Local students concerned over lack of financial aid

LYNN – Ysdra Lantiqua is studying to become a practical nurse, but she feels like a circus juggler.The North Shore Community College student is trying to pay for her classes with a combination of student aid and income while finding time to study and tend to her children.”When people think of students, they tend to think of someone who’s never worked before,” she said.Lantiqua wishes she could cover her college expenses with student aid so that she could spend more time studying instead of working. Educators like North Shore President Wayne Burton and Salem State College financial aid director Mary Benda understand her frustration.Burton said access to community college education for many working adults is limited, in part, by low aid levels. He was not surprised by a recent survey showing that Massachusetts’ student aid assistance levels lag behind many other states.”We’re losing out to other regions. It’s a challenge for Massachusetts,” Burton said.Benda said some Salem State students resort to taking out high interest loans after they exhaust federal and state aid options and available low interest loans. She said the school is trying to help students at a time when state spending on public colleges is level funded or declining.Recognizing this challenge, state legislators boosted spending on the state’s primary need-based financial aid program to $29.8 million, a $3 million increase.U.S. Rep. John Tierney is working in Congress to keep public college tuitions low by providing incentives for Massachusetts and other states to assure they adequately fund institutions like North Shore and Salem State.With students like Lantiqua in mind, the Legislature also pushed during its budget sessions earlier this month to double the $1 million allocated last year to pay for programs aimed at attracting nursing students and nursing teachers to state colleges.