Latest news with #OpportunityScholarship
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Private schools reaping benefits of NC's voucher law expansion
Private schools in Chatham, Harnett, Lee and Moore counties benefited from an expansion of North Carolina's public voucher Opportunity Scholarship law. The expansion, which went into effect prior to the 2024-2025 school year, did away with a limit on how much a family makes in order to qualify for tuition vouchers from the state. Information about private schools' voucher funding was provided Thursday by Public Schools First NC, a non-profit organization committed to informing and educating North Carolinians about policies affecting public schools. In 2022-23, the largest cohort of voucher recipients in the state attended Grace Christian School in Sanford, garnering the school over $3 million. WUNC reports that after the income limit was removed, Grace Christian required for the first time that all students apply for the Opportunity Scholarships. Grace Christian saw a bump from $3.07 million to $5.13 million from the 2023-24 to 2024-2025 school years. That $2 million difference represents a 67% increase. Lee Christian School also saw a 67% increase, going from $1.1 million to $1.83 million in voucher funds for those two years. Calvary Education Center in Lemon Springs went from $114,932 to $272,020, a difference of 137%. Carolina Christian Academy declined 10% from $70,302 to $63,214. CHATHAM Thales Academy of Pittsboro went from $145,620 to $1.1 million, a whopping increase of 665%. Haw River Christian Academy, northwest of Pittsboro, jumped from $121,983 to $545,715, a difference of 347%. Jordan Lake School of the Arts, north of Wilsonville, increased 156% from $22,722 to $58,252. Holy Youth Christian Academy, which is in northern Chatham, south of Chapel Hill, saw a 9% increase, going from $399,616 to $433,884. HARNETT Cape Fear Christian Academy, northwest of Erwin, increased 94%, going from $751,152 to $1.46 million. Brookside Christian Academy in Dunn increased 69%, going from $691,187 to $1.16 million. Faith Education Academy, southwest of Dunn, went from $225,811 to $314,395, a difference of 39%. Miracle Tabernacle Academy, between Anderson Creek and Spring Lake, went from $379,840 to $426,580, a difference of 12%. MOORE O'Neal School in Southern Pines increased from $874,315 to $1.48 million, a difference of 381%. Episcopal Day School in Southern Pines increased 316%, going from $97,380 to $404,913. St. John Paul II Catholic School in Southern Pines increased 189%, going from $357,060 to $1.03 million. Covenant Preparatory School in Southern Pines went from $129,813 to $351,050, a difference of 170%. Father Vincent Capodanno High School, southwest of Vass, went from $100,626 to $216,198, a difference of 115%. Fellowship Christian Academy, southeast of Carthage, went from $384,803 to $803,408, a difference of 109%. ADVOCACY The nonprofit wants to raise public awareness about public funds being directed from public to private schools. In an email, Phillip J. Kirk, who served as chair of the N.C. State Board of Education from 1997-2003, said he supports school choice. 'Poor children deserve the opportunity to get a quality education when the traditional public schools fail them,' he said. 'Liberal policies are responsible for school choice growing in popularity. This growth will continue with strong Republican support.' The expansion eliminated the family income limit, which was $57,720 for a family of four in 2023-24. The voucher program started in the 2014-15 school year. Meanwhile, the Sanford Area Growth Alliance (SAGA) is raising funds for public school teachers, including pens, pencils, dry erase markers, notebooks, etc. The deadline to contribute is July 17, according to a June 25 email. For more information about that effort, email sgomez@ Data from Public Schools First NC shows the ethnic/racial breakdown of students served by the vouchers as follows: 63% white, 19% black and 11% Hispanic, among others. At least eight private schools raised their tuition to the exact amount of the full Opportunity Scholarship following the expansion, according to WUNC. In 2024-25, the voucher limit per student was $7,468.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico college enrollment increases for the second consecutive year
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico's college enrollment has grown for the second consecutive year, increasing 4.2% from spring 2024 to spring 2025, according to the New Mexico Higher Education Department. With over 5,000 students currently pursuing degrees and certifications at New Mexico's higher education institutions, the department attributes the rising trend to the state's tuition-free college programs, like the Opportunity and Lottery scholarships. According to the department's estimates, over 34,000 students are receiving financial assistance through the Opportunity Scholarship, and around 10,000 students are receiving the Lottery Scholarship this spring. 21 students honored for graduating from PNM's Power Pros program 'The Opportunity and Lottery scholarships are fulfilling their goal of empowering tens of thousands of New Mexicans to pursue a college education at no cost for tuition and create a more prosperous future for themselves and their families,' said Higher Education Secretary Stephanie M. Rodriguez. 'As we always say, there is no wrong door to higher education in New Mexico, and we are dedicated to supporting programs that broaden opportunities for our state.' To find out more about the Opportunity and Lottery scholarships, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico touts rising higher education enrollment
New Mexico Higher Education officials on May 27, 2025 reported the second year of growth for public college and university enrollment in the state. College enrollment in New Mexico had a 4.2% increase this spring compared with 2024, reflecting the second consecutive year of growth, the state Higher Education Department announced on Tuesday. HED says more than 5,000 additional students are attending higher education institutions across the state, growth officials attribute to the state's Opportunity and Lottery scholarships. According to the state, close to 30 two-year and four-year higher education institutions participate in the Opportunity Scholarship program, which covers fees and program costs for certificate and degree programs for New Mexico residents who plan to enroll in at least six credit hours at one of the state's public college or universities. The Legislature approved the Opportunity Scholarship, which Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham championed, in 2022. Eligible residents for the state's Lottery Scholarship must be enrolled full time in a New Mexico public college or university within 16 months of graduation and maintain a 2.5 grade point average. The state in 2021 restored the Lottery Scholarship to provide 100% of tuition, following reduced coverage implemented in 2016. Last year, the governor signed Senate Bill 159, which created a close to $1 billion trust fund and scholarship program fund for the state's tuition-free programs. According to NMHED, more than 34,000 students are receiving financial assistance through the Opportunity Scholarship and close to 10,000 students received Lottery scholarships during the spring semester. 'The Opportunity and Lottery scholarships are fulfilling their goal of empowering tens of thousands of New Mexicans to pursue a college education at no cost for tuition and create a more prosperous future for themselves and their families,' Higher Education Secretary Stephanie M. Rodriguez said in a statement. 'As we always say, there is no wrong door to higher education in New Mexico, and we are dedicated to supporting programs that broaden opportunities for our state.' In a recent interview with Source NM, Lujan Grisham cited the state's investment in both early childhood and higher education as accomplishments from her tenure as governor. 'No state in the nation has our cradle to career system,' she said.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC's expanded vouchers have a hidden cost. Public schools will feel it
Republican state lawmakers refuse to tell the truth about school vouchers. They claim that providing hundreds of millions of tax dollars to help families pay for private school tuition will not affect public school funding. But that's not what the experience in other states shows. A study supported by the Education Law Center in 2023 looked at seven states where voucher programs are well established – Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio and Wisconsin. It found that the portion of state gross domestic product allocated to funding public schools decreased. Yet Republican lawmakers say that won't happen in North Carolina, despite a massive expansion of the state's voucher program known as Opportunity Scholarship. The program now offers vouchers of varying amounts to all families of all incomes, even those with children already attending private school. Last year the legislature approved spending $463 million more on vouchers. By the 2032-33 fiscal year, the program is expected to cost $825 million annually. House Speaker Destin Hall says people concerned about funding of the state's public schools need not worry about the flood of cash going to private schools. In his March 12 response to Gov. Josh Stein's State of the State speech, Hall said, 'Expanding opportunity and supporting our teachers are not competing goals. They're two sides of the same coin. Empowering families and investing in our teachers builds a stronger, brighter future for all of North Carolina's children.' Hall and fellow Republican leaders want to have it both ways, or rather they want North Carolinians to think they can have it both ways – spend lots of taxpayer dollars on private school vouchers and still have plenty to support good public schools. This fits with another distortion that Republicans keep repeating – that the legislature has been generous in increasing teacher pay. Or, as Hall put it in his response, 'the Republican-led General Assembly has consistently invested and will continue to invest even more in meaningful teacher raises.' Let's unpack these claims, starting with the second, based on figures provided by the Public School Forum. In 2011, the year Republicans gained control of the legislature and have since held it, the average North Carolina public school teacher pay was $46,514. The average teacher pay in 2022-23 (the latest available hard figure) was $56,559. That's an increase, yes, but teachers still have lost ground to inflation. If average teacher pay had kept up with inflation since 2011, it would be $67,063 today. So much for 'meaningful teacher raises.' Remarkably, raising teacher pay, as inadequate as it has been, is the good news for schools under Republican rule. By the broader measure of school funding, North Carolina ranks 48th among states in per-pupil funding and 49th in funding effort. When it comes to vouchers, Republicans turn up the gaslighting. Remember that the Opportunity Scholarship program was introduced as a way to help low-income families move on from low-performing schools. Now it has morphed into a universal voucher system. Will that affect the funding for public schools? Republicans say no because the voucher money is not drawn from public school funds. That's true, but the surge in private school funding certainly dampens the appetite for public school funding increases, especially when Republicans want to keep cutting taxes. Days after Hall delivered his we-can-do-both message about vouchers and public school funding, Rep. Julie von Haefen, D-Wake, proposed a school funding bill that shows how dire the situation already is. Her bill, which she has proposed previously, calls for the legislature to provide full funding for public schools under the Leandro plan that Republican leaders have ignored. How far is the state behind in meeting the Leandro plan? As of now, von Haefen said, the state would need to spend $4.3 billion this year just to get back on track with the Leandro schedule. Meanwhile, Stein's budget asks the legislature to approve a $4 billion bond to make improvements to repair and replace deteriorating school buildings across the state. None of that spending will be approved by Republican lawmakers, of course. But somehow Republicans are asserting that spending hundreds of millions on school vouchers will not come at the expense of public schools. Von Haefen said the cost of vouchers will have an even more pronounced effect if the economy slows as projected. 'The huge expansion of these vouchers is going to affect our public schools because our revenues are down and they are going to be dropping every single year as the voucher spending is going up,' she said. 'So something has to break and to me that's just going to be that our public schools system is going to continue to suffer.' Vouchers will expand school choice, but they'll also expand the shameful gap between what public schools need and what the legislature provides. Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Colleges could tackle housing and food needs with money in proposed budget
Students walking at the University of New Mexico on Sept. 7, 2023. (Photo by Anna Padilla for Source New Mexico) Last year, University of New Mexico researchers, in partnership with the state Higher Education Department, surveyed nearly 10,000 students at colleges and universities across the state. More than half of students, they found, had struggled to access food, especially nutritious food, and stable housing within the prior year — referred to by the researchers as basic needs insecurity. Some students reported they'd thought about leaving school to get a second job. Others said they had a hard time focusing in class because of hunger or sometimes skipped class to pick up extra shifts. This story was originally published by New Mexico In Depth The state budget proposal includes $4.5 million for 'student retention initiatives' at public four-year institutions for the next fiscal year. It also includes $6.5 million for the following year and $9 million for the year after that for those initiatives. The budget doesn't specify that the funding be used to address students' basic needs, but schools could choose to use it for that purpose, according to Higher Education Deputy Secretary Patricia Trujillo. 'The funding goes to the institutions, and they would make the decision, but with the idea that with all the work that we've been doing in basic needs, they would see that as a critical need in retaining students,' Trujillo said in an interview last week. The agency is also advocating for the funding to be available to both four-year and two-year schools, she said. The statewide average retention rate, which measures how many students stay enrolled from year to year, for the 2021-2022 academic year was 59%, according to the agency. While the Opportunity Scholarship makes colleges and universities tuition-free for most residents, New Mexico needs to pay more attention to the 'true cost of college,' Trujillo said. 'Food is more expensive. Housing is more expensive. We're kind of in this up and down. Vehicles are going to be more expensive. Transportation is going to be more expensive,' she said. 'And so when we think about how we continue to support higher education, I think that as New Mexico moves forward, it's really about thinking about what constellation [of policies] are we building to guide New Mexicans to those college degrees?' Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham recommended $8 million over the next fiscal year for basic needs and other student retention efforts, nearly double what's currently in the budget. Her administration continues to push for that full amount, Trujillo said. At the same time, she added, appropriations are 'only part of the work.' Members of the Basic Needs Consortium, a group made up of the state's colleges and universities, spent time at the Roundhouse this session, Trujillo said, to raise awareness among lawmakers and talk about new ways to better support students. Editors note: This story was updated to clarify the word 'constellation' reflected that the speaker was talking about a 'constellation of policies,' which she stated earlier in the interview.
