Students May Lose Grants By Registering Locally

Out of state students may no longer be eligible for their home state scholarships next year after registering to vote in Massachusetts for the upcoming election.

At least six states--Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvannia, Rhode Island. Vermont--allow students to use state grants outside of the home state, said Alan P. Maynard, director of financial assistance at Brown.

Because each state has a fixed grant fund, government officials say the rule will be enforced to prevent students from receiving funding from more than one location.

Although all states use voter registration as criteria for determining in state residence, not all of these consider registration an important standard.

Harvard financial and officials were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Voter registration is used as a primary indicator of legal residence in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, state government officials said.

Vermont and Maryland officials, however, explained that although voter registration was important, there were other criteria that could balance a student's decision to register in their new area.

"It's one way of avoiding a conflict of interest," said Conrad I Kohler, a Massachussetts scholarship official.

"We consider it an indicator," said Timothy Jerman, director of personel at the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, "but we may or may not question that particular issue."

Although New York has very few grants that cover out of state students, legal residence is defined as "almost like a state of mind," said James R. Hinds, attorney for New York Higher Services Corporation.

Most scholarship agencies, however, admitted to an inability to check each student carefully.

"It's very difficult to monitor that sort of thing. I presume most states would not have the ability," said Byron A. Hartley, director of financial assistance at Boston University.

"We would never know about it unless a student called up and asked us," said Jerman.

Other criteria for legal residence include possessing an in state a driver's license, proving previous residency, paying state taxes, of owning or renting property within the state.