YOUNGSTOWN — Eastern Gateway Community College on Wednesday told employees and students that the U.S. Department of Education identified concerns about the college’s Free College Benefit program, as part of a federal financial aid program review.

The college said it is fighting the directive to cease the program and insists it is complying with federal law.

EGCC said it is in the process of pursuing a resolution to the federal agency’s directive and seeking assistance from congressional representatives. For the time being, the college is notifying students who are enrolled in the Free College Benefit program for the Fall 2022 semester or planning to enroll not to anticipate receiving any Pell Grant funding until the matter is resolved.

More than 75,000 students participating in the Free College program have enrolled at EGCC since 2015. EGCC officials said the program has saved these students more than $175 million.

The division chief of the Department of Education Federal Student Aid Division sent a letter July 18 to EGCC telling it to cease the Free College Benefit program and not disburse Pell Grant funds to any new students enrolling in the program, until the program is redesigned.

EGCC’s annual federal Title IV compliance audits the past four years have not identified any concerns with the administration of the Free College Benefit Program, the college said in a news release.

“Although, EGCC firmly believes its Free College Benefit Program administration is fully compliant with federal law, the college must follow the direction from (the education department) until the issues are resolved,” it said.

“We vigorously disagree with their analysis and recommendations and have incorporated our objections and legal counsel’s analysis in a letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and his top deputies,” said EGCC President Michael Geoghegan. “Until this issue is resolved, which we hope will be soon, we will continue to enroll students and notify new and prospective students of the situation, which we hope will be resolved quickly.”

Geoghegan said Wednesday he’s as confused as anyone.

“We have lots of questions,” Geoghegan said. “We’re all trying to find out what’s going on here. This letter came, they’ve been doing this federal program review for a while, really since February, and we’ve been trying to figure out what’s the purpose of the review and how can we help. We’ve turned over every document we have at the college — obviously we’re cooperating with them. They’ve never given us any real indication of what they’re looking for, so the letter came as a complete surprise.”

EGCC understands Pell Grant funding is necessary for many students to access higher education, said Christina Wanat, senior vice president and chief student affairs officer. “We understand that this may cause significant difficulty and hardship for our Free College students, and we are working hard to resolve this for them.”

EGCC students have advanced their careers and continued to pursue their education goals at more than 600 institutions across the United States, the college noted.

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