ETSU, Northeast State brace for
changes due to lottery scholarships
By Julie Fann
star staff
jfann@starhq.com
Constantly ringing telephones and heaping
applications in the financial aid and admissions offices of
universities across the state are keeping school officials
busy dealing with the effects of a new state lottery. At local
schools, a number of factors seem to be contributing to the
hustle and bustle.
"The lottery scholarships will create, and already
have, more work for financial aid and the records office so
that, even if we don't see enrollment increase, our workload
will," said Kathy Seagins, assistant director of financial
aid and scholarship programs at East Tennessee State University.
It is hard to say if the lottery has caused an
increase in awareness about FAFSA - the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid which applicants must complete to be eligible
for lottery money - or vice versa, according to Seagins, but
her office has seen an increase in the number of students
applying for federal aid.
Seagins also said Monday that ETSU enrollment
has steadily increased over the past five years in spite of
continued budget cuts to higher education. "The number of
applications that we have received does not reveal an increase
this year over last year, but if you look at the past five
years, the numbers have risen," she said. "We're having to
accommodate more students with less money."
Both Seagins and Jennifer Starling, director
of enrollment services at Northeast State Technical Community
College, do not know if the lottery alone has increased applications
and interest or if there are other contributing factors.
"I've also been going out to high schools and
talking to students. It's hard to tell if it's a direct result
of the lottery, but we have seen an increase in applicants
and FAFSA applicants," Starling said.
Officials at Northeast State are concerned that
lottery scholarships may actually encourage students to look
at four-year schools, since the amount of money available
for students who elect to attend them is greater. "But students
don't realize that they may get more money for those schools,
but they also have to pay more to attend them," said Starling.
She said the school is promoting its own benefits, which are
smaller class sizes and more one-on-one attention.
Students who apply to two-year colleges receive
$1,500 from the lottery scholarship, while those who apply
to four-year schools receive $3,000-$4,000.
The Associated Press recently reported that state
university officials are seeing roughly 10 percent to 20 percent
more applications than at the same time last year.
The lottery scholarships, worth roughly $12,000
over four years of college, will be available to students
enrolling this fall.
The lottery is expected to generate $88 million
by July 1 to pay for scholarships for approximately 65,000
students.
