After a 101-day impasse on the state budget, on Oct. 9, Gov. Edward Rendell signed a $27.8 billion package that will keep student aid at the same level as it was last year.

Point Park University students and administrators have waited since the middle of summer for notification on if and when they would receive their annual Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance (PHEAA) grants and would see an end to this distressing situation, which was brought on by bickering politicians within two weeks.

“I have been working with student [finances] for 15 years, and never have I been in this situation,” Director of Financial Aid Sandra Cronin said.

All 50 states were required to submit their budgets by June 30, 2009. Partisans, whose bickering kept Pennsylvania’s legislature in a budget impasse, were unable to come up with a budget agreed upon by both Democrat and Republican leaders, resulting in a 101-day delay in the passing of the state budget. During this time, not only were student loans held up over the budget battle, but social-service agencies, day-care centers and others that receive state subsidies, were forced to lay off workers or shut down their operations altogether without funds from the state.

Pennsylvania college students expecting to receive state grants, instead received letters that their grants could not be accepted until the state budget was passed. With 30 percent of Point Park’s student body receiving grants, it caused widespread panic.

Morgan Patkos, a junior global cultural studies major, was one of many Point Park students worried about their grant status.

“When I received the letter, I was confused. I was very worried about my financial aid, how I would be able to pay if the grants did not go through,” Patkos said.

Cronin reported that students voiced their concerns with the letter and called the financial aid office to clear up confusion.

In response to the budget delay, Point Park decided to waive late fees for grant recipients.