Responding to Northern Marianas Trades Institute president Anthony Pellegrino’s criticism, Hofschneider said SHEFA has a priority list and it releases awards based on it.
“I’m surprised with his statement. I think he’s blaming the wrong person or office,” he said, referring to Pellegrino, who described SHEFA’s priority list as “most stupid [and] discriminatory” because the students of his trade school were not awarded scholarships.
Hofschneider said the order of priority is as follows: undergraduate level in the identified priority field of study; graduate level in the identified priority fields of study; advanced degree level in the identified priority fields of study; and all other residents of Saipan who qualify as new or returning students.
He noted that SHEFA depends on funds allocated by the Department of Finance.
The program is funded by poker license fee collections.
Hofschneider said their funding source is not guaranteed especially now that more poker operators are not renewing their machines.
Right now, he added, there are not enough funds for their third priority.
Last August, he said they discussed with Pellegrino and his consultant Justo Quitugua how SHEFA could help NMTI students.
He said he gave them the guidelines and a checklist.
The understanding was that NMTI would help prepare and collect all applications from its students and submit them to SHEFA.
However, he said, individual students submitted their applications to SHEFA.
For the 2011 spring academic term, SHEFA received four applications from NMTI and three for fall 2011, he said.
Hofschneider at the same time denied providing scholarships to “ghost” students as claimed by Pellegrino.
Hofschneider said SHEFA provides assistance to those enrolled in school only and demands copies of transcripts and class schedules from each recipient.
These and other records must be sent by the school itself and they must bear the school’s official seal, he said.
“Ghosts don’t go to school,” he added.
