Editor’s note: This is the second story in a three-part series examing financial aid at NIU.

One of the least painful ways of paying for college is through scholarships and grants, but free money is not as easy to find as it once was.

Jerry Augsberger, NIU Student Financial Aid Office director, said grants and scholarships made up 80 percent of the money issued to NIU students in mid-1970s.

Today, only about 48 percent of the money offered to students is in the form of grants, Augsberger said. The remainder of financial aid is available through loans and on-campus employment opportunities, he said.

The two major forms of grants available today are the Pell Grant and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG).

Pell Grants are available to undergraduates only and are issued for up to five years, according to the Student Guide to Financial Aid.

The maximum amount available to a student through Pell is $2,200 a year, according to the guide. Whether a student qualifies for a grant depends on the evaluation of a Student Aid Index by counselors in the financial aid office, said Cheryl Shaffer, the office’s assistant director.

In 1988, almost 3,000 NIU students were awarded Pell Grants, totaling over $4 million Shaffer said.

SEOGs also are offered by the federal government. They are available only to undergraduates with “exceptional financial need,” according to the guide.

The maximum amount that a student can receive from SEOG is $4,000 a year. In 1988, there were about 2,000 students at NIU with SEOG grants, totaling almost $700,000, Shaffer said.

The Monetary Award Program is a grant program offered by the state of Illinois. In fiscal year 1988, about $3.5 million was awarded through MAP to more than 3,300 NIU students, Shaffer said. The average grant was about $1,000 per student, she said.

There also are grants available to special interest groups at NIU. Several of these programs are associated with military programs. One of the largest of these is the GI Bill, which offers aid to veterans and the children of veterans who were wounded or killed in action, said Linda Dersh, an NIU financial aid counselor.

In 1988, there were about 250 NIU students who qualified for some form of aid under various GI Bill programs, Shaffer said.

Some students are pleased with the grants and scholarships available at NIU, but others said they feel there is room for improvement.

Jessie, a sophomore art major with a $500 semester MAP grant, said, “I am glad the state offers these grants. It doesn’t pay for everything, of course, but any amount helps.”

Friday: Work-study employment opportunities.