He said politics doesn’t influence the approval of applications.
“I follow the rules,” he told Variety yesterday after meeting with Saipan Mayor Donald G. Flores.
Hofschneider said SHEFA’s scholarship program is available to all who will qualify and meet the requirements.
He recalled one instance when he received a call from a lawmaker who asked him to “look into” one of the applications.
Lawmakers, he said, should not try to influence the awarding of grants as it violates the rules.
For this fall 2011, he said SHEFA has denied 103 applications for non-compliance with requirements.
Of the 783 applications received, 184 were found eligible for the financial assistance program, he said, adding that the SHEFA board already approved 78 applications.
This week, he said, he endorsed more than 100 applications to the board for its approval.
Based on his initial assessment, about 525 students may be eligible to receive awards this fall semester, Hofschneider said.
On order for the students to qualify, he added, “they should study hard.”
High school graduates should have a 2.5 GPA or higher while undergraduate should enroll in 12 or more credits, he said.
He said the Department of Finance has yet to release $90,000 to complete the disbursement for the 2010 fall and 2011 spring semesters.
SHEFA is funded by Saipan’s poker machine license fee collections.
