Needy scholars

Tara Renner knows there's money in getting good grades, just not enough.

Even with a $1,500-a-year President's Scholarship that depends on her keeping a 3.5 grade-point average, the Southeast Missouri State University freshman can't make ends meet without two part-time jobs and a $2,600 federal student loan.

With extra textbooks that some professors require in addition to rented ones and other fees such as parking permits, the 19-year-old commuter student from Perryville, Mo., says she pays about $4,000 a year in educational expenses.

"It's really kind of ridiculous," she said.

University officials say they understand the need for more financial aid for students saddled with major increases in tuition and other fees. Southeast hopes to help with its new Bridge to Success endowed scholarship program.

So far they can only say the scholarships would be open to Missouri residents with 2.0 grade-point averages. They haven't defined the criteria or the size of the scholarships that will be offered. They don't even have an application form yet. School officials say it likely will be June or later before students will be able to apply.

With tuition increases planned for the next academic year, Renner will be paying $3,228 in tuition alone for 24 credit hours of classes spread over the fall and spring semesters.

Welcome help

Her scholarship isn't keeping up with rising fees, Renner said. Since Bridge to Success criteria are still being hashed out, she doesn't know if she would qualify.

But Renner welcomes any new need-based scholarship. "So many students need the money," she said.

The university's goal is to establish a $2 million endowment over the next several years, with the annual interest from the fund then used for need-based scholarships, said Alan Zacharias, vice president for university advancement and executive director of the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

The foundation will match donations to the scholarship program dollar for dollar. The foundation plans to use the money generated from its operation of the Cape Girardeau and Jackson license bureaus to help finance the program.

The late Gov. Mel Carnahan turned over the operation of the two license bureaus to the foundation in October 1993. The university foundation receives from $2.50 to $4 for each transaction, depending on the specific transaction handled, while most of the money goes to the state.

The foundation fees annually raise $42,000 for various scholarships, $17,000 for the Small Business Development Center at Southeast and $2,000 for use by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce University Relations Committee.

The foundation has $225,000 in reserve, saved up from the operation of the two license bureaus over the years, that can be put immediately toward the scholarship program, school officials said.

In addition, Southeast is contributing $150,000 in university operating funds this year to get the scholarship program started.

University officials have had to raise student fees, delay hiring and cut back on equipment purchases as cost-cutting moves in the face of state funding cuts. But officials said there will be enough money in the university's budget to cover the first-year scholarship expenses.

Providing access

More than 100 students could get the new scholarships this fall, and that number could grow in later years as funding increases, Zacharias said. State budget cuts and resulting increases in student fees have put a greater burden on students to pay the bill and prompted school officials to look harder at need-based aid, he said.

"We knew that scholarships were going to be an increasingly important aspect of making sure that students have access to college in the region," he said. "We are trying to create a bridge to success."

Gail Pullen hopes that happens. The Southeast junior, who lives off campus, works full-time at Target and carries 12 credit hours of classes this semester while raising her 8-year-old daughter.

Pullen gets by financially thanks to a federal Pell Grant, which pays $1,575 a semester for her to attend college. "I've got enough to cover my books and tuition," she said.

Without such aid, she said, she couldn't afford to take more than a few classes each semester.

Southeast's financial aid/scholarship committee looked at the financial burden on students in a report issued earlier this year.

Most of the scholarships at Southeast are merit-based, the committee said.

More than 1,200 students had merit-based scholarships last semester. About 135 endowed scholarships also are offered each year, including many that require students to show financial need such as the Evening Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau Scholarship.

The committee found that only 207 of 1,436 first-time, full-time Missouri freshmen and sophomores enrolled at Southeast last fall had "unmet financial need." The committee looked only at students who had filed a federal financial aid application.

The committee took into account school costs, financial aid awarded and expected family contributions for each student. It didn't take into account any money students earned.

Of the 207 needy students, the median unmet financial need amounted to nearly $609 a student, according to the committee.

But Renner said many more students are working odd jobs and going into debt to get a diploma.

Heather Williams, a 21-year-old sophomore from Perryville, works 60 hours a week managing a movie rental store and is taking 12 credit hours of classes this semester.

Williams said many students can't get good enough grades for scholarships because they are so busy working jobs to pay for their schooling.

Even with a job, Williams relies on a student loan to make ends meet. She can borrow up to $2,200 a semester, but has tried to keep it under that amount so she will have less money to pay back after she graduates.

A Bridge to Success scholarship would help, she said.

"I am up for trying to get it," she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123