[Oasfaa] Committee action on Oklahoma's Promise bills

[Fair, Bryce]

Yesterday, the House Appropriations and Budget Committee passed two bills related to the Oklahoma's Promise program HB 3591 (20 yes, 6 no) and HB 3592 (18 yes, 7 no).  These two bills have the potential to make significant changes to the program.  The current language in the bills does not fully reflect the discussion of the intent of the bills.  Below is a little more information on each bill based on our discussions with the staff of the House Speaker.


House Bill 3591 (Speaker Charles McCall) Requires all other grants and scholarships be exhausted prior to the Oklahoma's Promise award being administered.

UPDATE: Passed the House Appropriations and Budget Committee; 2/26/18.



HB 3591 would change the Oklahoma's Promise award to a "last dollar" scholarship that could be used only toward the cost of tuition and fees (and possibly books) after applying all the other grant/scholarship aid the student receives toward these costs.  Currently, the Oklahoma's Promise award is subject to the overall limit of the student's Cost of Attendance as defined by federal law/policy (tuition, fees, books, room & board, transportation) and the OKPromise award must be reduced or eliminated if the student's total aid exceeds their Cost of Attendance.  Following is an example of how the OKPromise award could be effected by HB 3591.



2017-18 estimated average cost of tuition, fees & books for a public regional university     $8,500



Estimated average Pell Grant (about 70% of OKPromise students receive Pell)               $4,400

Other institutional/private scholarships/grants/tuition waiver                                             $1,500

Estimated Oklahoma's Promise Award                                                                                 $4,500

Total Aid to be counted toward tuition, fee & book costs                                                    $10,400



Amount that the total grant/scholarship aid exceeds tuition, fee & book costs                   $1,900

Amount OKPromise Award would be reduced to fit tuition, fee & book costs                   -$1,900  or about -42%



We did an analysis of 2015-16 OKPromise students attending state system colleges and universities and found that overall, if this requirement had been in place in 2015-16, the average OKPromise award would have been reduced by about 30% (some students would lose all of their OKPromise award).  The average impact was greater at the regional universities (-33%) and the research universities (-44%).



The bill could also complicate institutional "last dollar" scholarship programs that apply toward tuition or tuition/fees (Tulsa Community College - Tulsa Achieves; Oklahoma City Community College - OKCGo; Rose State College - Ticket to Rose) by requiring that the institution apply it's scholarship before the OKPromise scholarship is applied.



We recommend that you try to examine how this type of awarding requirement would impact OKPromise students on your campus.





House Bill 3592 (Speaker Charles McCall) If a student withdraws from a class in which he or she has received an award from the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program, the awarded funds shall remain available for the student to use to enroll in classes for a five-year period.

UPDATE: Passed the House Appropriations and Budget Committee.



In discussions with the Speaker's staff, the primary concern for this bill was related to refund policies for OKPromise awards when the student withdraws from a course(s).  The staff expressed potential interest in applying a policy to OKPromise awards that is similar to the federal policy for the Return of Title IV Funds.  We recommend that you consider how such a policy would impact your OKPromise students.

Let me know if you have any questions.
Bryce

Bryce Fair
Associate Vice Chancellor for Scholarships & Grants
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
P.O. Box 108850
Oklahoma City, OK 73101-8850
Phone: 405-225-9162
Email: bfair at osrhe.edu<mailto:bfair at osrhe.edu>
Fax:  405-225-9230

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