SHEFA administrator Henry Hofschneider reported to the board that the 6 to 9 credit range, which the students are taking, does not comply with SHEFA rules and regulation.
“Many of these students would tell SHEFA that six to nine credit hours is considered a full load by the student’s institution of record,” he said.
SHEFA board member Jose C. Leon Guerrero said the board approved the amendment on minimum load credit which was also published in the Commonwealth Register in April 2009.
But board member Maggie C. Camacho recalled that the amendment never went through the process.
Hofschneider said it is not clear when the board adopted a policy to reduce the full-time load for graduate students and advanced degree seekers from 12 to 9 credits.
However, he said, reviewing some files of ongoing graduate students showed that awards were approved for those students pursuing their master’s despite noncompliance with the full-time requirement of SHEFA.
“The previous [SHEFA] consultants took it upon themselves to award some students,” Camacho said.
Hofschneider said SHEFA rules and regulations have not been amended to reflect the board’s earlier decision to reduce the full-time status requirement for graduate and advanced degree students.
The SHEFA administrator said the board should decide whether it will continue awarding financial assistance to students pursuing a master’s or advanced degree with 9 credits only.
Camacho said SHEFA should get a legal opinion regarding this issue.
SHEFA board chairman Jose C. Mafnas told Hofschneider to verify whether there was indeed an amendment to the regulations.
He said the “inconsistencies and deficiencies” in the regulations are penalizing students.
In a recent board meeting, Jennifer Maratita, a full-time Commonwealth Health Center employee pursuing an advanced degree in clinical psychology, asked the board to clarify its rules.
She said the CNMI needs the professional service that she is pursuing and she wants her studies to be assisted by SHEFA.
Otherwise, Maratita said, she will have to stop her studies.
SHEFA, she added, should not punish the students for the board’s inaction and should instead encourage students to pursue higher education.
Most of the federal education assistance programs recognize 9 credits, which are considered “full time” for master’s and advance degrees, she added.
