Vincent Hall knows financial aid can make or break an education.

For the 2002-2003 school year, he was to receive a MAP award, but the award was withdrawn in August just before classes started.

His initial reactions were shock and panic. Hall, a senior biology major, had to scramble to find a way to continue his education. He got a second job, took out a loan and reduced his class load. MAP awards no longer were given to fifth-year seniors as they had been in the past. Hall had planned to graduate this spring, but he now plans to graduate this summer.

“The documentation about this should have been out earlier,” Hall said. “It being last minute was not good … I remember seeing about 20 people in Stevenson who had MAP awards taken away, and they were just devastated.”

State financial aid, including MAP grants, for the 2003-2004 school year still is uncertain, but the U.S. Congress approved last Thursday a spending plan that includes financial aid.

The plan, if signed by President Bush, would increase the maximum Pell Grant by $50 to $4,050.

“I think it’s wonderful with this economy that there’s an increase at all,” said Linda Dersch, senior assistant director of Student Financial Aid.

Funding for the work study program would be reduced by $7 million.

The latter would mean a decrease in the number of students who can participate in work study and probably in the number of campus jobs, said Michelle Ortiz, a Human Resources assistant.

“I would definitely be upset if I couldn’t do work study next year,” said Danielle Pelsor, a work-study student employed at Human Resources and freshman English education major. “My award letter probably would be reduced. Without financial aid, I wouldn’t have been able to attend college.”

The Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program, which helps disadvantaged students, would be increased by $40 million to $765 million.

“How this would affect Northern depends on how much we are allocated,” said Kathleen Brunson, director of Student Financial Aid. “We don’t know how much we’ll get.” For the 2002-2003 school year, NIU received $836,000 from the SEOG.

The Leveraging Education Assistance Program would be cut, but it had only provided $67,000 to be divided among the 50 states.

“That was just a drop in the bucket,” Dersch said. “Its purpose to jump start states’ own financial aid programs has gone by the wayside. They’re already doing that.”

The state’s financial aid budget has not yet been set.

Further cuts may be forthcoming, but Gov. Rod Blagojevich will not present his budget proposal until April, Dersch said. Students receive more money from the federal government than the state government on average, she said.

Dersch expects the reductions made to MAP awards last year to continue for the 2003-2004 school year.

“I expect state financial aid will decrease because of the budget crunch, but the situation is very unsure,” Brunson said.

Because some financial aid is given on a first-come, first-serve basis, Dersch strongly recommends students file their FAFSA’s by the priority filing date of March 1.