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Student scholarships may benefit from federal funds

If the Montana University System gets any share of the $50 million in federal money earmarked for easing the state’s tight budget, Regent John Mercer wants it all to go toward student scholarships.

By GAIL SCHONTZLER, Chronicle Staff Writer

That would give students relief from steep tuition increases, without expanding government spending, Mercer said.

A lot of state agencies will be competing for a share of the federal money, and legislators and the governor’s office would find it more attractive to give some to the University System if they knew the money wouldn’t increase the size of government, Mercer said.

His proposal for dedicating the hoped-for federal money to scholarships will be voted on when the regents meet next Thursday and Friday in Kalispell.

State leaders are still debating whether to save the $50 million in federal funds or hold a special session of the Legislature to spend it.

Montana State University President Geoff Gamble said Wednesday that using federal money for scholarships sounds like a good idea.

At MSU, students are facing tuition hikes of 12.25 percent this year and again next year.

"We’re working hard on scholarships," Gamble said.

Months ago, he launched a campaign to raise $10 million for scholarships. When fund-raisers quickly approached that goal, he upped the target to $18 million. Already MSU has about $14.5 million in the bank or in commitments, he said.

The donations will be placed in an endowment fund and 4 to 5 percent from the interest will be used each year for scholarships, Gamble said. Some scholarships will be awarded this fall.

The problems of rising tuition and Montanans’ access to higher education were also considered by a committee of regents, headed by Lynn Hamilton, which will deliver a report at the Kalispell meeting.

The report concludes that one of the best ways to save students money on tuition is to get them to graduate sooner. Many take five or six years to complete degrees, and knocking off just one semester would save an undergraduate roughly $7,500, it said.

The difficulty with that, Gamble said, is that many undergraduates change their majors while in college.

The committee report also recommended increasing student satisfaction, so fewer students drop out before graduating; increasing financial aid for low-income, minority and non-traditional students; educating students and parents about financing college; finding new ways to help rural residents; and greater state investment.

The state’s contribution to the cost of educating Montana students has fallen from 75 percent in 1990 to around 40 percent today, the report said.

In the past decade, state support for higher education increased by 7 percent, while tuition rose by 117 percent.

Montana now runs "the risk of pricing ourselves and our students out of the market," the report said.

Montana is less generous in helping students than other states, giving grants to only 3 percent of undergraduates, compared to 12 percent in North Dakota and 34 percent in New Mexico, the report said.

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/07/06/news/tuitionbzbigs.txt

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