Panthers lobby for more financial aid to help students in financial limbo

Nicole Aguiar/Staff Writer

The Office of Governmental Relations and the Student Government Association are combining efforts in hopes of gaining income funding for three main issues identified by the University as affecting students and the growth of the institution.

These issues include funding for the College of Medicine, an increase in the Capital Improvement Trust Fund and an increase in need-based financial aid. Student Government lobbyists are working to gain the support of local South Florida legislatures to resolve these issues by the end of spring 2014.

“[SGA has] put a face and urgency to personalize the lobbying process,” said SGA Governmental Affairs Coordinator Alexis Calatayud.

The College of Medicine has been under a ten-year funding plan to create a self-sustainable college. For this last year, the University is seeking $15,000 in state funding before it uses its own budget.

A funding issue affecting all public Florida universities is the shortage of financial assistance from the state government towards the Capital Improvement Trust Fund. CITF is a fee students pay every semester through tuition dedicated to building or renovating non-academic buildings such as the Graham Center and the Recreation Center.

This year the University received $30 million from the government rather than the expected $170 million.

And the issue that has personally affected students is the raise in criteria for Bright Futures Scholarships. Bright Futures is a merit-based scholarship program which, according to state legislatures, 9,926 FIU students used last year to pay for their classes.

“If I didn’t have Bright Futures, I would have to take out student loans which leaves me starting my life with debt just out of college,” said economics and math senior Junior Pena.

Incoming freshmen in 2013 were required to score a 1020 (50th percentile) on their SAT and a 22 on their ACT, which is already a rise from previous years. Next year’s incoming freshmen are going to have to score a 1170 on the SAT and a 26 on their ACT in order to receive Bright Futures.

The University has a specific disadvantage to the new standards for Bright Futures because of the population served, where the required SAT and ACT scores for acceptance aren’t as high as the University of Florida or Florida State University. Future students will receive less aid than those of the past.

“The new requirements are a little high and will only discourage many high school students from attending FIU, or even college in general. A university is supposed to promote education and this is the exact opposite,” said Pena.

To put it into perspective: 80 percent of students from this year’s senior class receive Bright Futures, but if they were to apply under 2014 standards, only 40 percent would receive aid.

There are many students who are not receiving any help at all to pay for college because their SAT/ACT scores are too low, but their financial income is just enough that they are not receiving aid from Federal Student Aid either. For this reason, SGA is lobbying for an increase in need-based financial aid.

“There are some people who really should be getting Federal Student Aid and aren’t. Just because a family has enough to support their family, doesn’t mean they can also put their kid through college alone,” said biology sophomore Doris Gonzalez.

SGA is working with House of Representatives, including Jose Felix Diaz, Jose Javier Rodriguez, Gwen Margolis, Jose Oliva and Cynthia Stafford to “bridge the gap between Bright Futures recipients and FAFSA recipients,” said Calatayud.

In relation to these representatives, most University graduates live in South Florida, meaning the future of Miami-Dade County will be affected by the success students have in gaining an education.

Calatayud said if students are not receiving help from Bright Futures or FASFA, the population of college graduates in Miami-Dade will decrease. Efforts from student government and legislatures are still in the works, but the goal is to increase need-based financial aid and resolve the other two issues addressed by the end of spring 2014.

-news@fiusm.com