When Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed the final 2010 state budget on Oct. 30, it included cuts to higher education funds. As a result, the Michigan Promise scholarship has been eliminated.
For Western Michigan University, cuts to financial aid are not good news.
“As a state, we kind of have to make up our mind about what our priorities are,” Mark Delorey, director of Financial Aid, said, “and if higher education is one of them, then we have to put some resources to work. And if it’s not, then we keep acting the way we are.”
The higher education cuts also affected other financial aid awards such as the Michigan Competitive scholarship and Work-Study programs.
Delorey said that WMU has not been left with many choices. Other schools, however, are attempting to find ways to reinstate the Michigan Promise themselves.
The Seidman College of Business Dean’s Advisory Board at Grand Valley State University donated $10,000 to help students who lost the Promise and Michigan Competitive Scholarship, according to a Nov. 12 Grand Rapid’s Press article.
Ferris State announced that it would use Federal Stimulus money to help cover the costs of the Promise, and both Michigan State and Saginaw Valley State universities are using funds in their reserves to help ease the loss.
“We don’t have any money,” Delorey said. “The one question I have, and the next time I meet with my colleagues [at other Michigan universities], I’ll have to ask them–‘where’d you guys have this in your budgets?’”
Currently, Financial Aid is informing students that the Michigan Promise has been eliminated via e-mail and is recalculating their loan packages.
Brendan Cole, chair of Students for Prosperity and member of College Republicans, has mixed views on the elimination of the Promise.
“I can’t say I’m really for [the Michigan Promise],” Cole said. “I kind of believe in a hands-off approach in education. If there are certain students that right now can’t afford college, a $4,000 grant is not going to pay for everything.”
Cole stated that while state higher education cuts are unfortunate, the elimination of the Michigan Promise is not a primary concern for Students for Prosperity.
“Maybe in a few years, when our economy recovers–hopefully it does–we can reinstitute the Michigan Promise, but right now, it’s just not possible because there’s so much else that needs to be focused on in our state,” Cole said.
Max Glick, president of the College Democrats, expressed disappointment in the state legislature’s decision to cut higher education funding.
“I think that it’s unfortunate that [the state government] had to cut it,” Glick said.
He stated that other possibilities could be explored to support students or possibly reinstate the Promise.
“I feel that it should be something that should be looked at to try to find a way that they could add it back with a different source of revenue,” Glick said.
He noted that students could have done more to support the Michigan Promise.
“From the onset, it was an uphill battle,” Glick said. “I think that maybe more direct action would have better benefited [the Michigan Promise].”
Taylor Xanders, a freshman majoring in applied mathematics, anticipated to receive the Michigan Promise before it was eliminated.
“[I feel] frustrated, more than anything,” Xanders said.
Xanders also expressed dissatisfaction with the financial aid process at WMU in general.
“My frustration with the aid system is that it’s almost all need-based,” he said. “The Michigan Promise is pretty much need-based.
“What really angers me is that, yes, the state is in a crisis mode, and maybe this decision is good for our budget,” Xanders added, “and maybe it’s the most logical decision to make, but in the middle of a semester, I don’t see how that’s going to help our economy.”
“It won’t.”
