Important Update on State Need Grant

Dear Parents:

You are receiving this message as an update in regards to the Washington State Need Grant.  We realize that you have received a number of messages from us about the changes that are coming to financial aid, and while each call to action was important, we are getting into the final stages of the budget for the State of Washington.

The 4,400 students affected by these proposals could use your support. Sending a message through this link takes less than two minutes, and this could mean thousands of dollars for each student receiving State Need Grant.

Please consider taking a few moments to contact your legislators after this brief update:

• An amendment to the Senate budget calculates a 3.5% increase from 2010 SNG levels; the original Senate budget calculated private schools grant amounts from the 2009 levels leading to a cut of a few hundred dollars per student.
• The House budget still cuts SNG maximum award by $2,550 for students at private, non-profit colleges.
• This is the last week for the Senate and House to work on the budget before a Special Session is called. Until the Senate and House budget language is agreed upon and signed, nothing is certain.
• To best support students at private colleges, urge your representatives to “support the Senate budget language, including the amendment to increase the State Need Grant by 3.5% from current levels for students at private, non-profit colleges.”

Thousands of messages were sent over the past two weeks leading to this important amendment, but we need thousands more to encourage all legislators to support students choosing a independent college!

Every individual message counts, whether by phone (Capitol Hotline 1-800-562-6000) or email. Please spread the word by forwarding this email, Facebook’ing the link to http://ICWashington.org/action, encouraging your student, their friends, classmates, parents, professors, staff, and other friends of independent higher education.

Thank you for your support.

Jim White

Dean

Student Financial Services

Gonzaga University