The list of previous and current honor scholars also shows that they have received $9.4 million in taxpayer money from fall of 1991 to spring of 2011.
Seventy of those who continue to update the Scholarship Office with their current status have enrolled again to further their studies and one has joined the military.
The 80 honor scholarship recipients who have “unknown status” because they have failed to respond to notices from the Scholarship Office, and the 15 who have gotten jobs outside the CNMI should pay back the government as required by their scholarship agreement with the government.
They are supposed to remit the scholarship money awarded to them — $15,000 each a year — if they fail or refuse to work in the CNMI, either in the public or private sector.
Once in default, they must pay the government up to $1,042 per month within six years.
But according to scholarship administrator Merissa S. Rasa, many seemed to have forgotten their obligation. And the few who have not, are paying between $100 and $300 a month only.
From 2005 to the present, Rasa said the commonwealth has collected some $885,000 from them.
The CNMI government is now having a hard time releasing checks on time to new scholars and education assistance recipients due to cash flow problems.
The Scholarship Office was supposed to get over $2.1 million, but ended up receiving $1.8 million in the current fiscal year due to the government’s financial crisis.
The idea of going after the delinquent scholarship and education assistance recipients was brought up during the Scholarship Office’s recent meeting with senators and Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson.
“We don’t have the money to pay for future scholarship awards if we don’t do any collections,” Larson said, adding that the Scholarship Office should really go after the default recipients so that the government can continue the program.
“It’s all about keeping the program going because right now we have to find money to pay for the scholarships,” she added.
But going after these scholars is a challenge, Rasa said.
Right now, they are reviewing the records of over 4,000 previous recipients.
Her office has only one employee taking care of the collections and audit.
They neither have the resources nor the staff to track down all the recipients most of whom may be in the U.S., Rasa said.
Of the 4,000-plus previous recipients, Rasa said only about 1,000 have been audited so far. And of those audited, about 400 have been found delinquent.
These delinquent recipients, for various reasons, have cut communications with the Scholarship Office which could have helped them out if they have been having problems paying up, Rasa said.
She said recipients must honor their agreement with the government. “They read the agreement and had it notarized when they accepted their award,” she added.
If they cannot find jobs in the CNMI, it is their responsibility to submit proof that they are actively seeking employment, to submit a deferment or forbearance request and not to ignore their obligations, she added.
But there are recipients who have “religiously” honored their obligations once they decided to work off-island, she said.
Unfair
In Sept. 2008, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial signed Public Law 16-15 that “forgives” the education assistance debts of graduates who cannot find jobs in the CNMI.
Introduced by then-Senate President Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, the law aimed to help those who returned to the commonwealth but could not find a job.
But at least one past recipient has described the law as “unfair.”
Former Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said he paid over $3,000 after he graduated.
Today’s recipients who have found jobs outside the CNMI should pay back the government, too, he added.
Meanwhile, the Scholarship Office has been trying to convince lawmakers to amend P.L. 14-37, which gives the biggest chunk of scholarship money to only a few.
Right now, Rasa said only 45 to 55 honor scholarship recipients get half of the entire funds in a year while 1,500 education assistance applicants have to share the other half.
Of the more than $1.8 million allotted for this school year, she said about $850,000 will go to the honor scholars, each of whom are entitled to $15,000, while the other half will be divided among the other 1,500 recipients.
“Everybody should get a fair piece of the pie and not just the less than 5 percent who get close to 50 percent of the budget allotted to us,” she said.
“We are asking lawmakers to amend the law to reduce the $15,000 per year to half that amount at least for now and when the economy gets better, then we could raise it back up. However with more applicants every year and more people struggling to get a degree to compete for jobs, we need to be realistic. Especially if the numbers that I’ve provided the Legislature don’t even show that close to half of them are returning here or paying back the government,” Rasa said.
