By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma higher education leaders said Wednesday that they are concerned lawmakers might not have allocated enough funding to meet demand when children of public school teachers become eligible to participate in the expansion of a state-funded scholarship program.
Officials said applications are expected to open later this month, but the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education were allocated $700,000 to fund the expansion of Oklahoma’s Promise, which could cover costs for 15 students, said Colbi Beam, assistant vice chancellor of state grants and scholarships.
“It’s not going to go very far,” she said. “We have no idea what the impact will be for enrollment, but I’m really interested to see. We’ve gotten a lot of buzz and a ton of teacher phone calls.”
Under House Bill 1727, which took effect July 1, a teacher can apply for their child to participate in the program if the educator is certified and teaching in Oklahoma public schools for at least 10 years and their household meets income eligibility requirements. School administrators and emergency certified teachers are not included.
Beam said allowing Oklahoma public school teachers to be eligible to apply for a state-funded scholarship program, which has traditionally helped lower-income students afford college, amount to some of the most “substantial changes” to Oklahoma’s Promise since its inception.
“With Oklahoma’s Promise in general, I think we’ve moved away from our mission a little,” she said. “I think we need to refocus on the students who need access. I think we are adding more administrative steps for students to be eligible instead of reducing those. So if I had a magic wand, I’d want to make it easier on students to apply.”
Students who are in the current cohort of high school seniors will be the first to be eligible for the extension of Oklahoma’s Promise.
The scholarship program offers qualified Oklahoma students an opportunity to earn a scholarship for college tuition. The measure extends the program’s application window to Dec. 31 of the student’s senior year.
The household income of the student’s parents must be less than 700% the federal poverty level. For a four-person household, this equates to an income of $225,050.
Traditional Oklahoma’s Promise students will continue to qualify with separate financial eligibility qualifications.
The financial impact of Oklahoma’s Promise for educators’ children is estimated to be over $740,000 in the first year and to exceed $3 million by the fourth year, according to the Legislature’s fiscal impact report.
