Students at University of Missouri-St. Louis may notice a little less help from financial aid funding this year.
The Access Missouri Financial Assistance Program is handing out less funding to college students who need help paying for school. This year, those who are eligible will receive $1,680 from Access Missouri for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Last year, UM-St. Louis students received $2,050.
This may come as a disappointment to many UM-St. Louis students who may already be struggling in a recessive economy. James O'Steen, Coordinator of Financial Aid, believes that the economy might be to blame.
"The issue isn't that the state of Missouri is giving less funding toward the Access Missouri overall pot, it's that more students are going to school and they need financial assistance," O'Steen said. "Access Missouri must distribute less money per individual because of more students in need."
O'Steen expressed the economy's accountability further saying that numerous students have begun to look at financial aid as a source of income. According to O'Steen, this means that students are taking the opportunity of programs such as Access Missouri and using them as a reason to go back to school in order to be more competitive in the job market.
The Access Missouri Financial Assistance Program is a $92 million program which helps students in both public and private universities all across Missouri. Private university students receive approximately double the amount of public university students because of such high costs.
Earlier in the year, Governor Jay Nixon proposed to decrease the amount of maximum funding for private universities so that funding could be increased for students attending public universities.
He had hoped to set the limit for both public and private universities at $2,850.
However, the proposed bill did not make it through either the Senate or the House chambers of legislature.
Jason Pogue, a sophomore attending Lindenwood University, hailed the result as justice for students such as himself.
"I have been out of school for four years and found myself forced to go back because I lost my job," Pogue said. "I would have gone to the University of Missouri-St. Louis if I could, but Lindenwood had the program I needed. Tuition costs so much at Lindenwood. Some of us that go to private colleges need the extra help."
Despite an increase of students going to college, and an increase in students needing financial aid, overall funding for the program has not increased. James had a hunch as to why.
"If it was my guess, I'd say that it would have to do with overall cuts in state funding," James said. "Everything takes a hit some way or another."
On its website in February, the Missouri Department of Higher Education touted the federal stimulus package for its potential "to provide Missouri with needed flexibility to make college more affordable by maintaining state support for institutions of higher learning."
At least for now, Access Missouri overall funding will not be increased by federal stimulus. Financial aid did want it to be known, though, that the Access Missouri funding per UM-St. Louis student did increase from its original 2009 projection. "Students were originally going to receive $1,600. The state government increased it to $1,680."
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