Re: Project Support for Students vs. Financial Aid Dawn Underwood 27 Jul 2006 08:16 EST
Hi Deb, We have experienced this as well. Our students were disappointed to learn that their grant wages could potentially put them in a situation to have to repay federal student grants. We are now more cognizant of the need to explain to students how the determination of financial need is made and how earnings are handled. It really only becomes a problem if they are surprised with a bill from financial aid at the end of the project. Dawn Dawn Underwood Associate Director Sponsored Programs Indiana State University Terre Haute, Indiana Phone: 812-237-3088 Fax: 812-237-3092 >>> xxxxxx@UNCP.EDU 7/26/2006 4:56 PM >>> Greetings! One of our faculty recently received an NIH education and training grant, providing biomedical research opportunities to undergraduate students. He is currently establishing policies/procedures and methods for students to apply to participate in the program. An issue emerged related to student wages from the project and the effects of this wage on financial aid eligibility. The project budget includes student wages during the academic year and summer for participants in the program. These wages are meant to offset the need for external employment so that the students are fully engaged in the project rather than needing to secure outside employment to maintain themselves (room and board, etc). The PI is learning (from the Financial Aid office) that the wages the students will earn will affect the level of financial aid they may be eligible to receive. This may become a deterrent for students who would want to participate in the program, but have financial concerns. Has anyone else encountered this issue? If so, what resolution did you arrive at? Does anyone know of any mechanisms in which a student could receive support that did not adversely affect financial aid status? We will be communicating further with our Financial Aid office, but wanted to survey other institutions that have had experience with this situation. Please feel free to email me directly at xxxxxx@uncp.edu. Thanks! Deborah Lundin, Ed.D. Research and Training Coordinator/Assistant Director Center for Sponsored Research and Programs University of North Carolina at Pembroke ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================