Financial Update from the LNASP April 11th, 2014 Dear Libyan Students in North America, The purpose of this message is to update you on the current funding situation and the various pro-active steps CBIE has taken to ensure the continuous financial and operational stability of theLibyan-North American Scholarship Program(LNSAP). On April 7th, 2014 CBIE submitted an urgent letter to the senior officials at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, with copies provided to the Libyan Embassies in Ottawa and Washington, D.C. The letter urges the Ministry to release outstanding budget transfers for the current fiscal/academic year (April 2013-April 2014), including major budgetary line items such as the following: Health insurance: To-date, no insurance fees have been transferred to CBIE for the period June 2013 – April 2014; however, CBIE has maintained insurance coverage for students in North America based on the Ministry’s intent to transfer these funds.Tuition: Although the Ministry did send CBIE tuition funds for the 2013/2014 academic year, tuition funding was missing for nearly 809 (644 US/165 Canada) students, many of whom are currently in extension periods or whose dates have not been updated in the Ministry’s records.Monthly Living Allowance: The Ministry has transferred MLA budgets to CBIE through June 2014; however, there is a shortfall each quarter of approximately329 (252 US/77 Canada) students. As authorized by the Ministry, and based on the Ministry’s agreement to transfer the necessary funds, CBIE cleared all 2013 MLA discrepancy payments toapproximately 285 (242 US/43 Canada) students in their original scholarship period; however, CBIE has not yet received reimbursement for these payments.Other Scholarship Benefits: such as Mid-Period Travel: CBIE submitted a mid-period budget request to the Ministry, which remains pending with the Ministry at this time.As a result of the funding delays for these major budget line-items, many scholarship benefits continue to be on-hold. Upon receipt of the above mentioned budgets, CBIE will be in a better position to reinstate full scholarship benefits to most of the students who have been affected by discrepancies. In the above-mentioned letter to the Ministry, CBIE re-emphasized the need to seek a permanent resolution to scholarship date discrepancies, which continue to be a serious issue impacting students. CBIE also reiterated the importance of settling all of the program’s outstanding budgets before the end of April 2014. Failure to act on these budget transfers may result in the freezing of essential scholarship benefits for all students, including Insurance and MLA, as of June 1, 2014. Please be advised that the staff of CBIE have been working tirelessly to resolve the outstanding issues and discrepancies, submitting numerous budget reports and supplementary reports, and responding quickly to any requests from the Scholarship Department for additional documents. We remain hopeful that the Ministry will be able to resolve the outstanding issues in a timely manner; however, it is important for all students to be informed of the serious budget delays that we are facing and the possible delay to the June MLA and disruption to insurance coverage in June, should the necessary funds not be received. As an organization that values the success of students pursuing higher education, CBIE will continue to serve you to the best of our abilities.Sincerely, The Libyan-North American Scholarship Program
