Published: March 09, 2009 12:14 am      

Community colleges will benefit most from Pell Grant funding change

HAGERSTOWN — A change in Pell Grant funding pending in the Senate could ease the tuition burden for all college students, but for those in community colleges the dollars will make even more of a difference.

An omnibus budget bill would increase the maximum per student award by $619 to $5,350. The Senate is scheduled to consider the measure this week.

“It’s a nice increase for a community college student,” said Melissa Gregory, the Montgomery College director of student financial aid. “It doesn’t go as far for four-year schools, but for our students, it makes a difference.”

That’s great news for Laura Brown, 19, of Keedysville, who turned to Hagerstown Community College when she could no longer afford Wilson College in Pennsylvania.

Brown is working part time and pays her own tuition, but it will take her parents 10 years to pay off her freshman year at Wilson, she said.

“I loved my first year at Wilson,” Brown said. “But it was too expensive, way too expensive.”

Brown has turned in financial aid paperwork, but doesn’t know whether she’ll get federal help. Eligibility for Pell Grants is based on a complex formula, but it includes parental income and assets, student income and the number of people in the household.

Lashawn Tolson, 20, of Hagerstown, receives Pell Grants that cover tuition at Hagerstown Community College, but it isn’t quite enough for books and other expenses.

“I work over the summertime to save up for the next year,” Tolson said.

Tolson may have another option as funding increases combine with a new Pell Grant policy this summer. The 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act makes Pell Grants available for year-round enrollments.

“A motivated student could ramp up their credit hours over that full calendar year and get through school faster, and still get the additional money they need,” Gregory said.

The Maryland Association of Community Colleges reports that almost a third of students in degree-earning programs received grants. About $63 million was awarded to more than 30,000 students attending community colleges in Maryland.