DATE: Tuesday, April 15, 1997               TAG: 9704150280
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: WINCHESTER                        LENGTH:   69 lines

STRICTER STATE FINANCIAL-AID RULE MAY AFFECT FEDERAL AID, TOO

If Virginia colleges tighten grade requirements for students receiving state-sponsored financial aid, other students could lose their federal aid as well, officials said Monday.

After hearing that, members of the State Council of Higher Education decided to postpone discussing changes in state aid guidelines to allow further study.

Under federal law, ``the strictest standard (for any aid program at a school) is the standard that applies for federal programs, too,'' said Donald J. Finley, an associate director of the state council.

So toughening the requirements for getting state-sponsored aid could cut other students off from federal grants or loans.

Last month, the council's chairwoman, Abingdon attorney Elizabeth A. McClanahan, proposed tighter guidelines to exclude some students with less than a C average from state financial-aid rolls.

But after Finley's presentation, she said: ``I agree with you that we have more work. I do think we need to be cautious about this since it does have some effects potentially on federal grants.''

Acknowledging the opposition of some schools to any changes, she added: ``We need to consider the institutions' position on the issue and possibly just highlight the issue for the Board of Visitors'' of each college to decide.

Finley and McClanahan spoke during a meeting of the state council's resources committee Monday. The council is holding a two-day meeting at Shenandoah University.

After the resources committee meeting, McClanahan said her comments did not mean she was abandoning the idea of recommending tougher aid requirements. The council, she said, might still endorse such a shift at its next meeting, in May, she said.

The council cannot legally mandate individual colleges to change their financial-aid policies. But if the agency recommends stricter requirements, the schools could face considerable pressure to conform to them.

Officials have said that most Virginia colleges allow students one to two years to reach an overall C average before stopping their state financial aid. To get federal aid, students need to have achieved a C average by the time they graduate.

The issue was raised last month when the state council issued a study showing that 17 percent of students getting state financial aid were making less than a C average last year. They received $8.3 million of the $49.3 million that the state allotted for financial aid in 1995-96.

The debate has divided the council members and the agency's staff.

McClanahan has argued that aid dollars, in short supply, ought to go to the most deserving students. But Gordon K. Davies, the agency's director, has opposed any changes, saying some students need time to adjust to the rigors of college life.

The matter has also touched on the autonomy cherished by Virginia colleges. Although it's the colleges' call, McClanahan said, ``The state council's responsibility is to highlight those issues and coordinate the system'' of higher education in Virginia.

But Davies and the college leaders have said the decisions should be left entirely to the schools. The presidents of the state-supported schools unanimously passed a resolution last month saying it is ``a matter for each institution to determine.''

Estherine J. Harding, the financial aid director at Norfolk State University, agreed. In an interview last month, she said: ``I would hope that the council would recognize that many of us have been in this profession for a number of years . . . We do get to know our students and our students' needs.''

Harding is president-elect of the Virginia Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, but she said she was not speaking for the group. KEYWORDS: FINANCIAL AID

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