The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education on Thursday voted to cut funding in half for the 2018 Summer Academies and were told the program won't be offered at all in 2019 without an increase in state appropriations.
The regents approved $315,462 in grants to the colleges and universities that will offer 25 academies on 17 campuses to middle and high school students this summer. Course topics include forensics, robotics and ecology.
The 50 percent reduction in grant dollars means about 625 fewer students will be able to attend the free academies in science, math and multidisciplinary fields, said Matt Higdon, director of student preparation for the state's higher education system.
"Since 1990, the Summer Academies literally have touched the lives of thousands of Oklahomans," Higdon said.
The 2018 grants are the final ones in a three-year grant cycle. Without an increase in state appropriations for fiscal year 2019, there will be no funding for 2019 academies, Higdon said.
"It's a very negative consequence of the budget cuts," higher education Chancellor Glen Johnson said.
Since 1990, more than 17,000 Oklahoma students have attended the free academies, which are designed to heighten interest in math and science careers.
Oklahoma's Promise
Regents also received the annual report on the Oklahoma's Promise college access program.
High school students who enroll in the program are completing all the requirements to earn the college tuition scholarship at the highest rate ever, according to the report.
The completion rate reached 71.5 percent in 2017, which means about 400 more freshmen entered college last fall than in 2012 when the rate was about 65 percent, said Bryce Fair, associate vice chancellor for state grants and scholarships.
Fair said the increase is the most dramatic change in recent years among the many measurements of the program.
About 6,000 high school graduates completed the requirements each of the past three years and the number is expected to be the same for the class of 2018.
Beginning with the class 2020, the number is expected to rise as a result of an increase in family income limit, which makes more students eligible to enroll in the program, Fair said.
The Legislature last year increased the income limit from $50,000 to $55,000, and approved a second increase -- to $60,000 -- beginning with students who enroll in 2021-22.
Students enroll in the program in the eighth, ninth or 10th grade and must complete certain requirements during high school to receive the scholarship. The family income cannot exceed $100,000 when the student starts college.
Oklahoma's Promise is expected to pay college tuition for nearly 18,000 students in 2018-19 at an estimated cost of $76.8 million. That's up about $2.5 million from the current fiscal year. It does not pay for fees or other expenses.
Beginning next fall, the program no longer will cover tuition for remedial, zero-credit courses, which now account for about $1.5 million of the program cost, Fair said.
Another change allows students to use the scholarship to attend more CareerTech programs, he said. The number tripled from 50 students in fall 2016 to 150 in fall 2017.
Fair said Oklahoma's Promise recipients consistently outperform their peers. The report shows they have higher grade-point averages and ACT scores; more go to college and fewer need remediation; more earn a degree and are employed in Oklahoma after graduation.
System's future
Regents also accepted the final report of the state's 60-member task force on the future of higher education, which includes dozens of recommendations in key areas.
Chancellor Johnson said enacting the recommendations "will position our Oklahoma higher education system at the forefront and on the cutting edge of issues in higher education across the nation."
Many recommendations require action by the regents and some require action by the Legislature, which begins a new session Monday.
"Higher ed as a system is showing that we're not sitting back. We're proactively making recommendations that are going to provide opportunities that will be even greater for our students in the future," he said.
The Oklahoman. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.