(Published Thursday, August 23, 2007 11:27:30 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Carla McCann cmccann@gazetteextra.com
WHITEWATER-While lawmakers quarrel over the state budget, a 21-year-old Delavan man worries if he'll be able to attend UW-Whitewater this fall.
"I worked very hard to get good grades," Mario Selph said. "I need to go to college to better myself."
Selph depends on financial aid through the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant program to pay tuition. But until the state budget is approved, the 2004 Delavan-Darien High School graduate doesn't know if the financial aid will be available.
He is one of 178 UW-Whitewater students eligible for a Wisconsin Higher Education Grant but unsure if they'll get money.
"I need that money to even register for classes," Selph said. "I've been praying about it."
Mario Selph
The state-funded grant program is available to eligible Wisconsin undergraduates who are economically deprived, said UW-Whitewater Interim Chancellor Richard Telfer.
The program is on hold, waiting for Republicans and Democrats to negotiate a state budget compromise, said Carol Miller, director of UW-Whitewater's financial aid office.
Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit, said the Assembly Republican budget would cut $31 million in financial aid for incoming college students. Those proposed cuts prompted the Higher Educational Aids Board to place students applying for financial assistance on waiting lists.
Students who submitted applications for the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant program by June 27 are not included on the waiting list, but all others are, Miller said.
At UW-Whitewater, the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant program would total $400,000 this year, Miller said.
"And we expect that number to rise because a lot of students don't apply for financial aid until later," Miller said.
The tieup in this aid will be a hardship for students, Miller said.
"I'm sure some students will not be able to attend," Miller said. "I'm sure it's causing students a lot of stress."
Selph, who wants to be a parole officer, said he didn't know that submitting a grant application early would have helped.
"I can't go to school without this grant," Selph said.
Selph moved to Delavan from Chicago in 2002 to live with his aunt in a safer environment.
He has a full-time job at Wal-Mart in Delavan but doesn't earn enough to cover the cost of attending school.
The new semester starts Tuesday, Sept. 4, and time is running short, Telfer said.
Wisconsin students need the Legislature to act quickly and responsibly, Telfer said.
But it doesn't appear that will happen within the next few days. Robson said she hopes to see a finished budget by Labor Day.
The last time Wisconsin's budget was this late was in 1999, when it was passed Oct. 6, Robson said.
"We need parents and students to contact their legislators and encourage the Legislature to act quickly on the budget," Telfer said. "Our neediest students must know whether they will receive WHEG funding. Without this funding, they will not be able to afford to continue."
