The 88th General Assembly
has convened the 2012 fiscal session

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Need help brainstorming for a constituent

I've been working with a constituent needing some sort of help staying in college, and after working on this for several weeks, I'm just about resigned to the fact that I won't be able to help her.

Facts: A 19 year-old constituent received a Chancellor's scholarship out of high school and attended UALR this past year as a freshman. In order to keep her scholarship, she had to maintain a 3.25 GPA. She made a 3.125, and the scholarship will not be reinstated. She has secured a loan in the amount of $1,750, but that won't cover enough to get her back in school for the fall term.

In her own words: "I have a dream and I need financial help to achieve that dream. I work a part time job to try to help with living expenses. I had to sit out for the summer because I didn't have money to pay tuition. I registered and had to drop out because of lack of college funds."

Arkansas Academic Challenge: She didn't meet the criteria for the Arkansas Academic Challenge grant out of high school because she couldn't demonstrate financial need. Now that she's a year in, she can demonstrate financial need but doesn't qualify because she's not a first time college student.

I know this is not an uncommon situation around the state and is likely one of the core reasons that voters overwhelmingly supported the lottery, but I would appreciate any thoughts you might have regarding other sources of financial aid. We both keep hitting a brick wall, and I told her I'd make a last-ditch effort before it's too late to enroll by posting something here. Shoot me an e-mail if you have any thoughts.