Oklahoma’s Promise expected to cost $74.3M
Oklahoma’s Promise is expected to pay college tuition for nearly 18,000 students in 2017-18 at an estimated cost of $74.3 million. That’s up about $2.5 million from the current fiscal year.
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education approved the cost estimate Thursday and
thanked state Rep. Leslie Osborn for her help raising the family income limit so more students can qualify for the scholarship.
The Legislature this year increased the income limit for enrolling in the Oklahoma’s Promise program for the first time since 2000, when it was set at $50,000.
The new family income limit for students applying in 2017-18 is $55,000, and a second increase — to $60,000 — will apply beginning in 2021-22.
“As we came into this last year, less than 40 percent of the families in the state were even eligible to apply for the scholarship because that income limit was basically out of whack in relationship to current incomes,” Chancellor Glen Johnson said.
Osborn, R-Mustang, in her role as chair of appropriations and budget, worked with higher education officials throughout the session to achieve the long-sought increase, Johnson said.
Other changes to the program include conducting a family income check every year the student receives the scholarship, eliminating payment for noncredit remedial classes and capping the number of credit hours thescholarship
will pay for.
“We have some very important changes that are coming into play,” said Bryce Fair, associate vice chancellor for state grants and scholarships.
“Overall, these are really raising expectations for our students. They’re refining the focus of the scholarships,” Fair said.
Students enroll in the program in the eighth, ninth or 10th grade and must complete certain requirements during high
school to receive the scholarship. The family income cannot exceed $100,000 when the student starts college.
Fair reported the high school requirement completion rate has been going up every year since 2013 and is projected to continue increasing. “That’s a very positive trend,” he said.
The 2017-18 cost estimate allows for a tuition increase of up to 5 percent, Fair said.