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Loans, scholarship office assists hurricane-affected students

Sep. 26, 2005

NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photo of Angella Current-Felder is available
at http://umns.umc.org.

By Vicki Brown*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the United
Methodist Church's loans and scholarships office began combing through
records to determine which students receiving financial aid might have
had their studies or their jobs interrupted by the storm.

"We wanted to take a proactive approach," said Angella Current-Felder,
executive director of the Office of Loans and Scholarships at the United
Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

The staff moved to defer for six months loan payments owed by about 100
borrowers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the three states
devastated by the storm, she said. Most creditors were delaying payments
for three months for borrowers in the affected areas, but loans and
scholarship staff wanted to be as generous as possible.

Collections staff mailed letters notifying borrowers and their cosigners
of the deferment. No interest will be charged during the six-month
deferment period.

"It's not clear if former students making loan payments can even receive
mail, so we sent letters about the deferment to the cosigner, too,"
Current-Felder said.

Arrangements were being made to stop automatic draft payments from
borrowers in the affected area who were already paying off loans. "If
they lost their job due to the hurricane, we don't want to be dipping
into their bank accounts," Current-Felder said.

Staff began e-mailing scholarship recipients who were enrolled at any
affected schools, such as United Methodist-related Dillard University or
Tulane, both in New Orleans.  Scholarship payments that have not yet
been made can go to the school where the student is now enrolled.

"We wanted to do something to help the students so they don't have to
worry about their scholarships or loans. We wanted to make it easier on
them as they dealt with the hurricane," said James Harding, assistant
executive director for loans administration and operations at the board.

Harding said the office wants to make sure students receiving loans get
the funds they need to stay in school.

Annually, students are required to recertify their enrollment status to
avoid going into repayment. For students affected by Hurricane Katrina,
the office has decided to recertify automatically their student-deferred
status until May. This is being done because many will be unable to
obtain certification from the schools they attend.

Colleges and universities that have accepted evacuee students will be
notified that even though no new scholarship funds are available, these
students have priority in receiving loans.

The decline in congregations giving to special Sunday offerings has
wreaked havoc on the number of scholarships the United Methodist
Church's higher education agency can give to eligible applicants,
according to Current-Felder. The Office of Loans and Scholarships had to
turn away 300 eligible applicants last year.

In an earlier UMNS report, Current-Felder attributed the financial
shortfall in scholarship awards to a decline in giving to the three
special Sunday offerings that enable scholarships to United Methodist
students -World Communion Sunday, which provides scholarships for ethnic
minorities; United Methodist Student Day, which enables undergraduates
to attend United Methodist-related schools; and Native American
Ministries Sunday, which provides scholarships for Native Americans
pursing master of divinity degrees.

Higher education officials are urging United Methodists to remember
World Communion Sunday, coming up Oct. 2, and United Methodist Student
Day, Nov. 27. Native American Ministries Sunday will be April 30.

For more information, contact the Loans and Scholarships Office at (615)
340-7342 or e-mail James Harding at jharding@gbhem.org.

*Brown is an associate editor and writer in the Office of Interpretation
at the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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