Governor Paterson on Tuesday released his proposed 2010-11 Executive Budget, which included proposals to reduce all TAP awards by $75 and cut the maximum TAP award for all students in two-year degree programs from $5,000 to $4,000.

Where will students find college funding?

TAP funds are available to income-qualified students who would otherwise not be able to afford and attend college. The governor’s actions mean college will not be an option for many of New York’s neediest students, primarily those who have the academic qualifications to attend college, but not the financial means. Additionally, APC questioned the rationale for cutting funding for two-year students only. These students must be supported because they earn degrees and find quality jobs more quickly.

“The governor is saying ‘no’ to students who have the will and the grades for college, but lack the funds. TAP funds are investments in New Yorkers, helping the state’s most needy students achieve the dream of attending college and launching a rewarding career,” said Stephen Jerome, APC president and president of Monroe College in the Bronx and New Rochelle. “We know the governor agrees that an educated population is important to New York’s future economic vitality. However, any reductions in TAP funding work against that belief. With TAP and a degree, students become earners and taxpayers, and therefore part of the state’s economic solution. TAP is a smart investment in New York’s future.”

The Association of Proprietary Colleges represents 26 tax-paying, degree-granting colleges located on 39 campuses across New York. Proprietary colleges are one of the four sectors of higher education in New York. APC Colleges offer degrees in more than 60 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs, including business, health care, hospitality management, graphic arts and technology.

Permalink: http://readme.readmedia.com/Governors-TAP-Cuts-Target-New-Yorks-Most-Financially-Needy-Students/1056307

How does this effect HEOP?

HEOP is funded through several funding programs. One of the big and long time supporting funding program is TAP (Tuition Assistant Program). Tap generally provides up to $4000 in scholarship for students (based on academic year). Depending on what the tuition is for the institution, this could be a huge chunk of funding that a student can get. Since HEOP has already faced much cutbacks from the funding, how much more cuts could they really handle? There have been rumors that several HEOP institutions are now cutting down the number of accepted and incoming students from 40 to 15. That a cut back of 62.5%. If the government does cut more funding, that number might decrease even more. Eventually, there will be barely any funding left for any institute to have the Higher Education Opportunity Program.

How to help stop the funding cuts

Below is an e-mail I received from Deborah M. Stendardi Vice President of Government & Community Relations at the Rochester Institute of Technology with some ways students can help fight this budget cut.

The recently released proposed State Budget for FY 2011 by Governor David Paterson includes a $75 cut in Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) awards for every student who benefits from this program to help them meet their tuition costs.  While this may not seem as dramatic a cut as we have been faced with in some previous years, the impact on individual students is nevertheless significant, particularly in light of the challenging economic circumstances facing many of our students and their families.  Moreover, State funding for the Tuition Assistance Program has stagnated for the past ten years, while the federal government is increasing its commitment to students.  We believe that it is critical for New York State to continue to invest in and maintain its commitment to its future workforce by sustaining TAP at its current funding levels.   More than 3,500 RIT students receive $8 million in TAP support, making this program one of the key foundations in making an RIT education affordable for low and middle income New York State students.

We encourage members of the RIT campus community (faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends) to make your voices heard and to encourage your elected State officials to reject the Governor’s proposed cut in TAP.  You can do so easily by linking to the following website:  http://capwiz.com/cicu/home/, and clicking on the box that says “take action”.   Key messages that you might considering including are:

• The proposed cut in TAP would hurt students and families who are already struggling due to the economy;
• The State’s investment in TAP is an investment in our future workforce at a time when it is critically important to keep and retain our students and our graduates in New York State;
• The TAP cuts would have a disproportionately harmful impact on economically and educationally disadvantaged students, such as those enrolled in HEOP, who have already been impacted by prior year cuts in that program
• As a taxpayer and voter, you believe that higher education access should be a top priority even in light of the difficult choices and decisions that the State has to make this year;
• Finally, any personal experience you may have with the TAP program and/or the impact that the program has had on RIT students would be important to include.

College Students are New York’s Best Investment
Act now to protect student financial aid from mid-year reductions

The mid-year budget cuts that have been proposed by Governor Paterson include, among other proposed cuts in higher education programs, a reduction of $120 in Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) awards for all current TAP recipients in this academic year.  While we appreciate the serious financial difficulties facing New York State, we believe that college students should not have to shoulder this additional burden with a mid-year reduction in their financial aid support.  More than 3,500 RIT students currently receive TAP awards.  The proposal would reduce overall support to our students by over $400,000.

Although the Governor and Legislature have yet to agree on a mid-year budget reduction plan, it is likely that some mid-year cuts will be made when the Legislature returns to Albany again next week.  Therefore, we need your help to ensure that the voices of our students and the RIT campus community are heard to protect against the proposed reduction in TAP awards.  Now more than ever it is important for the State to invest in its future workforce as represented by our college students.

You can help by sending a message to your state elected officials via the following link:  http://capwiz.com/cicu/home/, and urging them to reject a mid-year reduction in TAP awards.

Our legislators have always been very supportive of student financial aid, and specifically the TAP program.  However, in light of the current budget situation it is important to remind them how important this program is and why it should remain a priority for the State.   Please take a few minutes to voice your interest in this matter to your State legislators.   Thank you.

What would you do if you could generate a return of $8 on a $1 investment, especially if you were absolutely certain that it is legal, ethical and moral? This would be an attractive investment at any time, but in tough financial times like these it makes even more sense. For the past four decades, New York’s leaders have had the wisdom to make exactly this investment through our nation-leading Opportunity Programs, including the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) hosted by independent colleges and universities, Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) hosted by the State University of New York, and Seeking Education and Elevation through Knowledge (SEEK) hosted by the City University of New York. Together these programs have graduated more than 5,000 people every year since 1969, so there are now more than 200,000 alumni participating in the economy as taxpayers, homeowners, employers and employees, entrepreneurs, and more.

While the exact causes of the current recession may be debated for decades, one factor that is absolutely clear here in New York State is that we have been over-reliant on Wall Street and the financial sector of the economy. Of course the financial sector will always be important to our economy, but it is also abundantly clear that it makes sense to diversify so our overall economy is more resilient and therefore more stable. Educating people to participate in a diverse economy just makes sense in both the long and short term, especially when the alternative is to leave them in poverty.

We all know New York ’s state budget is in serious trouble, and we all know we must pull together to make needed changes that will improve things for us all. The Governor has proposed cuts totaling about $5.3 million across HEOP, EOP and SEEK in the face of an estimated $38 billion shortfall over the next four years. Enacting the proposed cut would result in an immediate, and insignificant, deficit reduction of less than 1.5%. Much more significant though would be the lost return on that investment. In fact, since we know program graduates contribute back $8 for every $1 invested by the state, this cut will in fact magnify the very deficit it tries to reduce. This cut is the worst thing we can do now. We know we can’t add more resources at this time, but at least let’s not make things even worse.

Besides the clear economic consequences of enacting this cut, there are also moral consequences. A cut of this magnitude means we must deny hundreds of potential teachers, entrepreneurs, health care workers, and engineers access to the kind of education and training they need to realize their potential. No one enters these kinds of fields without higher education, and New York State cannot afford to throw them away. Not now, not ever. Making these cuts will slam shut the door of opportunity, locking out the kind of talent we need right when we need it the most. In these difficult times we may either open the door to creativity, energy and talent in the expectation that many hands make light work, or we can close the door and leave them in the cold and expect fewer people to shoulder the work of recovery.

Whether one considers the question from an economic perspective or a moral one, the answer is perfectly clear. Closing the door won’t close the gap.

The QuestBridge National College Match helps outstanding low-income high school seniors to gain admission and full four-year scholarships to some of the nation’s leading colleges. If you are a student who has achieved academic excellence in the face of economic challenges, we encourage you to apply at www.questbridge.org.

QuestBridge works with selective colleges that are actively seeking high-achieving students regardless of family income. You may be concerned about tuition costs, but top-ranked colleges offer generous financial aid packages that cover 100% of demonstrated financial need, making them very affordable for students from low-income backgrounds.

Last year, more than 1,000 QuestBridge applicants were admitted to our partner colleges with generous financial aid worth over $100 million. 260 of these students received College Match scholarships covering the following costs:

• Full cost of tuition (up to $40,000 per year)
• Full cost of room and board (up to $15,000 per year)

Most QuestBridge partner colleges also include the cost of books and travel in their scholarship packages and automatically renew the scholarship for all four years of college. All College Match scholarships are loan-free.

Our 26 partners include many of the nation’s top-ranked universities and liberal arts colleges:

• Amherst College (MA)
• Bowdoin College (ME)
• Caltech (CA)
• Columbia University (NY)
• Emory University (GA)
• Haverford College (PA)
• MIT (MA)
• Northwestern University (IL)
• Oberlin College (OH)
• Parsons The New School for Design (NY)
• Pomona College (CA)
• Princeton University (NJ)
• Rice University (TX)
• Scripps College (CA)
• Stanford University (CA)
• Swarthmore College (PA)
• Trinity College (CT)
• University of Chicago (IL)
• University of Notre Dame (IN)
• University of Pennsylvania (PA)
• Vassar College (NY)
• Washington and Lee University (VA)
• Wellesley College (MA)
• Wesleyan University (CT)
• Williams College (MA)
• Yale University (CT)

The QuestBridge National College Match application is designed to enable high-achieving low-income students to highlight their strengths and the obstacles they have overcome. The application is available free of charge on the QuestBridge website, www.questbridge.org, and is due on September 30, 2009.

QuestBridge is pleased to offer Quest for Excellence Awards as a complement to the National College Match. These awards include laptop computers, all-expense-paid visits to QuestBridge partner colleges, and career mentoring opportunities (e.g., with the Wall Street Journal and the consulting firm McKinsey & Company). Please visit www.questbridge.org for more information.

QuestBridge is a 501(c)(3) non-profit program. Our organization has worked since 1994 to connect outstanding students with college admissions, scholarships, and other educational opportunities.

For the first time in years, there is good news for college students who borrow to pay for their education.

Starting Wednesday, the federal Education Department will begin offering a repayment plan that lets graduates reduce their loan payments, based on their income.

“We know today’s borrowers are concerned about their ability to repay student loans in the current economic environment,” Arne Duncan, the education secretary, said in a statement. “This new plan addresses the issue head-on by giving them the option of a reduced monthly payment tied to their annual income.”

Also on Wednesday, the interest rate on new federal Stafford loans, the most widely used federally guaranteed student loan, will drop to 5.6 percent, from 6.8 percent. By 2012, the rate will fall to 3.4 percent, under a schedule mandated by Congress.

The changes come as student borrowers face a difficult job environment and after many families have found it harder or impossible to use home equity loans to pay for college. Since the credit crisis, it has also become more difficult and more costly to obtain private student loans, which are not guaranteed by the government and which typically carry variable interest rates determined by borrowers’ credit histories.

“These benefits are guaranteed, no matter what happens in our economy, and are kicking in at exactly the right time for millions of Americans,” said Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and chairman of the House education committee.

While the interest rate cut applies to new loans, the new repayment option is available to borrowers who took out federal loans or who used a federal consolidation loan to combine their higher-education debts.

The extended payment program, called “income-based repayment,” limits what borrowers have to pay to 15 percent of the difference between their gross income and 150 percent of federal poverty guidelines. After borrowers make payments on loans for 25 years, the balance is forgiven. (The Education Department already offered an “income-contingent” repayment plan, which was similar, but less generous.)

“These programs are such an enormous victory,” said Christine Lindstrom, director of the higher-education access program at U.S. PIRG, the consumer advocacy group. “It enables all borrowers to be able to face their life circumstances and know there is some flexibility and responsiveness based on what life throws their way.”

To help borrowers understand the program, the Education Department has set up a Web site with a calculator to determine monthly payments based on income and family size.

The extended payment plan is intended to work with another program that forgives federal loans taken out by people working in public interest jobs. If borrowers make payments under the income-based plan, the balance on their loans is forgiven after 10 years.

There is a catch, though. To participate in the program, borrowers must shift their loans into the federal Direct Loan program, in which the government extends credit directly. The forgiveness is not available for loans made by banks or other loan companies, like Citigroup or Sallie Mae.

The definition of public service under the forgiveness program is broad. Jobs in government, public schools or colleges, nonprofit organizations, public interest law, early childhood education, public health or public libraries all could qualify, according to the Education Department.

The forgiveness benefit could lead to even greater interest in public service jobs, which are already drawing more applicants. For example, in the 2008-9 academic year, more people than ever applied to Teach for America — 40 percent more than the year before, said Kerci Marcello Stroud, a spokeswoman.

The earliest anyone working in public service could see any benefit from the forgiveness program is 2017, because the program began in 2007. So someone who started teaching in 2005, for example, would not get credit toward the 10-year period for working in 2005 and 2006.

Due to the length of the program, people interested in participating will have to be careful to document their public interest employment and to make sure they have the right kind of loans. Neither of the new programs help with repayment of private loans made by banks or other lenders.

After two months thinking it over, we have decided to not sell HEOP.org. Primarily our main reason for selling was the money involved in running this site. After searching, we have found a sponsor to help us out. They are willing to pay for our server and help us keep our staff. In a few weeks, a few new changes will apply to this site. We will migrate our server and upgrade our software as well.

——————OLD——————

To Whom It May Concern,

I am the owner of HEOP.org, a privately owned website dedicated in providing information related the Higher Education Opportunity Program. I have created this site to provide information to my friends. However, lately this site has been getting popular on the web, generating over thousands of views. In addition, HEOP.org has been receiving questions related to the program that we try to answer to the best of our knowledge.

I have maintained this site for a while but I beleive this site is best left to those who has more knowledge on the program. After consulting of my staff and advisors at the university (Rochester Institute of Technology), I am going to put this website up for sale. This site comes fully developed with information and a developed database. HEOP.org will be sold to the higest bidder.

We have already received offers from other organizations but have rejected them. Offers ranging from $5000 – $10000 has been made (we have proof if needed be). We will send those organizations/individuals an e-mail stating that this site is up for sale and will be sold to the highest bidder.

I am willing to negotiate with any parties. However, I do want to sell this site to someone who will take care of it. This message will also be posted on the HEOP.org website.

When sold, the following list of items will be transfered to the new owner:
- Domains: Heop.org and Heop.info
- Website Database (user information, artiles, links)
- The template design used on the site
- Any and all images found on the site (except for those loaded from external link)
- The fully coded and developed guestbook
- The HEOP twitter account
- The logo
- 1 month of technical service (if hosted on our server)
- Hosting is available for the discounted monthly fee that includes support from my staff and me. Hosting comes with custom e-mails (ex: Sazzad@HEOP.org), e-mail forwarding, pop3 e-mail support for Microsoft Outlook, cPanel, Fantastico, MySQL database, phpMYadmin, Ruby on Rails, Frontpage Extension, 1000 MB of storage, 10000 MB of bandwidth. For a complete listof hosting features, feel free to drop us an e-mail.

Statistics:
This site generates over 100,000 hits per month and uses around 2,000 MB of bandwidth per month. HEOP.org bandwidth is mostly used for loading articles, posts, user information and a limited number of images.

We will continue to maintain this site until the final signing is completed!

Side Note:

Once the site is sold, it will be completely out of our hands. This means that we will no longer be responsible for any content or any use of this site, domain, hosting and logo. The owner has complete rights over using the site in any shape or form. In previous years our domains has been used for sites ranging from arcade gaming to fashion to adult related sites. There were cases where our service purchasers used sites to provide fake information. Furthermore, there were cases when our domains have become a very big success. Just do note that WE WILL NO LONGER BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CONTENT FOUND ON THIS SITE AFTER THE SALE.

]]> http://heop.org/blog/heoporg-for-sale/feed/ 2 http://heop.org/blog/letters/cut-in-financial-aid/ http://heop.org/blog/letters/cut-in-financial-aid/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:24:50 +0000 HEOP.org http://heop.org/?p=84 The economic downfall has caused a lot of issues within the educational funding programs. In the past programs such as HEOP has encountered an average cut of 6.5% in the amount of aid they receive. This year, to make things even worse, the Senate and Assembly will pass “one-house” budget bills which proposes to cut approximately $55 million.

This morning I received the following e-mail from my HEOP director with a link to the article posted below. I found it interesting and thought of sharing it with you.

This week, the Senate and Assembly will pass “one-house” budget bills. This is one of the final steps toward a final New York State Budget – which currently has proposals to cut approximately $55 million from college student aid programs and is due in just three weeks on April 1. As someone concerned about higher education access, please take a moment now to tell your elected officials why state student aid matters to you or helps those you know.

Visit http://www.nystudentaidalliance.org to quickly and easily send e-mail to your hometown legislators and other important education policy makers. Click on one of three “TAKE ACTION” links, and share your story. (Note: we do not provide a form letter or talking points. Instead, we ask for you to say in your own words why state financial assistance for college students is important.)

As you know, New York State faces extremely difficult financial challenges, but more than 300,000 students depend on state financial assistance to meet their college costs.

•    The proposed Budget cuts millions from the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), and it changes the full-time status of a student to 15 credits, as opposed to 12, limiting the amount of aid provided. Direct Institutional (“Bundy”) Aid, often used for scholarships, is cut as well. TAP for graduate students is eliminated, and C-STEP in sliced in half. Please oppose these changes and cuts.

•    At the same time, Governor Paterson has introduced a new, low-cost student loan program called NYHELPs (New York Higher Education Loan Program). If passed by the Legislature, this program could help thousands of students borrow for college at interest rates lower than what private, alternative loan lenders now offer. Please encourage elected officials to enact this new initiative and to support the successful HEOP and Liberty Partnership Programs.

The Legislature’s past support for student aid programs has been essential. We need to call upon our elected officials once again to preserve access to higher education in New York State .

Please forward this e-mail to others who can add their voices of support. You can make a difference. Please take action today.

Sincerely,

Abe Lackman, President

Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities
17 Elk Street, P.O. Box 7289
Albany, NY 12224
Phone: (518) 436-4781 Fax: (518) 436-0417
http://www.cicu.org – Higher education information for policymakers.
http://www.nycolleges.org – Admission and financial aid information for students, families, and counselors.
mail@cicu.org

From what is said, starting winter quarter (20082), the Higher Education Opportunity Program students here at the Rochester Institute of Technology will no longer receive book checks but, rather, will obtain Tiger Bucks to be spent at the local Barnes & Noble. The choice to make such a drastic change, in my opinion, was not a fair. For a student, such as me, at the College of Applied Science and Technology studying in the field of Mechanical Engineering Technology, this will have many setbacks. It can easily be agreed that engineering is a rigorous field that requires up-to-date textbooks for all courses. Each required text book generally has a price tag around one-hundred and fifty dollars. On average, an engineering student takes about four engineering classes a quarter. Considering a textbook is needed for each class, each student needs to spend about six hundred dollars to have a “good” education here at RIT. However, to help improve the situation, there are many companies out there who sell books that are half the cost of the local book store. Take the following chart as an example of the price difference between Barnes & Noble and online sources:

If you sum up all the cost of the books above, the total cost for the quarter is $365 as compared to when purchased from online resource: $115. That is a difference of $250 not including the side costs for notebooks, iClicker and other necessary materials for which many students find part time jobs to finance.

I understand that the benefit from this recent change is that it is easier to keep track of spending for the institute; however, it is harder for students from low income families or even those who are self dependent to survive at this posh institute. If this change is allowed to persist, it will cause an uproar within the HEOP student body. If proper action is taken, it will cause a much more serene presence. In addition, it may also be possible that students receive higher grades because they are able to afford to actually buy all the books and academic related tools they need.

I would like to request for a meeting where proper discussion and decision is made between not only the Higher Education Opportunity Program staffs but also the students. I believe that this will help clarify much misunderstanding and help shape the future of book checks/funding methods.

I do somewhat understand as to why the institute has taken such an action. There were a few students in the past who misused their book checks; however, it can heavily be argued that we are not all to blame. All students should not suffer for the mistakes of others. There are students who heavily depend on such grants to understand course concepts and pass. To be honest, although I am a HEOP student, I do not know all the students in the program (because of entrance year difference). Many would say it is up to the students to talk to those who are making the mistake to stop. Conversely, if we do not know them, nor have we ever befriended them, then how can we persuade a “stranger?” This reaction to the action of a few is not valid.

If you are able to gather the Higher Education Opportunity Program in a community meeting, it can be certain that the uproar will come to an ease. Furthermore, from this action it is lucid that a solution supported by the students, the staff and the institute will become present.

If you need any support, do not hesitate to call me at the number I left with your assistant.

Thank you.