have resisted the sliding scale suggesting that the administration of the program would be overly burdensome. A report on the study is due to the General Assembly in January.

48. NASSGAP State UpdatesIowa Much energy has been expended by the Commission concerning the administration of the state’s career information system for K-12 and college and university students. While Legislation requires that the Iowa Department of Education provide this service, the Iowa College Student Aid Commission has administered the program on behalf of the Department for the past 3 years. The Commission also revitalized its web site this year with a new logo and look, which also have been incorporated into the on-line Scholarship and Grant Payment Processing system.

49. NASSGAP State UpdatesCalifornia Commission Programs Cal Grant Program The Legislature and Governor continue to support the program. The budget reflects a $41.4 million increase over the revised 2006-07 level for anticipated growth in the Cal Grant Program, reflecting increased participation and the anticipated undergraduate fee increases.

50. NASSGAP State UpdatesCalifornia Commission Programs continued National Guard Assumption Program of Loans for Education (NG-APLE) The applicant must complete four years of service in the National Guard. For the 2006-07 year, 100 awards were allocated. There are no new allocations for 2007-08. The program assumes a specified amount after each year of service in the National Guard, up to a total of $11,000.