The State College Board allotted Mississippi State University about $12 million in federal relief dollars in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Since December, the College Board’s department of financial aid has worked with institutions across the state to distribute money given by the federal government to assist students affected by Hurricane Katrina in continuing their education.
The federal Department of Education requires that the $95 million grant be designated for Title IV schools, which includes about 40 public universities, private colleges, proprietary schools and community colleges, College Board director of media relations Annie Mitchell said.
“Our number one priority is to ensure that students stay in school,” Mitchell said.
Once the College Board’s department of financial aid distributes the appropriate amounts of money to each school, the individual schools will be responsible for distributing the money amongst students.
Hurricane Katrina has affected between 1,000 to 1,500 students at MSU, which means any of these students could be eligible for this financial aid, Joe Farris, assistant to MSU President Charles Lee, said.
Any student eligible for the money may receive a limit of $5,000 per academic year, vice president for finance and administration Ray Hayes said. Students could be eligible for aid for semesters beginning with the fall 2005 semester and continuing through fall 2006, he said.
“Hopefully, most of the students that were affected can stay in school and complete their degree,” he said.
The acquisition of this money would have been impossible without the hard work of the state’s congressional delegation, especially Sen. Thad Cochran, Mitchell said.
The IHL requested a specific amount of money, and after several months the federal government provided the money, she said.
“We received what we asked for,” she added.
In order to distribute the appropriate amounts of money to each school, the IHL was required to put the numbers through the LEAP formula, a formula used by the government for over 20 years in a number of financial aid distribution areas, she said.
Mitchell added that Lee helped in acquiring the $95 million.
Lee has been very concerned about this issue, Farris said, and he worked to keep the subject in the forefront of issues discussed in this state during the fall semester.
“He has been working to prevent any Mississippi State students from leaving,” Farris said.
Representatives also visited the Coast this week as part of a normal recruiting effort for the university, but this time a financial aid representative traveled with this group in order to make affected students aware of the options they have for paying for college during a difficult time.
“Trying to protect the interests and future of students has been an absolute top priority,” Farris said.