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ND college student grants may be rising

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — College grants for lower-income North Dakota students would jump by 50 percent under a plan the state Board of Higher Education will consider this week.

The Legislature agreed to triple the amount of money available for student grants over two years, from $6.2 million to more than $19 million. On Tuesday, a board finance subcommittee supported a plan for distributing the money that raises the maximum grant from $800 to $1,200.

The grant program presently benefits more than 4,100 students. Almost 8,300 students should benefit from the newly higher grants in the next two years, said Peggy Wipf, financial aid director for North Dakota’s university system. More than 34,000 students applied for aid during the current academic year.

The full board will consider whether to approve the grant increase Thursday during its scheduled meeting at Dickinson State University.

Sen. Raymon Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the 2009 Legislature concentrated on increasing student aid and college budgets in an attempt to dampen tuition increases and make higher education more affordable.

“The Legislature did a lot for higher ed this session, but the focus was on the cost to students,” Holmberg said.

Grant amounts will be apportioned among North Dakota students at public colleges, Indian tribal schools and private colleges, including the University of Mary and Jamestown College. This year, the Legislature agreed to expand the definition of eligible private colleges to include Rasmussen College, a private institution with facilities in Bismarck and Fargo.

North Dakota’s public colleges are the biggest recipients of student grants. During the 2008-09 academic year, North Dakota’s six four-year universities got 62.6 percent of the $2.89 million in grants that were allocated, state university system data shows. The system’s five two-year schools got 20.4 percent.

Private four-year schools — the University of Mary in Bismarck, Jamestown College, Trinity Bible College at Ellendale and the Medcenter One nursing college in Bismarck — got 14.8 percent of the grant awards.