(Lewiston). In response to increasingly difficult economic realities, the Idaho State Board of Education today voted to reduce the spring 2010 award for the Idaho Promise B Scholarship. The vote will reduce the spring award by $100, $250 to $150 for each student.
The projected shortfall came as a result a reduction in the annual appropriation from the 2009 Idaho Legislature combined with an increase in the number of eligible students and then a four percent (4%) mid-year holdback.
“It’s simple math,” said Board Vice President Richard Westerberg. “More students are coming to campus and we have fewer and fewer dollars available. This is an action none of us wants to take but we simply must balance our budgets. We know this vote impacts each student and it impacts the colleges and universities who match these scholarships. This is not anything any of us takes lightly.”
The Idaho Promise Scholarship was established in 2002 by the Idaho Legislature. The Idaho Promise Category B Scholarship is designed to encourage students to do well in school, graduate, and continue their education beyond secondary school in an Idaho college or university. To qualify, students must have a GPA of at least 3.0 or an ACT score of 20 or better and attend a participating Idaho college or university. They must be enrolled as a full time student and must be under the age of 22 prior to enrollment in the academic term of the award.
The Idaho Promise Scholarship Program was renamed the Robert R. Lee Promise Scholarship Program by the 2003 Legislature in honor of former Senator Robert Lee, a strong proponent of education in Idaho, who served four terms in the Idaho Senate from Rexburg, Madison County, then District 27.
This year, fiscal year 2010, some 8500 students are anticipated to receive the Idaho Promise B Scholarship, an increase of nearly 10% (ten percent).