Oregon Promise applicants will learn in August if they qualify under new income requirement

Thousands of students will learn next month whether they will receive Oregon Promise grants to help reduce the cost of tuition at community college this fall, but hundreds of applicants who would've qualified during the program's first year will receive some bad news.

The promise, a last-dollar scholarship program approved by lawmakers in 2015 to great acclaim nationally, is no longer available to any and all qualified Oregonians.

Oregon lawmakers approved $40 million in funding during the legislative session which wrapped up earlier this month. That cash ensured the program would continue for at least a second year. In 2015, the Legislature approved $10 million to pay for just one year of the program. But the $40 million to support a second class of incoming community college students wasn't enough to make the program available to all qualified applicants. Higher education officials said the state fell $8 million short.

So, in year two, students who indicate on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid they will receive larger contributions from family members will not qualify for the grant.

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission is still finalizing the specific income-requirements. Last month, higher education staffers told lawmakers that families earning more than $100,000 a year in adjusted gross income would likely be cut out of the program.

Juan Baez-Arevalo, interim director of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission Office of Student Access and Completion said in a statement that the state was "excited by the burgeoning student interest" in the program. "Even after we apply the income-related criteria, we expect this new investment will support four out of five of the eligible applicants for this coming fall," he said.

Students will receive an email in August saying whether they will receive a grant to attend school this fall.

Students who already attended one of Oregon's 17 community colleges last fall will not be affected by the new income requirements. More than 6,800 students participated in the first year.

More than 13,800 recent high school graduates and GED recipients submitted applications during year two.

Students must fill out a FAFSA and accept any and all scholarships and grants before receiving a promise grant. In the first year, about 53 percent of the grant recipients did not qualify for the federal low-income Pell Grant because their families made too much money. Seventy-five students from families of greater than $238,000 received promise grants last year.

Many students don't attend college completely free. Oregon's grant is based on the average community college tuition, or roughly $3,398 per year. If a student chooses to go to a more expensive school, or enrolls in more than 12 credits of classes, they could owe the difference.

Oregon lawmakers did make other changes to the program during the session to give more time for students to apply for the program, including if they have experienced a "significant hardship" or are new recruits in the National Guard.

The program previously was available only to students who had graduated or received a GED within the past six months.


-- Andrew Theen
atheen@oregonian.com
503-294-4026
@andrewtheen

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