But of this number, SHEFA has not determined how many of the graduates actually came back to the CNMI to work here.
“The SHEFA scholars are supposed to come back and work here for sometime after their graduation, but we haven’t monitored the actual number of how many actually returned here,” SHEFA board member Howard Macaranas said during yesterday’s Rotary Club meeting at the Hyatt Regency Saipan.
Under SHEFA rules and regulations, a student must agree to return to Saipan after the completion of his degree plan and provide services by working for any public or private employer for a period equal to the period which he received financial assistance from SHEFA.
Macaranas said the total number as of March 6, 2008 combined graduates from the spring of 2005 to fall of 2007.
These included 37 graduates with a master of arts degree, 59 with bachelor of arts degree and 48 with associate of arts degree.
Macaranas said the graduates majored in different fields of study — accounting, business administration, criminal justice, mathematics, education, computer science, nursing, history, engineering, sociology, economics, hospital management and others.
Macaranas said SHEFA has partnered with the Department of Labor, the Workforce Investment Agency, Northern Marianas College, the Public School System, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce to address the lack of local workforce on island.
SHEFA operates under the Saipan Mayor’s Office and gets its funding from poker license fees collected on Saipan.
Macaranas said as of fall 2008, the SHEFA program had awarded $1,653,400 to 431 scholars pursuing post secondary education — 304 of whom elected to study with the local college on Saipan while 227 opted to study abroad.
Macaranas appealed to the members of the Rotary Club provide job opportunities to the returning SHEFA scholars.
For information on scholarship requirements, visit the SHEFA Web site at www.saipanshefa.com.
