Some recipients said they were about to be evicted from their apartments, he added.
Earlier, SHEFA received a letter signed by 16 students of Framingham State College asking for the immediate release of their scholarship awards.
SHEFA Chairman Jose C. Mafnas said revenue from poker license renewals can no longer maintain the scholarship program.
“I don’t think we can rely on collections. We need to revisit our program,” he added.
SHEFA is funded by the annual license fee imposed on each poker machine on island. The number of machines has been declining due to worsening CNMI economy.
The SHEFA board should make “tough decisions” to adjust its scholarship program in anticipation of the dwindling revenue, Mafnas sid.
During its meeting Tuesday, the board asked the awards committee headed by vice chairwoman Josephine T. Sablan to come up with a final recommendation on the adjustment of the scholarship awards for the fall 2012.
Hofschneider said they are anticipating an increase of applicants in the next semester term.
This year’s high school graduates are expected to apply for SHEFA assistance, he added.
He said they also need to find the funds for the Framingham State College students.
He said SHEFA has not received any checks from their three separate requests totaling $630,900 to the finance department for spring 2011.
“This is perfectly understandable as the Department of Finance has consistently informed me that they have been carefully monitoring cash collections to ensure sufficiency before checks were processed,” he said.
In addition to $630,900, the department has yet to release $92,300 for the remaining spring 2010 approved awards, he added.
The $92,300 represents $18,800 in grant-in-aid; $13,000, priority field of study; and $60,500, incentive awards.
Of the $92,300, Hofschneider said, $30,900 is for the graduate and postgraduate students.
“There are eight graduate level students and one postgraduate student,” he added.
