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The state Higher Educational Aids Board stopped giving Wisconsin Higher Education Grants to students in the Wisconsin Technical College System on Aug. 21.
“We want to get the message out to legislators that this is an important issue for our students and we hope the state will consider that as they prioritize their funding for the technical college system,” said Jerolyn Grandall, financial aid manager at Western Technical College.
This is the earliest point in the year Grandall has seen the money run out during her 17 years working at Western. Last year, she said, the money ran out by November. That left about 2,700 technical college students shut out and about 24,000 students receiving grants last year, according to The Associated Press. Years ago, they had funding up until the end of the school year, Grandall said.
She attributes the early drying up of funds to increased enrollment across the technical college system, increased tuition each year and increased need because of the economic downturn.
“If the economy is forcing people to feel like they need to come back to school, there needs to be financial assistance for them ... to give them the training for the job they would like to do in the future,” she said.
Students applying after Aug. 21 are being put on a waiting list, but the agency's executive secretary Connie Hutchison says it's unlikely they will get grants.
Time will tell how this will affect students, Grandall said.
“I hope this doesn’t discourage them from applying for aid because there are other things available, like student loans and federal funding,” she said.
Grants for technical college students usually run about $430 to $1,100 per year.
Wisconsin Higher Education Grants are still available for University of Wisconsin System students.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
