Federal Economic Stimulus Package and Cal State Northridge
On April 17, 2009 the US Department of Education approved California’s application to receive the first round of State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (SFSF). The Department has released $4 billion – the first of two installments. The second installment will occur in the fall and that amount will be $ 2 billion. According to the application, the following amounts will be designated to higher education accounts for the following years:
FY 2009 |
$ 537 million |
FY 2010 |
$ 663 million |
In addition to the stabilization funds that are helping to mitigate further cuts to the CSU, the economic stimulus package included temporary boosts in federal student financial aid:
A $619 increase in the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,350 starting July 1. More than 120,000 CSU students receive Pell Grants. CSU is the largest recipient of Pell Grant awards in the country.
- CSUN has nearly 12,000 Pell Grant recipients who will benefit from the Pell Grant increase. Nearly 4,000 of those students qualify for the maximum award. Total Pell awards to CSUN students for 2008-09: $40 million
- With the new Pell Grant increase, 650 new CSUN students will qualify for a grant-- bringing the total Pell near $50 million for the upcoming academic year.
$200 million added nationwide to the Federal Work-Study program, which could help an additional 1,500 CSU students earn an average of $2,400 per year.
- The new work-study funding will support 90 additional CSUN students-- a 10 percent increase in the number of students that benefit from federal work-study. About 20-25 percent of federal work-study dollars are community service job placements.
The new partially refundable American Opportunity Tax Credit will cover up to $2,500 of the cost of tuition and course-related expenses per year for the first four years of college.
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