'Opportunity scholarship' on table

Furthering one’s education is a big commitment, requiring an investment of both time and money. For many students, state and federal grants help alleviate some of the financial concerns of tuition and the associated fees, but soon the state of New Mexico may be covering the full cost for residents.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday announced the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship, a “last dollar fund” that would cover the remaining cost of college tuition for eligible New Mexico residents after applying state and federal grants and scholarships.

If approved by the Legislature, New Mexico would be the second state to institute full tuition coverage, following New York, and the 21st state to fully fund two-year community college.

The Opportunity Scholarship would be available to an estimated 55,000 New Mexico residents and cost taxpayers anywhere from $25-$35 million a year.

The state has an excess of $100 million, thanks mainly to oil and gas revenue.

Eligible students will need to meet the same standards as the New Mexico Lottery Scholarship, such as maintaining a 2.5 grade-point average, and being enrolled full-time at 15 hours a week.

Unlike the Lottery Scholarship however, the Opportunity Scholarship will also be available to returning adult students, rather than just recent high school seniors and GED recipients.

“In the short term, we’ll see better enrollment, better student success,” Grisham stated in a news release. “In the long run, we’ll see improved economic growth, improved outcomes for New Mexican workers and families and parents, a better trained and better compensated workforce.”

New Mexico State Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, has concerns about the sustainability of such a program.

“It gets great headlines and all that, but nothing’s free,” Ingle said. “We’ve got to pay for it somehow and the oil and gas revenue that the state’s bringing in is what gives people these ideas.”

Ingle cited the volatility of the oil and gas market, saying he’s seen it rise and fall drastically in the past. While prices are currently high with the introduction of horizontal drilling techniques, there’s no telling where they might be in a year or longer.

“We need to be very careful about where we go with this,” Ingle said. “It’s easy to start these things, but really hard to stop them.”

Ingle drew comparisons to the Lottery Scholarship, which the state also subsidizes. He said the initial goal was the same, to fully fund tuition, but as universities raised prices over the years it now only covers about 60 percent of costs.

Eastern New Mexico University President Jeff Elwell accepted the news cautiously.

“The idea of free tuition and fees for all New Mexico high school graduates really affords a lot more access and takes a lot of the economic pressure off,” he said.

But he also cited concerns about the long-term sustainability of the program.

“It’s affordable because the economy is doing so well, but it has to remain sustainable,” Elwell said. “How it’s funded and the requirements for students to access it will really tell us more.”

Clovis Community College Interim President Robin Kuykendall said she expects the scholarship to help eliminate some of the obstacles for non-traditional students, as well as help two-year students make the transition to a four-year university.

“We have a lot of students here already with help from the Lottery Scholarship, but that’s mainly only available to traditional students coming right out of high school, not returning students,” Kuykendall said. “This scholarship broadens the options for both new students and returning students.”

ENMU’s student Senate is expected to discuss the issue this Tuesday before deciding whether or not to throw its support behind the legislation.