No increase in work study or student aid for Portland State

For the state of Oregon, the total funds received as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 is much less than the original total awarded.

Oregon was awarded $1.83 billion while it has received only $437.4 million at present, according to the ARRA Web site.

Per the ARRA, Portland State was supposed to receive an additional $220,000 for work study, above last year’s amount. However, there was no increase in student aid or work study, even though the ARRA was supposed to provide some relief.

“ARRA allotted $220,000 for work study at Portland State, but what really happened was they took away some previous grants and replaced it by the new ones,” said Philip Rodgers, director of Financial Aid. “So, we are still receiving the same $1.26 million dollars as opposed to $1.48 million, which we should have received.”

This news comes as a shock for most of the students who expected an increase in work study pay. The only relief is that student loans are going to increase.

“We are still receiving the same amount of funds that we used to receive 10 years back,” Rogers said. “Though the number of students at Portland State has increased greatly, the funds remain the same. However, this time we are planning to give out more student loans than before.”

Another increase came in the form of Pell Grants. Portland State’s Pell Grant allocation was $4,731 last year, and increased to $5,350 this year, according to Rogers.

“We expect the increase in Pell Grants to continue in the upcoming terms, the rest are unpredictable,” Rogers said.

Though the ARRA did not improve student aid and work study, Portland State did receive some new research grants.

New research awards totaled $5.35 million as a part of federal stimulus package through ARRA. This is one of the new forms of funding that Portland State received this year.

“PSU receives several research grants from federal agencies,” said Kam Pierce, research services coordinator within Graduate Studies and Research. “I would wager that our chances of receiving additional ARRA grants are likely if the federal government opens up additional funding opportunities from the ARRA legislation.”