Legislation working its way through the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives could cost some Saint Louis University students thousands of dollars, and officials in Student Financial Services are taking notice.
Access Missouri, a program that offers Missouri students in need of financial assistance since 2006, currently offers SLU students and other private school attendees up to $4,600 in grant money per year. In contrast, students at public universities are only able to be awarded up to $2,150 per year.
According to Tim Hercules, assistant director of counseling and outreach for Student Financial Services, 914 SLU students receive some sort of aid from the program this year, with the total amount of aid coming to SLU amounting to about $3.4 million.
However, should bills in the Senate and House be passed, the upper reaches of both the public and private grants would both be leveled to $2,850, substantially limiting the amount of funding available to students attending private universities.
Administrators, who have voiced their concerns at Student Government Association meetings twice this year, stepped up their efforts to mobilize students by sending an e-mail to Missouri residents on April 2, urging them to lobby against a change in allocation policy.
“ACTION REQUESTED,” the e-mail’s subject read. The e-mail went on to urge students to contact legislators, write letters and sign a University-sanctioned petition to keep the current allocation structure in place.
“The University took a proactive approach in sending the e-mail,” said Hercules, although he stopped short of classifying the e-mail as “a hard push” to encourage students to lobby their representatives. He said SFS was aiming to increase awareness among Missourians.
“Some of the students didn’t even know what was happening. A lot of them were upset,” he said.
Hercules said that the proposed change could keep strong students away from SLU.
“The whole point of the program was to provide students assistance with attending the school of their choice. By reducing the Access Missouri program, it is limiting the choice that a student has to attend a college or university that best fits their needs and their interests,” he said. “It really is kind of limiting the students’ choice and pushing them into the public sector.”
Beyond individual students’ concerns, Hercules indicated that a reduction of state funding could affect the University, which depends on the funds and might lose students who are unable to afford the heightened price tag with reduced aid.
Hercules added that University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., has written a letter pleading SLU’s case to legislators in Jefferson City, Mo.
Sophomore Sierra George-Johnson, who currently receives about $4,000 per year in aid from Access Missouri, is worried that a change in the allocation structure could jeopardize her future at SLU.
“We just can’t really afford SLU so the grant really helps a lot,” she said. “If the grant gets canceled, I might have so much trouble attending SLU that I might have to leave SLU.”
George-Johnson, a first-generation college student, said SLU programs like meteorology are unmatched by Missouri public institutions.
“Private schools offer more,” she said, wondering aloud if budget cuts could be made elsewhere to shore up more funds for public schools.
“I’ve been wanting to go to SLU since I was 8,” she said. “The Access Missouri grant gave me money to attend SLU . so I can be the first college graduate in my family.”
At present, Access Missouri funds are the same as last year’s rates.
However, legislative developments could potentially slash students’ grant levels as the next year approaches.
Attempts to contact legislators involved with the proposed Access Missouri cutback for private schools were unsuccessful.
