Latest news with #OpportunityScholarship
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico college enrollment increases for the second consecutive year
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico's college enrollment has grown for the second consecutive year, increasing 4.2% from spring 2024 to spring 2025, according to the New Mexico Higher Education Department. With over 5,000 students currently pursuing degrees and certifications at New Mexico's higher education institutions, the department attributes the rising trend to the state's tuition-free college programs, like the Opportunity and Lottery scholarships. According to the department's estimates, over 34,000 students are receiving financial assistance through the Opportunity Scholarship, and around 10,000 students are receiving the Lottery Scholarship this spring. 21 students honored for graduating from PNM's Power Pros program 'The Opportunity and Lottery scholarships are fulfilling their goal of empowering tens of thousands of New Mexicans to pursue a college education at no cost for tuition and create a more prosperous future for themselves and their families,' said Higher Education Secretary Stephanie M. Rodriguez. 'As we always say, there is no wrong door to higher education in New Mexico, and we are dedicated to supporting programs that broaden opportunities for our state.' To find out more about the Opportunity and Lottery scholarships, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico touts rising higher education enrollment
New Mexico Higher Education officials on May 27, 2025 reported the second year of growth for public college and university enrollment in the state. College enrollment in New Mexico had a 4.2% increase this spring compared with 2024, reflecting the second consecutive year of growth, the state Higher Education Department announced on Tuesday. HED says more than 5,000 additional students are attending higher education institutions across the state, growth officials attribute to the state's Opportunity and Lottery scholarships. According to the state, close to 30 two-year and four-year higher education institutions participate in the Opportunity Scholarship program, which covers fees and program costs for certificate and degree programs for New Mexico residents who plan to enroll in at least six credit hours at one of the state's public college or universities. The Legislature approved the Opportunity Scholarship, which Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham championed, in 2022. Eligible residents for the state's Lottery Scholarship must be enrolled full time in a New Mexico public college or university within 16 months of graduation and maintain a 2.5 grade point average. The state in 2021 restored the Lottery Scholarship to provide 100% of tuition, following reduced coverage implemented in 2016. Last year, the governor signed Senate Bill 159, which created a close to $1 billion trust fund and scholarship program fund for the state's tuition-free programs. According to NMHED, more than 34,000 students are receiving financial assistance through the Opportunity Scholarship and close to 10,000 students received Lottery scholarships during the spring semester. 'The Opportunity and Lottery scholarships are fulfilling their goal of empowering tens of thousands of New Mexicans to pursue a college education at no cost for tuition and create a more prosperous future for themselves and their families,' Higher Education Secretary Stephanie M. Rodriguez said in a statement. 'As we always say, there is no wrong door to higher education in New Mexico, and we are dedicated to supporting programs that broaden opportunities for our state.' In a recent interview with Source NM, Lujan Grisham cited the state's investment in both early childhood and higher education as accomplishments from her tenure as governor. 'No state in the nation has our cradle to career system,' she said.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC's expanded vouchers have a hidden cost. Public schools will feel it
Republican state lawmakers refuse to tell the truth about school vouchers. They claim that providing hundreds of millions of tax dollars to help families pay for private school tuition will not affect public school funding. But that's not what the experience in other states shows. A study supported by the Education Law Center in 2023 looked at seven states where voucher programs are well established – Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio and Wisconsin. It found that the portion of state gross domestic product allocated to funding public schools decreased. Yet Republican lawmakers say that won't happen in North Carolina, despite a massive expansion of the state's voucher program known as Opportunity Scholarship. The program now offers vouchers of varying amounts to all families of all incomes, even those with children already attending private school. Last year the legislature approved spending $463 million more on vouchers. By the 2032-33 fiscal year, the program is expected to cost $825 million annually. House Speaker Destin Hall says people concerned about funding of the state's public schools need not worry about the flood of cash going to private schools. In his March 12 response to Gov. Josh Stein's State of the State speech, Hall said, 'Expanding opportunity and supporting our teachers are not competing goals. They're two sides of the same coin. Empowering families and investing in our teachers builds a stronger, brighter future for all of North Carolina's children.' Hall and fellow Republican leaders want to have it both ways, or rather they want North Carolinians to think they can have it both ways – spend lots of taxpayer dollars on private school vouchers and still have plenty to support good public schools. This fits with another distortion that Republicans keep repeating – that the legislature has been generous in increasing teacher pay. Or, as Hall put it in his response, 'the Republican-led General Assembly has consistently invested and will continue to invest even more in meaningful teacher raises.' Let's unpack these claims, starting with the second, based on figures provided by the Public School Forum. In 2011, the year Republicans gained control of the legislature and have since held it, the average North Carolina public school teacher pay was $46,514. The average teacher pay in 2022-23 (the latest available hard figure) was $56,559. That's an increase, yes, but teachers still have lost ground to inflation. If average teacher pay had kept up with inflation since 2011, it would be $67,063 today. So much for 'meaningful teacher raises.' Remarkably, raising teacher pay, as inadequate as it has been, is the good news for schools under Republican rule. By the broader measure of school funding, North Carolina ranks 48th among states in per-pupil funding and 49th in funding effort. When it comes to vouchers, Republicans turn up the gaslighting. Remember that the Opportunity Scholarship program was introduced as a way to help low-income families move on from low-performing schools. Now it has morphed into a universal voucher system. Will that affect the funding for public schools? Republicans say no because the voucher money is not drawn from public school funds. That's true, but the surge in private school funding certainly dampens the appetite for public school funding increases, especially when Republicans want to keep cutting taxes. Days after Hall delivered his we-can-do-both message about vouchers and public school funding, Rep. Julie von Haefen, D-Wake, proposed a school funding bill that shows how dire the situation already is. Her bill, which she has proposed previously, calls for the legislature to provide full funding for public schools under the Leandro plan that Republican leaders have ignored. How far is the state behind in meeting the Leandro plan? As of now, von Haefen said, the state would need to spend $4.3 billion this year just to get back on track with the Leandro schedule. Meanwhile, Stein's budget asks the legislature to approve a $4 billion bond to make improvements to repair and replace deteriorating school buildings across the state. None of that spending will be approved by Republican lawmakers, of course. But somehow Republicans are asserting that spending hundreds of millions on school vouchers will not come at the expense of public schools. Von Haefen said the cost of vouchers will have an even more pronounced effect if the economy slows as projected. 'The huge expansion of these vouchers is going to affect our public schools because our revenues are down and they are going to be dropping every single year as the voucher spending is going up,' she said. 'So something has to break and to me that's just going to be that our public schools system is going to continue to suffer.' Vouchers will expand school choice, but they'll also expand the shameful gap between what public schools need and what the legislature provides. Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Colleges could tackle housing and food needs with money in proposed budget
Students walking at the University of New Mexico on Sept. 7, 2023. (Photo by Anna Padilla for Source New Mexico) Last year, University of New Mexico researchers, in partnership with the state Higher Education Department, surveyed nearly 10,000 students at colleges and universities across the state. More than half of students, they found, had struggled to access food, especially nutritious food, and stable housing within the prior year — referred to by the researchers as basic needs insecurity. Some students reported they'd thought about leaving school to get a second job. Others said they had a hard time focusing in class because of hunger or sometimes skipped class to pick up extra shifts. This story was originally published by New Mexico In Depth The state budget proposal includes $4.5 million for 'student retention initiatives' at public four-year institutions for the next fiscal year. It also includes $6.5 million for the following year and $9 million for the year after that for those initiatives. The budget doesn't specify that the funding be used to address students' basic needs, but schools could choose to use it for that purpose, according to Higher Education Deputy Secretary Patricia Trujillo. 'The funding goes to the institutions, and they would make the decision, but with the idea that with all the work that we've been doing in basic needs, they would see that as a critical need in retaining students,' Trujillo said in an interview last week. The agency is also advocating for the funding to be available to both four-year and two-year schools, she said. The statewide average retention rate, which measures how many students stay enrolled from year to year, for the 2021-2022 academic year was 59%, according to the agency. While the Opportunity Scholarship makes colleges and universities tuition-free for most residents, New Mexico needs to pay more attention to the 'true cost of college,' Trujillo said. 'Food is more expensive. Housing is more expensive. We're kind of in this up and down. Vehicles are going to be more expensive. Transportation is going to be more expensive,' she said. 'And so when we think about how we continue to support higher education, I think that as New Mexico moves forward, it's really about thinking about what constellation [of policies] are we building to guide New Mexicans to those college degrees?' Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham recommended $8 million over the next fiscal year for basic needs and other student retention efforts, nearly double what's currently in the budget. Her administration continues to push for that full amount, Trujillo said. At the same time, she added, appropriations are 'only part of the work.' Members of the Basic Needs Consortium, a group made up of the state's colleges and universities, spent time at the Roundhouse this session, Trujillo said, to raise awareness among lawmakers and talk about new ways to better support students. Editors note: This story was updated to clarify the word 'constellation' reflected that the speaker was talking about a 'constellation of policies,' which she stated earlier in the interview.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NC private school vouchers more than double after lawmakers remove income limits
RALEIGH, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – New data from North Carolina education officials shows Opportunity Scholarship applications surged after state lawmakers removed income caps and are likely to hit new highs for the upcoming school year. Applications hit a record high for the 2024-25 school year. The program more than doubled after the elimination of income limits, going from 32,549 to 79,775 recipients in a single year. Critics of the grants argue the lack of income caps allows for wealthy families to benefit from a program designed for students from lower-income households. According to data from the State Education Assistance Authority, 42% of recipients fall into the top two tiers of earners. Families with higher household income levels were previously ineligible for the scholarship. Families who earn less than $57,720 annually fall into Tier 1. Tier 2 includes those who make between $57,720 and $115,440 each year. Households with annual earnings between $115,440 and $259,750. Tier 4 includes people who make more than $259,750. In Mecklenburg County, 52% of Opportunity Scholarships for the '24-25 school year fall into Tiers 3 and 4. Households can receive $3,458 to $7,686 yearly to offset the cost of private school tuition, depending on family income. Families can use the money for tuition, books, transportation fees, and equipment or other items the school requires students to have. The North Carolina State Board of Education voted 9-2 in February to request a moratorium on new funding for Opportunity Scholarships. They request lawmakers reinvest the funds into traditional public schools. Education experts anticipate another surge in applicants for the upcoming year as White House Administrators continue to promote school choice options. Opportunity Scholarships began in North Carolina in 2014. The bill which established the grants stated it aims to 'reduce the socioeconomic achievement gap.' Critics say the award notifications go out to families beginning April 1. The priority application period is Feb. 6 through March 6, but families can still apply. Those who submit an application after March 6 will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis with funds remaining after priority and renewal applications. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
