[Oasfaa] State Capitol - Update on 2 bills

[Fair, Bryce]

Following are updates on 2 bills of interest--

HB 1804 (Related to illegal immigration) - Yesterday, Governor Henry signed into law HB 1804.  Included in the bill are changes to the current law related to the eligibility of undocumented students for resident tuition and state financial aid.  The changes are quite complicated and our legal staff is still currently reviewing the bill to determine the specific implications of all the changes.  The changes appear to impact eligibility for financial aid to a much greater degree than eligibility for resident tuition.  If you have undocumented students attending your institution, you may want to have your legal staff (if you have them) review the bill closely.  You can find the text of the bill at http://www.sos.state.ok.us/documents/Legislation/51st/2007/1R/HB/1804.pdf .  Sections 11 and 13 relate to eligibility for resident tuition and financial aid.  Section 8 may also have implications for high school students enrolling in Oklahoma's Promise-OHLAP.  We'll try to provide more information on the bill in the future as the legal analysis progresses.


SB 820 (Oklahoma's Promise - OHLAP) - This is the bill in which significant amendments to the Oklahoma's Promise-OHLAP program were approved in the House of Representatives (text showing the House amendments: http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2007-08bills/HB/sb820_hasb.rtf).  Since then, the Senate has rejected the House amendments and the bill has now been assigned to a joint conference committee with both Senate and House members that will try to work out a final version of the bill.  Below are a recent newspaper article and an editorial related to the bill.


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Going to college may get tougher for Oklahoma's Promise students
By Tim Talley 
Associated Press 
May 7, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY - When he was a junior at Oklahoma State University, Joe Dorman's interest in student government and a campus honor society left him with "C", "D" and "F" grades and sent his grade point average of more than 3.0 spiraling downward.

Dorman, now a Democratic state representative from Rush Springs, says proposed changes to a tax-supported scholarship program that would require students to maintain a 2.5 GPA might mean that thousands of students like him would lose the opportunity to stay in school.

"I was a good student, but I had one bad semester by over-involving myself with extracurricular activities," said Dorman, who attended OSU on a state scholarship plan that preceded the popular Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program, also called Oklahoma's Promise.

"Being vice president of the Sophomore Honor Society got me a flunking grade," he said.

The GPA requirement is among several requirements the Oklahoma House tacked on to legislation that would create a permanent funding source for OHLAP scholarships, which will cost $48 million this year and about $60 million next year. About 17,800 students will go to a state college or university under the program next year.

Under OHLAP, Oklahoma high school students can get a tax-supported scholarship if they take a rigorous college curriculum, maintain a 2.5 GPA, stay out of trouble and their families earn less than $50,000 a year.

Amendments proposed by the Republican-controlled state House would require OHLAP recipients to maintain the 2.5 GPA in all but one "grace period" semester in college, meaning that OHLAP students would have to make at least half "B's" and half "C's" to keep their scholarship. Currently, there is no GPA requirement for OHLAP students.

Other changes include allowing home-schooled children to qualify for scholarships if they score at least 22 on the ACT test, require OHLAP students to stay out of trouble during their college years, restrict scholarships to U.S. citizens and legal aliens and require that family income remain below $50,000 throughout the student's college career.

The amendments have been rejected by the Senate and the bill is in a joint House-Senate conference committee to work out differences.

Their author, state Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, said they will bring accountability and an expectation of performance to OHLAP students.

"It's about not just writing a blank check," Terrill said. "We expect him to get a good education so he can give something back."

Oklahoma is below the national average in the number of college graduates as well as per capita personal income.

"Statistics show that there is a clear link between the level of educational achievement and the amount one earns over a lifetime," Terrill said.

But higher education officials said the GPA requirement will have a negative affect on the state's goal of increasing the number of Oklahomans with college degrees and could impact up to 30 percent of OHLAP students.

"We would have some concerns that it might be keeping some out of the program who ultimately might be successful," said Higher Education Chancellor Glen Johnson.

"It is important to provide opportunities for students to go to college. Anything that would not further our goal of more college graduates presents some concerns," Johnson said.

The state Board of Regents for Higher Education said a review of 10,500 award recipients enrolled in state colleges and universities in 2005-06 showed that 37 percent of freshmen had a GPA of less than 2.5. In addition, 24 percent of sophomores had a GPA less than 2.5, 13 percent of juniors and 7 percent of seniors.

The statistics reflect a trend in which the academic performance of many high school students drops when they enter the college environment.

"If students don't have the skills to balance their classes and activities that freshman year, they're set up for failure," Dorman said.

Statistics regarding Oklahoma college freshmen show their average college GPA at the end of their first semester of college was approximately a half-grade point lower than their high school GPA, regents said.

"They do drop," Johnson said. "And then the longer that they are in college, the grade point average improves."

Regents said a significant number of OHLAP students that make below a 2.5 GPA their first semester go on to graduate. Of the fall 2001 entering freshmen class, 44 percent of those with under a 2.5 first-semester GPA either completed degrees or were still enrolled five years later.

"Our overarching goal is to produce more graduates," Johnson said. But a review of large scholarship programs in other states with similar college GPA requirements show that most students lose the scholarship.

The Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship requires a 2.75 college GPA after 24 credit hours and a 3.0 college GPA after 48 credit hours. A recent report shows that 50 percent of the scholarship recipients lost the scholarship after one year and that nearly two-thirds lost the scholarship by the end of the second year.

In Georgia, the HOPE Scholarship requires a 3.0 college GPA. Studies indicate that about 50 percent of students lose the scholarship after their first 30 credit hours. At the end of 90 credit hours, the proportion of students retaining the scholarship may be less than one-third.

Studies also found that Georgia's GPA requirements reduced the probability of full-time enrollment, increased the probability of course withdrawal and reduced the number of math and science courses completed by freshmen students.

Terrill said he may propose postponing the effectiveness of the GPA requirement in Oklahoma until a student's sophomore year. Dorman said lawmakers should do all they can to assure the state has a well-educated work force.

"We've got to make sure these kids have the opportunity to succeed," Dorman said. "Taking away the opportunity for students to succeed in college is not going to get us there."


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Editorial in the Daily Oklahoman
Monday, May 7, 2007

Funding Promise: Scholarship Standards Shouldn't Change
 
The Oklahoman Editorial

Lawmakers are on the right track in trying to find a permanent funding source for the state's premier scholarship program. But they should be ashamed of themselves for connecting that change to proposals that would make it more difficult for students to keep scholarships.

Different versions of the bill have proposed requiring scholarship recipients to have either a 2.5 or 2.75 grade point average in their college courses. The bill also would allow the scholarship to be withdrawn if students violate a school's code of conduct or commits a crime. 

The latter isn't a bad idea but would be difficult to enforce. Schools have different conduct codes, and there's a lot to be said for second chances should scholarship recipients mess up. 

Our greatest concern is with attempts to increase the GPA requirements and to keep otherwise qualified illegal immigrants from the scholarships. Despite comments that lawmakers want to make sure students are working hard, this smacks of an attempt to cut the program's cost. It would. But the price our state and students would pay would also be great. 

Students already in the program wouldn't be affected. But estimates from higher education officials show about 25 percent to 30 percent of future participants could lose their scholarships if the proposed standards are approved. 

It's not unusual for students to perform more poorly in their freshman year and then buckle down in following years. We have no reason to believe taxpayer money is being wasted on students whose GPA may fall below 2.5, and worry that those from low-income families will be most affected. Program statistics already show that OHLAP students have better retention rates and graduate at a rate higher than their peers. 

Changing the program standards at this point would be a mistake. If lawmakers are worried about the program's cost, then that discussion needs to happen separate from the process to establish a permanent funding source and include a look at how students would be impacted.

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Bryce Fair 
Assoc. Vice Chancellor for Scholarships & Grants 
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education 
Phone:  (405) 225-9162 
Fax:  (405) 225-9230 
E-mail:  bfair at osrhe.edu 

Mailing Address: 
P.O. Box 108850 
Oklahoma City, OK  73101-8850 

Street Address: 
655 Research Parkway, Suite 200 
Oklahoma City, OK  73104