As of spring 2010, over 400 SHEFA scholars had graduated with bachelor’s or master’s degrees.
According to the “Promise of SHEFA,” the program’s new biannual publication, those graduates are now employed in different government offices and private businesses on Saipan.
Some were employed in the Public School System, Northern Marianas College, the Commonwealth Health Center, the Commonwealth Ports Authority, Homeland Security, the Criminal Justice Planning Agency, Fish and Wildlife, Community and Cultural Affairs, Coastal Resources Management, the Honolulu liaison office and the Legislature.
Some SHEFA graduates are working in the U.S. Congress and over a hundred more are on Guam, Hawaii and elsewhere in the states.
One scholar is now teaching English in Korea while others are pursuing graduate education.
SHEFA did not mention how many returned to work on Saipan.
Copies of “The Promise of SHEFA” were distributed to different government agencies.
SHEFA administrator Henry Hofschneider said they decided not to make changes to the report despite its “inaccurate presentation” of the board members because the printing company would have charged them an additional $500 on top of the $2,450 printing cost.
The photos of the SHEFA board members were on the inside front cover of the report. Board members Maggie Camacho and Josephine T. Sablan were not included, however.
SHEFA printed only 100 copies of the publication and not 200 as earlier reported.
According to SHEFA, when it was first implemented, fewer than 200 applications were submitted, but this number doubled in the succeeding years.
The number of applicants now average around 500 to 600 every semester.
The number peaked at over 900 for the Fall 2010 term.
SHEFA requires its recipients to return or remain on Saipan after completing their studies. They are supposed to work here either in the private sector, the government or a non-government organization.
The report noted, however, the enactment of Public Law 16-15, which states: “The Legislature is cognizant that in times of fiscal austerity, reduction in force or because of the government reliance on foreign national workers, employment in the private or public sector may be unattainable or unavailable to returning students. Therefore, it is the purpose of this Act to authorize for forbearance of the collection of the debt of financial assistance recipients in specific cases where a recipient returns to the commonwealth, presents appropriate credentials necessary for private or public service but is not employed due to fiscal restraints on hiring or because a position is filled by a foreign national worker.”
