Waynesburg University students who receive Pennsylvania state grants will see their tuition rise in the spring semester, with grant amounts being reduced, according to Financial Aid Director Matt Stokan.

“Maximum grant recipients will have their grants reduced in the spring semester by $195,” said Stokan. “We have yet to receive exact reduction amounts for students with partial grants.”

A total of 534 Waynesburg students receive some sort of assistance in terms of state grants. Stokan said that his department will have to reduce all 534 students’ award packages by however much the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) tells them to, which is $195 for students who receive maximum grants.

“It’s an inconvenience,” Stokan said. “Depending on your perspective, $195 is a significant inconvenience if students don’t have it.”

University Chancellor, Timothy Thyreen, sits on the Board of Directors for PHEAA. Thyreen says that the figures were off this year due to state budget issues, which are slated to reduce the funding of PHEAA, and more students applying for the early Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) than expected.

“It’s because of both the decreasing amount that [PHEAA has] and because of the FAFSA change, because more students applied,” said Thyreen. “If you go from around $440 million to around $270 million, that’s a lot of money.”

Thyreen said the reduction of state budget funds for PHEAA is becoming a trend.

“The last four or five years have been historic in terms of state budgets asking for less [funding] for PHEAA,” said Thyreen.

Vice President of Enrollment, Shari Payne, says the university serves as the middleman when it comes to how much students receive in state grants.

“We notify the students about what their estimate is, but the official award comes from PHEAA,” Payne said. “We’re sort of at the mercy of what they are doing too.”

Waynesburg is responsible for distributing the money that it is given. The reduction of spring semester grant money will put the university in a bind in terms of having to be the messenger; the overall issue is out of the hands of Waynesburg, according to Payne.

“It puts us in a hard spot when [PHEAA] do that mid-year and students are expecting their grant to be a certain amount for the full year,” said Payne. “We certainly emphasize with students who are getting letters saying they’ll receive $195 less than they expected.”

Waynesburg will be in charge of informing affected students, who will be contacted through the email(s) attached to their FAFSA, according to Stokan. However, he says the confusion probably won’t begin until the university sends out its bills for the spring semester.

“Most students and parents won’t realize this until they get their spring bill that’s $195 more than what it was in the fall, and that’s where the issue is going to come up,” said Stokan. “They call us and ask why their bill went up, and we’ll have to explain it to them.”

Students keeping pressure on state legislators to keep funding for PHEAA is the best way to fight the issue, according to Payne.

“What is helpful is for students to use their voice and let their legislator know that they are displeased,” Payne said. “The more pressure that you can put on your legislator to keep those awards where they need to be, the better.”

Thyreen agrees that students from Pennsylvania should voice their concerns to their state legislator. Lack of organization among students to collectively lobby the state is a problem, according to Thyreen.

“Financially needy college students don’t have a vehicle to lobby Harrisburg,” said Thyreen. “There’s no voice for financially needy students.”