Corbett slashes (his own) Ready to Succeed grants program.

[femmocrat]

Budget wrangling cuts $20M from Pennsylvania scholarship program touted by Corbett


By Debra Erdley
Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, 9:00 p.m.

Gov. Tom Corbett announced his Ready to Succeed scholarship program with a bang last winter, pitching a proposal to set aside $25 million for grants for college students with family incomes up to $110,000 a year.

Corbett, who has come under fire for reducing subsidies to public universities, framed the proposal as an effort to help minimize debt for students who don't qualify for need-based aid but have completed at least one year of school with a 3.25 GPA. He vowed he wouldn't sign a budget without the program described as relief for hard-pressed, middle-income families.

After months of contentious budget negotiations, the program was quietly pared to $5 million.


Read more: http://triblive.com/news/education/6563452-74/grants-program-students#ixzz3A7hobAg5

[JPZenger]

1. Will be issued to families that submitted their fafsa the earliest

Once the funding was cut, decisions needed to be made about how to distribute the money. One option would have been to cut the grant amounts, or to limit it to full time students. Another would have been to tighten the eligibility standards.

No. Instead the state decided to allocate the money on a first come, first served basis. It will depend upon the date that the family submitted their fafsa and state grant form. The more sophisticated parents with kids attending the richer schools typically file first. Many of the rich colleges have early deadlines for submittal, while the less rich schools do not. The community college students typically file last.

[femmocrat]

2. It's all smoke and mirrors.

Thanks for your insights.

[JPZenger]

3. More details on the grant program

http://www.pheaa.org/partner-access/rtss/pdf/2014-15-RTSS-Program-Approval.pdf

For full-time students, the max. grant under this new program is $2k a year. If you already receive $2K or more under the regular PA. state grant program, you are ineligible for additional money under this new grant program. If you already receive $1K under the regular PA. state grant program, you may be eligible for $1K under the new program, for a total of $2K.

The colleges are not allowed to tell students they are nominated for the grant.

You have to have completed at least 1 year of college, with a min. GPA.

[femmocrat]

4. Interesting!

So the college financial aid officer (or whoever) nominates the student without his or her knowledge? How odd.