Under the regulations, the grant extended to SHEFA recipients will be converted into a loan which the students will have to pay after they graduated and find a work.
SHEFA Administrator Henry Hofschneider reported yesterday to the board that he received two letters requesting for a deferment.
A SHEFA recipient on Guam was asking to defer payments until December.
The recipient, Hofschneider said, is planning to pursue a master’s degree and may not be able to return to Saipan yet.
A recipient in Hawaii is currently working part-time at an elementary school and is also planning to pursue master’s degree.
This scholar is asking for a one year deferment of loan payments.
Hofschneider said the regulations allow scholars 90 days to inform SHEFA about their payments after the completion of studies.
Within the 90-day period, the scholar must find work so he or she can start paying the loan.
SHEFA Chairman Joe Mafnas said the board is considering suspending loan requirements.
He didn’t elaborate but the board will discuss the issue in its next meeting.
Hofschneider said he is recommending to the board a six-month postponement of loan payments.
He doubts if scholars, after graduating, can find work within six months in the CNMI, whose economy continues to get worse.
There were some scholars who have started paying their loans but Hofschneider said he has yet to check the figures at the Department of Finance.
Since the SHEFA program started in 2004, more than $17 million has been “invested” in hundreds of scholars through grant-in-aid, field of study and incentive awards.
Based on the Finance report from May 2006 to Dec. 2010, scholars who have defaulted had only paid $13,577, Hofschneider said.
According to the regulations, all SHEFA scholars have to sign a promissory note and memorandum of agreement indicating that all financial assistance they received from the program will be converted to loans and must be repaid if they do not come back and fulfill their obligation to work on Saipan after their studies or if they did not finish the courses they were supposed to complete.
SHEFA is funded by poker license fee collections.
