State to simplify student grants

North Carolina student financial aid could get a whole lot easier to understand.

Before the N.C. General Assembly even officiated a study group to look into simplifying and consolidating state-based student financial aid, a working group was already making sure that the high school senior class of 2011 has a simplified student aid and loan experience.

But one of the remaining questions left to legislators regardless of the group’s recommendations is how much money could be available to students based on whether they choose to attend a state community college or a UNC-system school.

The working groups hopes to keep allotted grant and loan money proportional to this fiscal year — about $139.4 million appropriated for the UNC Need Based Grant and $13.9 for the N.C. Community College Grant — but legislators can change that proportion at their discretion.

“The real challenge in this is finding a model that keeps the proportions the same, so that when students are in high school, they have some sense of what the money might be at each (system),” said Elizabeth McDuffie, director of grants, training and outreach for the N.C. State Education Assistance Authority and a member of the working group.

While one system or another could end up with less state aid at their fingertips in coming years, that is not the goal of the consolidation, said Bruce Mallette, the UNC-system’s senior associate vice president for academic and student affairs and a committee member.

“First of all there’s no perfect answer. It’s a set of policy trade-offs and UNC, and the community colleges believe the trade-off reduces burden on the students and the aid administrator, and that’s is an important principle to follow,” he said.

The committee — which includes financial aid officers from state schools — is doing its best in the two remaining meetings before the end of August to recommend a new financial aid model for the system grants and various loan programs.

“We’re working as fast as we can in a collaborative way to come up with this consolidation of the program,” Mallette said.

“The community colleges and UNC have discussed some different approaches of what that model would look like, but students who are seniors in high school will have pretty accurate information. I think we can achieve that,” Mallette said.

The group will be made official when the Appropriations Act of 2010 is signed in July. While it is tasked with deciding what the model will look like, the main idea is to have grants and loans follow the student instead of the institution that student might choose to attend.

“I don’t think anyone is trying to set a goal to disadvantage anyone,” said Sam Watts, of the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, a nonprofit that submitted its own recommendations for reforming student financial aid.

“I think that the discussion happening at … the working group is looking for ways to create the greatest benefit to the most students.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.