The State Board of Education Nov. 30 unanimously endorsed a proposal to help Idaho students receive more need-based financial aid for higher education. The board will work out the details of the new program with Governor-elect C.L. "Butch" Otter and the Idaho Legislature in the coming months.
As it stands, Idaho offers roughly $17 per student in need-based aid, a dismal number when compared with the state of Washington, which offers $500 per student. The national average is $387.
Need-based financial aid, as opposed to merit-based aid, is money designated to assist students who would otherwise be unable to afford higher education. Merit-based financial aid provides money to students based on grades, athletics, talent or test scores.
The result: Idaho is losing some of the best and brightest students to out-of-state institutions.
"Idaho is losing students to our neighboring states," said Colin Randolph, College of Southern Idaho director of financial aid and a member of the committee that drew up the proposed scholarship recommendation. "Other states can offer stronger incentives to students than we can offer to keep them here."
The proposal is called the Opportunity Scholarship and will not only improve the state's need-based program, but will expand the merit-based scholarships as well. The board is asking for an initial $10 million for endowment and appropriations.
The demand for Idaho's merit-based money, the Promise Scholarships, have become so competitive that "at times we have to turn away applicants with a 27 on the ACT and a 3.9 GPA," said Luci Willits, spokeswoman for the Idaho State Board of Education.
Not only has competition for scholarships increased, but tuition and living costs have as well.
"Education costs have risen exponentially compared to wages," Willits said.
In 1968, a student could work 18 hours a week in a minimum-wage job and have enough to pay for tuition, books, and room and board. Today, in order to cover the same costs, students would have to work a 55-hour work week and take out a $2,600 loan to make ends meet, Willits said.
"Tuition in Idaho has increased 111 percent over the last 10 years," she said.
Of all students currently attending the College of Southern Idaho, 60 percent report working while attending school, and 30 percent report working more than 34 hours per week, said Ken Campbell, dean of information technology services.
The Opportunity Scholarship is unique in the fact it requires an early commitment from students as well as a commitment on behalf of the state, a term the board calls "shared responsibility."
"We ask the taxpayers to help, but we are also asking the students to help themselves," Randolph said.
Students are required to receive a minimum 2.0 GPA in high school, commit to be drug free, apply for federal financial aid (including the Pell Grant), and maintain satisfactory academic standards in college, Willits said.
In addition, students must pay for roughly one-third of their costs themselves through additional academic or talent scholarships, work, or a combination of the three.
