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Students in Mississippi will no longer be able to receive multiple types of state grants under new rules approved by lawmakers seeking to close a budget gap.
Mississippi has five grant programs that range from covering full tuition to as little as $250 per semester. Students eligible for more than one grant had been able to receive aid though multiple programs, a practice known as stacking. But such students will now only receive aid from the program awarding the largest amount for which they are eligible, according to The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss.
The elimination of stacking will affect an estimated 3,400 students. Without changes, officials said, they would have had to cut grant amounts by 3 percent. They also said they would not have had money to award forgivable loans for students in high-need areas like teaching and nursing -- an issue that arose in the 2016-17 academic year, when the state was faced with a $10.4 million gap between demand for financial aid and funding that was available.
Appropriations for the Office of Student Financial Aid were cut by about 3 percent to $37.6 million for the 2018 fiscal year. Officials also said more students in the state are attending college.
