DOUGLAS — The Illinois Institute of Technology is scrambling to find funding for 738 of its students because state scholarships have been held up in the ongoing budget battle in Springfield.
The university sent out letters Wednesday telling students that the university could no longer afford to credit them for the money from Illinois Monetary Award Program and is now trying to coordinate loans for the affected students.
"All of us here at Illinois Tech had hoped that the governor and the General Assembly would, by now, have resolved their disagreements over the budget,” says Mike Gosz, vice president for enrollment, in the letter. “Unfortunately, as of today, they have made no real progress.”
Gosz said the university had credited students for the amount of their grants in the fall optimistically hoping politicians would pass a budget that funded the Illinois Student Assistance Commission grant program, which awards students up to $5,000.
He said the university has set up loans for affected students that would remain interest-free through September and then would rise to 6.8 percent interest rate.
Gosz said affected students would not be able to register for classes on April 4 until they had worked out how to replace the state grant money.
He said the university will pay students their initial grants awards if the state funds the program.
Students have taken to social media to say they feel stabbed in the back after other universities have stepped in to cover the missing grant money for their students.
thanks to IB and IIT funding I'll be able to get my MAP grant replaced by institutional funding at IIT. 😩❤️
— chely (@figsx) December 15, 2015
Tuition goes up and no map grant
— Rello (@Laydbackhomie) March 25, 2016
IIT has lobbied lawmakers and has asked students to also put pressure on Springfield to fund the program for months.
“While the university will do its best to assist students in extreme situations, the university is unable to assist all students impacted by this lack of action from our legislature,” the university said in a plea to students to contact their legislators in December.
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