WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Unexpected enrollment forces cuts to students' tuition grants

Unexpected enrollment forces cuts to students' tuition grants

By Jillian Capobianco - bio | email

CLINTON, SC (WIS) - The mother of a private college student emailed saying she didn't understand why her daughter's tuition grant was being reduced.

Gena Antonelli said the letter she received from her daughter's college just came out of left field.

"Expect a reduction in the spring 2010," Antonelli read.
     
Her daughter's tuition grant from the state to attend Presbyterian College is being reduced in the middle of the school year.

"Once something is given, how do you take it back?" asks Antonelli.

The South Carolina Tuition Grants commission asked the state government for enough funding for a one percent private college enrollment increase.
     
That's usually what they expect every year, but the projection was off.

"This year, unprecedented, eleven percent more students showed up," said Director of the State Grants Tuition Commission Earle Mayo.

Mayo says private college enrollment is up across the board, meaning there is less money for students already in the program.

For example, Columbia International University has seen a 40 percent increase in undergraduate in-state students and a 20 percent increase in students receiving state tuition grants.

"Part of my job has been to project, analyze, forecast and we've never been off that much, never," said Mayo.
     
Parents and students at 21 universities will be affected come spring semester. Antonelli, a freelance artist, says the grant reduction couldn't come at a worse time.

"At Christmas, you know, it's a bad time of the year to have to go out and try to find extra cash," said Antonelli.

Right now officials don't know how big the grant cuts will be. They will decide no later then mid-December.

Copyright 2009 WIS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.