Published: January 13, 2009 10:41 pm      

Panel says scholarship program works but favors rich, also recommends cap

PROMISE

CHARLESTON — Slightly more West Virginians have reached college since the state began its PROMISE scholarship more than six years ago, but efforts to control costs by toughening its academic hurdles have apparently come at the expense of lower-income students, a report released Tuesday said.

The findings recommend that the Legislature instead cap annual awards at $4,500, noting that the merit-based program has more than quadrupled its budget since 2002 to $42.3 million this year.

But the advisory committee that wrote the report found more harm than good with converting the scholarships into loans for recipients who then leave the state. Gov. Joe Manchin had proposed that change last year, then withdrew it to await the study’s results when lawmakers balked.

Among other points, the report notes that none of the 15 other states with such broad-based merit scholarships have such a requirement.

“We are aware of the report and appreciate the committee’s thorough and thoughtful work,” Manchin spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg said Tuesday.

The report also advises that PROMISE urge community service by its scholars. While outlining barriers to enforcing that, it suggests that recipients sign pledges that treat each scholarship as a “moral obligation” with a “payback” component.

“PROMISE scholars should be encouraged to submit an annual report on their service efforts similar to the report required of Truman Scholars,” the report said.

House Finance Chairman Harry Keith White said that while he had yet to read the report’s details, he expects the Legislature to address the scholarship’s rising costs.

“We can’t just continue to sit there while it increases,” said White, D-Mingo. “I just don’t think we can contribute additional general revenue dollars.”

PROMISE relies both on general and lottery revenues. White also said the rules should remain clear and consistent for future applicants.

The scholarships cover full tuition and fees at West Virginia’s public colleges and the equivalent amount at its private ones. That amount was around $4,100 during the last school year.

The study found that the state’s overall college-going rate has remained at least a percentage point above its 2002 level of 56.5 percent since PROMISE started.

But while the nation has seen a dip in the ranks of lower-income students attending college, the drop in West Virginia has been deeper, the report said. The state’s rate for those students peaked at 22.4 percent in 2003 before sliding to 19.2 percent last year.

The report blames the repeated ratcheting-up of the minimum required ACT test scores, now 22 for the composite result and 20 on all subscores. PROMISE also requires at least a 3.0 overall grade point average.

“An unintended consequence is that lower-income recipients become ineligible at a higher rate than their middle- or upper-income counterparts,” the report said.

The study found other signs of modest success: more high schoolers are taking advanced classes and college-entrance tests, and are doing better on the latter; more are staying in the state to attend college; and the overall work force appears better-educated.

West Virginia loses colleges graduates to other states at one of the worst rates in the country. But that loss rate slowed between 2004, when the first PROMISE scholars graduated, and 2007, the report said.