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Education Update
January 26, 2011 |
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Upcoming Events | |
January 30, 2011
College Goal Maine Sunday Event
February 10, 2011
Educators for Maine Advisory Committee Meeting
February 11, 2011
Higher Education Advisory Council Meeting
February 14, 2011
Joint Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Medical Education and the Advisory Committee on Dental Education
February 15, 2011
Advisory Committee on College Savings Meeting
February 17, 2011
FAME Board of Directors Meeting
February 21, 2011
FAME will be closed in observance of President's Day
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| College Goal Maine | |
There are 10 events being held at various locations on Sunday, January 30 at 2:00 p.m. Thank you to everyone who has already attended a site or will attend on Sunday. The students and families of Maine appreciate that you volunteer your time to help them complete the FAFSA!
All the locations, dates and times can be found at the College Goal Maine site or on the FAME events page.
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| Tales from the Road | |
January has been another busy month for the College Access and Financial Education department at FAME. In the first
three weeks of January, staff have conducted 24 events and had more than 2,700 people attend.
The trip of the month is Mila Tappan's journey to Vinalhaven for the island's annual financial aid and FAFSA information session. This year the seas were fairly calm, so the ferry ride was smooth and arrived on time. The hotel opened just for her and she had a great room with an ocean view.
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| In the News | |
Mike Lussier and Martha Johnston appeared on WCSH's TV show 207! Wonder if Mike has ever considered a career in broadcasting?
Martha Johnston and Mary Dyer were interviewed by the Lewiston Sun Journal. You can read the article online.
Mary Dyer and Mila Tappan also appeared on TV. WLBZ TV2 and WABI TV5 aired stories this week too.
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| Applications Online | |
The following applications will be available on the FAME web site on February 1:
The Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship
Dental Loan Program
Dental Loan Repayment Program
Educators for Maine Program
Health Professions Loan Program
Maine Veterinary Medicine Loan Program
Quality Child Care Program (Non-Degree Students Only)
Tuition Waiver (Foster Care Program)
Tuition Waiver (Parent Killed in the line of Duty)
FAME strongly encourages you to forward this information to any individuals and/or departments on your campus that communicate regularly with students who may have an interest in applying to one of these programs, for example; Admissions, Education Department, Pre-Med Advisors, etc.
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| 1099Q Notification for Calendar Year 2010 | |
1099Q forms were sent out on January 8 to students who received a State of Maine Grant Award
in calendar Year 2010 funded by the NextGen College Investing Plan®.
For more information regarding the possible tax consequences to recipients of grants
and scholarships, refer to the IRS web site. There is also a good summary on Finaid.org.
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| Harold Alfond College Challenge | |
The first cohort of Maine resident babies who were eligible for the Harold Alfond College Challenge grant have met their first birthday deadline and the results are in! 5,032 of the 13,124 eligible babies born in 2009 enrolled for a 38.3% take rate. Thank you to everyone who helped us reach so many children and here's to having a huge co-hort of children who are prepared for college 17 years from now!
We beat the original 2010 calendar year goal of enrolling 4,000 babies by 20% with about 4,800 enrolled in the calendar year. Based on this success, we have set a goal of 6,000 enrolled babies for 2011. This goal is a 25% increase over our 2010 enrollments. If you would like more information about the Alfond Grant or if you would consider hanging posters and passing along information to your colleagues please contact Elizabeth Vanderweide: 800-228-3734, ext 3509.
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| New Governor and New Commissioners |
Governor Paul R. LePage was sworn into office January 5. He pledged to bring an open-minded, nonpartisan approach to the office. Saying, "I have four years and a job to do," LePage repeated in his inaugural address many of the themes of his gubernatorial campaign: government accountability; improving Maine's business climate; education and welfare reform; and listening to Mainers about their concerns.
The Governor recently nominated three more Cabinet members: Norman Olsen to be commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources; Phillip Congdon as commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development; and Darryl Brown for commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection. Olsen is a former commercial fisherman and former member of the New England Fisheries Management Council. Congdon, an engineer, is a former top executive at Texas Instruments. Brown is a former state legislator and founder of Main-Land Development Consultants, an engineering, surveying and land planning company in Livermore Falls. Main-Land is the lead developer of the recently approved casino resort in Oxford County.
These nominations are in addition to other previously announced choices: former Waterville police chief John Morris to be commissioner of the Department of Public Safety; Maj. Gen. John Libby to continue as Commissioner of the Maine Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management; former Husson University President Bill Beardsley as Commissioner of Conservation; and former legislator Sawin Millett as head of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services. All nominees must be confirmed by the Legislature.
LePage also announced some additional high-level staff positions: John McGough as Chief of Staff; former legislator Stephen Bowen as senior policy advisor for education; former WABI-TV reporter Adrienne Bennet as Press Secretary; and Mary Mayhew as senior health policy advisor.
The Governor's supplemental budget (will balance the budget for the remaining fiscal year) is expected to be delivered to the Legislature in mid-January. His biennial budget will be due the second week of February.
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| Governor's Budget | |
On Wednesday, Governor Paul LePage put forth his proposal on the supplemental budget that will take the State through the end of the fiscal year.
In order to move the State forward the Governor's plan repays thirty-six hospitals for settlements dating back to 2006. If the budget is approved by two-thirds of the legislature all hospitals will be current through June 2009.
"Fast action is required because good paying health care jobs are being eliminated and because the federal match decreases over time," Governor LePage said.
The Governor also addresses upcoming funding challenges involving increased enrollment in MaineCare. In a matter of weeks without further allocations the state will be forced to stop making payments to nearly 4,000 providers. In order to avoid a reduction to 300,000 MaineCare recipients the Governor has allocated $39.3 million to account for increased enrollment in MaineCare.
Immediate tax relief can also be found in the Governor's proposal. $4.5 million dollars is allocated to align Maine's tax laws to the federal code. 2010 tax forms and instructions for Maine State Income Taxes had been prepared prior to Congress extending the Bush Tax Cuts. Without these changes, the mid-December change to the federal code will require Maine Revenue Service to issue new instructions for people on how to file their 2010 tax returns.
"We need to take some action. That's going to cost the state roughly about four and a half million dollars out of current revenues. But the good news is that we're putting that money in Maine people's pockets where it belongs."
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| Legislative Changes | |
Members of the 125th Maine Legislature re-convened January 5. Committee assignments were made by the presiding officers in late December. The Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs will include: Sen. Brian Langley (R-Hancock), Senate Chair; Sen. Garrett Mason (R-Androscoggin); Sen. Justin Alfond (D-Cumberland); Rep. David Richardson (R-Carmel), House Chair; Rep. Peter Edgecomb (R-Caribou); Rep. Howard McFadden (R-Dennysville); Rep. Peter Johnson (R-Greenville); Rep. Joyce Maker (R-Calais); Rep. Michael McClellan (R-Raymond); Rep. Richard Wagner (D-Lewiston) (ranking Democrat); Rep. Mary Nelson (D-Falmouth); Rep. Stephen Lovejoy (D-Portland); Rep. Helen Rankin (D-Hiram); and Rep. Madonna Soctomah (Passamaquoddy Tribe).
A complete list of the membership of the joint standing committees are available on the Maine.gov web site.
Constitutional officers were sworn in recently by Governor LePage. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney William Schneider is now Attorney General; former legislator Charlie Summers is Maine's new Secretary of State; and former gubernatorial candidate Bruce Poliquin is the new State Treasurer. |
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Finance Authority of Maine
1-800-228-3734 |
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