BREAKING THE PROMISE - Promise Scholarships To Get Caps?

(11/10/2005)

Will the promise be unbroken? Not likely. The fully-paid scholarships will likely become partial scholarships. Under pressure from House Finance Chairman Harold Michael, "WVs King of Pork," the Promise Scholarship Board voted 9-4 to cap the merit-based scholarships, with the issue to be voted on by the legislature. "The Legislature made a promise and shifted the burden to us to break the promise," said Promise board member John Shott. The legislator asked the Promise board to suggest ways to reduce the program's $39 million-a-year price tag. The cap is expected to be about $3,000 dollars. West Virginia University's tuition already is about $4,200. Marshall University students pay about $3,900 in tuition. Promise board members did reject raising college-entrance exam requirements. "We made a promise to these kids. I don't want to do a bait and switch at this point." said Robert Fluharty, a Promise board member and Charleston lawyer. Because a greater number of students qualified for the scholarship, the amount of money has exceeded the estimate, driven by increasing tuition costs. The scholarship was designed to keep students in West Virginia. Currently, 10,000 students receive the scholarship. "For you to bail out on this now, you're killing the low-income kids. You're killing the best and brightest," said John McClaugherty, who owns beBetter Networks, a Charleston-based education counseling firm.

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