Okla. House Republicans Vote to Deny Scholarships to Low-Income Students

(OKLAHOMA CITY – March 4) House Republicans voted to deny Oklahoma’s Promise, a need-based scholarship for low-income Oklahoma high school graduates, to students whose parents do not meet certain arbitrary income requirements.

House Bill 1721 by Rep. Leslie Osborn (R-Mustang) would exclude students whose parents make more than $60,000 by the time the student graduates from high school, leaving more Oklahoma students without a way to pay for their college educations. The bill passed 56-37.

Students must apply to Oklahoma’s Promise by the end of their 10th grade year, at which time their parents must not make more than $50,000 per year. By the time the student graduates, his or her parents must not make more than $100,000 per year. Osborn’s bill would disqualify students whose parents made less than $50,000 during or before their 10th grade year, but more than $60,000 during their 11th or 12th grade year.

“The Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program is a vital program for a lot of students in Oklahoma,” said Anna Langthorn, president of Young Democrats of Oklahoma. “If we don’t invest in the future workers of our state, how can we expect to develop a prosperous economy?”

Only 23 percent of Oklahomans over 25 have obtained bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the United States Census Bureau.

“This is yet another step taken by the legislature and it’s overwhelming Republican majority to default on our state’s most important investment–its students,” said Forrest Bennett, recent University of Oklahoma graduate and YDO parliamentarian.

House Democrats opposed the bill, saying that the best way to create jobs was not to cut the income tax, but rather fund education and educate the workforce.

“I would dare to say that this program could create many more jobs because we would have many more skilled workers,” said Rep. Emily Virgin (D-Norman).

During the 2010-2011 academic year, there were 20,064 recipients of Oklahoma’s Promise, according to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Between April 2009 and June 2010, approximately 93.7 percent of Oklahoma’s Promise graduates were employed, over two percent more than the overall number of Oklahoma college graduates employed during that same time.

For more information on how this legislation will be detrimental to the future of Oklahoma’s students, call the Young Democrats of Oklahoma at (405) 536-2421 or email info@ydoklahoma.com