Merissa Rasa, the CNMI Scholarship Office administrator, said as of Thursday, seven scholars had already confirmed taking online studies, and he expects the number to continue to increase.
“We’re receiving a lot of inquiries about the processing of the assistance if they opted to go online,” she told Variety.
Rasa said 10 scholars took online courses last semester.
Because the assistance provided to online students are the same given to those attending actual classes, the administrator said there is no expected significant impact on the financial assistance provided by the program to the students.
She said the amount of the program assistance each year may drop or increase depending on the number of its recipients.
“This fall semester, we may lower the amount if more students are accepted into the program,” she said, adding that each scholar may get only $1,600 compared to the current $1,980 if more students are accepted into the scholarship program.
However, Rasa said, because many families and individuals are leaving the island, the office is not anticipating a significant rise in the number of applicants.
She said the weak economy is also one of the reasons why many prefer to enroll in an online course.
The students receiving grants from the educational assistance program comprise 90 percent of the scholarship office’s beneficiaries.
The grant is awarded twice for the fall and spring semesters.
The office provides about $2.8 million annually for the 800 educational assistance program recipients, 10 teacher scholars, and 35 to 40 honor scholarship program recipients.
Honor scholars get the highest assistance of up to $15,000 a year.
