After days of deliberating, the Senate Education Committee voted today in favor of SB 1279, the governor’s Opportunity Scholarship expansion bill, which would both boost the state scholarship fund by $5 million to $15 million, and allow up to 20 percent, or $3 million, of the scholarship fund to be used for “adult completers” who are returning to finish their degrees. There was just one “no” vote against the bill, from Sen. Lori DenHartog, R-Meridian, who said she didn’t think the state should be offering any college scholarships at all.

“I have always been uncomfortable with the state being in a scholarship granting position,” she said. “I don’t think it’s the role of the state to be providing scholarships. I think we are better served by setting policy and affecting tuition rates for all students.”

Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, said, “We’ve heard about the needed workforce and we know about the low unemployment rates in this state. … I think anything we can do to increase the scholarships to help … economic development is a good thing.” He noted that the state Board of Education’s goal to have 60 percent of Idahoans have some kind of degree or certificate beyond high school was originally set for 2020, but now it’s been pushed back to 2025. Nonini noted that he served on the governor’s higher education task force, which recommended this bill as a move toward reaching that 60 percent goal.

Sen. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, noted that Otter has been proposing some form of the “adult completers” scholarship for several years. “Some of us have had some current concerns which haven’t completely gone away, one being that we still don’t have enough money in the scholarship programs to deal with all the students coming out of high school that would like to go to post-secondary education. … However, the state Board has made the point that in order to reach our 60 percent goal, we’re going to have to try to reach out to some of those students that are over 25 years of age.”

Thayn said he saw figures just yesterday showing that a significant percentage of bachelor’s degrees go to students ages 25-44. “So they’re already coming  back in some numbers,” he said.

Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb, D-Boise, said she thinks about the children who are inspired by seeing their parents or adult relatives go back to school and improve their lot in life. “I just think it’s a win-win for Idaho, so I’ll heartily support this bill,” she said.

SB 1279 still needs passage in the full Senate and House and the governor’s signature to become law.

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