Mississippi News
Nearly half of financial aid budget spent on wealthy
Mississippi continues to give financial aid to students who can already afford college, report shows
Mississippi continued to disproportionately subsidize in-state tuition for white, wealthier students at the expense of working class students of color last school year, according to the annual report released Thursday by the Post-Secondary Education Financial Assistance Board.
Last year, Mississippi continued to spend almost half of its limited financial aid budget on programs that mainly benefit students whose families can already afford to pay for college, according to the report.
Of the 24,797 students who received state aid last school year, 20% were from poor families that make less than $30,000 a year. Nearly 50% of recipients came from families with an annual income greater than $75,000. In Mississippi, the median household income is $45,000.
Broken down by race, the gap is starker. Seventy percent of students who received state aid were white while 20% were Black. Those percentages are nearly identical to OSFA's report last year.
The demographic breakdown also remained unchanged for each of the state's three financial aid programs. The Higher Education Legislative Plan for Needy Students, or HELP, grant — the only state aid program that takes need into account — continued to be the most racially equitable. The vast majority of recipients of the Mississippi Eminent Scholars Grant, or MESG, were white students.
A significant reason why working class students of color are disproportionately shut out from state financial aid has to do with the programs' eligibility requirements. Low-income students who are eligible for the Pell Grant are automatically excluded from the Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant, the most common aid award. HELP and MESG both have relatively high ACT requirements for Mississippi, where the average score is a 20. The minimum ACT score for HELP is a 20, and a 29 for MESG.
Overall, the number of students receiving state aid fell by 1,525. MESG was the only program that saw growth in the number of recipients.
At its meeting Thursday, the Post-Secondary Board touched on potential reasons for this decline. Jennifer Rogers, who directs the Office of Student Financial Aid, said she had expected to see the number of recipients increase. Her office, which oversees state aid programs, had started accepting ACT superscores last year, making it easier for students to qualify. COVID may have affected that. She said it could also be that the state is “maxed out” on the number of students who meet the eligibility criteria for the three financial aid programs.
The board also discussed OSFA's budget. Last session, for the third year in a row, the agency needed to request an additional appropriation from the Legislature. But for the coming fiscal year, Rogers said her office did not need to ask for deficit spending.
That could impact prospects for the Mississippi One Grant, the new financial aid program that the board proposed last year. In writing the One Grant, the board wanted to create a program that would stay on budget to avoid asking the Legislature for more dollars.
The One Grant has yet to be taken up this session. If passed, it would increase the disparities already present in Mississippi's state financial aid.
“What I'm hearing is this session is very full and it's gonna be difficult to address this and get it worked out and get a bill passed,” said Jim Turcotte, board chairman. “I do think that there's an agreement that we need to do something different because the programs as they are are not sustainable over time."
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi News
Calm for tonight with thunderstorms by Sunday afternoon – Home – WCBI TV
SUMMARY: A few spotty showers are possible this evening, with thunderstorms expected tomorrow afternoon and into the overnight hours. Temperatures will reach the lower 90s by the middle of next week. Tonight, expect a few spotty showers with overnight lows in the mid 60s. Tomorrow will start off mild with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the middle 80s. Rainy conditions will continue into next week with temperatures climbing into the upper 80s and lower 90s. Heavier rain is expected by Thursday as a cold front pushes through.
The post Calm for tonight with thunderstorms by Sunday afternoon – Home – WCBI TV appeared first on www.wcbi.com
Mississippi News
2nd Jackson man sentenced for bank fraud scheme
SUMMARY: Ronald Gardner, a Jackson man, was sentenced to 61 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. He and his co-conspirator, Anthony Craig Myrick, opened an account at a Jackson bank in someone else's name, deposited counterfeit U.S. Treasury checks, withdrew the cash, and used false identification cards. Gardner admitted to manufacturing the counterfeit checks and using another person's identity. The scheme affected at least 10 victims. Both Gardner and Myrick were indicted and pled guilty, with Myrick receiving a 26-month sentence. They were also ordered to pay restitution to the bank.
The post 2nd Jackson man sentenced for bank fraud scheme appeared first on www.wjtv.com
Mississippi News
Multiple Vicksburg homes damaged by gunfire
SUMMARY: Vicksburg police are investigating a shooting incident where multiple homes and a vehicle were damaged by gunfire on May 3. No injuries were reported, but there were spent shell casings from different caliber weapons found at the scene. The incident occurred on Meadowvale Drive just before 9:30 p.m. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Vicksburg Police Department.
The post Multiple Vicksburg homes damaged by gunfire appeared first on www.wjtv.com
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