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Aid Available for Students Trying to Recover

Photo credit: Michael Grant Xavier University freshmen Katherine Byrd, right, of Detroit, and Ronnie Gaddis Jr., of Oakland, Calif., speak over lunch in the Grambling State University cafeteria Sept. 2 after arriving on that campus at 5 a.m. that morning.

By Ashley R. Harris
Black College Wire

Many survivors are taking the first steps toward beginning new lives, with help.

For displaced students who are able to continue their education this semester -� and for some who cannot �- the list of charitable relief programs is growing.

Meanwhile, the federal government and lenders are starting to sort out their rules and find ways to help students recover from the storm.

FEMA and the American Red Cross

In memos addressed to students and their families, both Norman C. Francis, president of Xavier University, and Marvalene Hughes, president of Dillard University, have encouraged their students to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA provides disaster assistance directly to eligible victims. In Texas, where thousands of evacuees are staying, FEMA started and then immediately shut down a program that put up to $2,000 in some evacuees� hands in the form of a debit card.

Officials now are saying that the program continues, but the aid will come in the form of checks mailed to the applicants or direct deposits into their bank accounts. The aid is based on need.

Although the wait time can seem long, call 1-800-621-3362 to register with FEMA and apply for the aid. Several callers report that it�s easiest to get through late at night. It is also possible to register online at www.fema.gov.

The American Red Cross has announced that it, too, is providing financial assistance in the form of debit cards to some storm and flood survivors. The amount is based on family size and need. Students displaced by the storm and floods can call a toll-free number to register with this agency�s Katrina Financial Assistance Center: 1-800-975-7585.

The registration can be completed over the phone: Callers must give their name, pre-storm address, ZIP code and current home telephone number. Have a pen and pad nearby to take down a client identification number, which must be taken to a financial institution in the new community to receive the support. Red Cross officials ask for patience, as the lines are frequently jammed. Go to http://www.redcross.org/pressrelease/0,1077,0_314_4583,00.html for more information.

The Red Cross program is separate from FEMA�s. Officials of these agencies say displaced students should apply for both types of aid.

Strictly for Students

Meanwhile, many nonprofit, professional and financial groups are starting relief funds for students. Here are details about several student relief programs announced in recent days:

The Tom Joyner Foundation has set aside relief funds to help students from Dillard University, Xavier University and Southern University New Orleans. All three campuses are closed indefinitely.

The money will help pay tuition, book expenses and other school-related costs as the students transfer to other schools for the semester.

The foundation has pledged to give $1,000 each to an estimated 1,000 students, until Oct. 31 or until funds are depleted.

To apply, students must send an e-mail to the foundation at . The e-mail should include the student�s full name, the name of the school from which he or she transferred, the name of the school transferred to, the student�s e-mail address and a telephone number (cell or land line) where the student can be reached.

Professional Societies

Some students have turned to the churches and communities in which they grew up. Others have found they can get help from the professional societies in their chosen fields of study.

For example, as the facts continue to come in on Katrina, journalists are responding to the crisis not only by reporting on it, but by donating money for students.

�We wanted to have some kind of response to what has been happening,� said Irwin L. Gratz, president of the Society of Professional Journalists and �Morning Edition� producer for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. SPJ and Sigma Delta Chi, its foundation arm, are using $25,000 of foundation money to provide 100 grants of $250 to student journalists who are disaster victims. The gifts are to help meet school expenses. Go to http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050906.111727 for more information.

Todd Gillman, president of Sigma Delta Chi, and a Washington correspondent for the Dallas Morning News, said the money would be available to students who apply on a first-come, first-served basis until the funds run out. The student journalists do not have to be SPJ members.

�We�re dipping into our own corpus and using funds that we were sitting on for journalism projects to help student journalists in need,� Gillman said. �We know it�s a first installment, but it�s all we can do for now. Based on need, we�ll keep revisiting it.�

The National Association of Black Journalists also is setting aside funds to give �emergency cash� to members and their families affected by the flooding. See: http://www.nabj.org/newsroom/news_releases/story/23393p- 33349c.html.

In his online appeal to members to donate to the relief effort, NABJ President Bryan Monroe said, �We have dozens of our members in the area covering the story, as well as nearly 200 members � working journalists, associates and students � who live in the region who are homeless, in need, displaced, without a school or out of work.�

Another professional organization, the National Black MBA Association Inc., has formed the NBMBAA Student Empowerment Relief Fund. It initially has $50,000 in seed money, with an additional $25,000 coming from the Potter�s House, the Dallas-based home church of Bishop T.D. Jakes. For more information, see www.nbmbaa.org.

�The MBA Association is about education and increasing financial literacy among African Americans,� said Alonza Robertson of the NBMBAA. �The best way to do that is to help students resume their lives.�

The American Physiological Society, a group of science and medical professionals, has set aside money to help graduate students and postdoctoral fellows with unrestricted grants of $2,000. The money is for students who are members of APS or who have been working in the laboratories of APS members.

Lender to Ease Rules

Although there is still confusion among the nation�s top educators about what to do with school loans that have already been disbursed to students� home institutions, there are lenders who are making concessions and creating programs for students who were affected by Katrina.

"As we spoke with our customers in the first hours after the storm, we learned that many were seeking funds for emergency needs, such as transportation, lodging and food,� said Martha Holler, senior director, corporate communications for Sallie Mae.

Sallie Mae, one of the nation�s leading providers of college loans, now is offering an interest-free, one-time hurricane relief loan of up to $1,000 to students who attended storm-ravaged schools in Louisiana and Mississippi. See www.salliemae.com/katrina for the complete list of schools, which includes Xavier, Dillard and many Gulf-region technical schools and community colleges.

�Our Katrina loans are intended to help our customers get back on their feet and back in the classroom as quickly as possible,� Holler said. �We do not want to let Hurricane Katrina shatter their dreams of a higher education."

According to the Web site, any student who applied for Sallie Mae loans for the 2005-06 school year and attended one of the listed schools will qualify for the relief loan. The relief loan will be interest-free through May 31, when it will assume the current prime rate. Students do not have to begin paying it back until six months after graduating or enrolling for less than full time. Apply by Dec. 31.

To apply, students must talk to a Sallie Mae representative at 1-877-435-7040, then go online to www.salliemae.com/katrina/index.html to print out the application.

In addition, Sallie Mae is offering another form of hurricane aid: loan payment relief. Some student loan customers in the flood-damaged region may be able to stop making payments on their loans. For more information, call (888) 272-5543 or log on to the "Manage Your Loans" section of www.SallieMae.com.

Federal Grant Aid

Congress has been at work on legislation to ensure that displaced students will be able to keep any federal grants they received this year.

In recent days, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved HR 3668, which would allow students to keep their Pell Grants and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, even if their studies were halted because of Katrina. Typically, when a student stops attending school, he or she must repay the grants. Congress can authorize the secretary of education to waive the repayment requirement.

In addition, lawmakers are considering proposals that will allow students to defer payment on federal student loans for up to six months without being charged interest or penalties.

So students who received federal aid for this academic year should keep an eye on Congress� actions in coming days. Anticipate discussion and possible rulings from the U.S. Department of Education on how affected colleges should handle loans and other payments already made this semester. Decisions will be announced on the Web site of the U.S. Department of Education, www.ed.gov. Students and their families also may stay in touch with the local offices of their representatives in Congress.

Colleges Pitching In

One place to begin searching for assistance is the financial aid office. For students who choose to transfer to another school, temporarily or permanently, there are many resources and new relief funds.

The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education has compiled a chart showing the help offered to hurricane victims by historically black colleges. Discounts on books, free room and board and other forms of financial assistance are listed.

In addition, many schools are creating their own relief funds to help displaced students buy essential items, from bedding to books. For example, Fisk University in Nashville has a fund that will help students replace personal necessities and find housing. A similar fund is being made available to the 3,000 students who have enrolled at Louisiana State University. The fund, introduced by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and the presidents of LSU and Arizona State University, is designed to assist the students with their educational needs, according to an Associated Press report.

Scholarship America, an organization that raised millions of dollars for students affected by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is gearing up to help victims of Katrina. Through its Disaster Relief Fund for Post-Secondary Education, the organization is raising scholarship funds that can be distributed by participating colleges and universities in the storm-ravaged area.

According to the program's rules, colleges apply for the aid and then make grants of up to $750 available to needy storm victims for academic expenses, such as tuition and books.

Students from affected Gulf-area colleges who are transferring into new schools should contact the financial aid office to learn whether the college has Scholarship America funding. For more information, see http://www.disasterrelief.scholarshipamerica.org.

Ashley R. Harris, evacuated from Dillard University, has enrolled for the semester at the University of Houston.

Posted Sept. 19, 2005