Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/22/2010 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB224 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 224 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 224-POSTSECONDARY SCHOLARSHIPS
8:04:33 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER announced consideration of SB 224.
8:06:53 AM
JOMO STEWART, staff to Senator Meyer, recounted that the first
hearing on SB 224 was on February 3 and on the second on
February 15 when they adopted CSSB 224() 26-GS2771\E, but on
February 17 the committee received two proposed amendments to
the original bill. Recognizing that they now have essentially
three different versions of SB 224 before them, he said he
thought it would be a good idea to take a step back and go over
them before crafting a bill that best meets the needs of the
state.
He said at its core, the governor's performance scholarship
(GPS) is more of a student loan reduction program, which seeks
to bring college and vocational training within the reach of
more Alaskan students. The goals, which have remained constant
through all three iterations of the bill, are to increase high
school graduation rates in the state, improve academic
performance of students in grades kindergarten through twelve,
improve preparedness of Alaska students for postsecondary
education, improve the quality of educational programs offered
by high schools throughout the state, increase the scores of
high school students in state colleges and in their high school
examinations, increase job-training opportunities in the state,
improve postsecondary academic achievement and graduation rates
within the state, and expand the pool of high school students in
the state who can pursue postsecondary educational
opportunities.
MR. STEWART said the qualifications of the applicants have
remained fairly constant as well. Students must be Alaskan
residents, must have applied or intend to apply for admission to
an institution of higher learning and do so within six years of
graduating from high school, and have graduated or be in a
position to graduate within six months of making application.
Other minimum qualifications under the governor's bill are less
well defined and read "meets other minimum qualifications to
apply or continue to be eligible for the governor's performance
scholarship". The committee substitute (CS)v expanded upon those
minimum qualifications and added a requirement to maintain a
minimum GPA.
8:10:41 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said he met with several college students over
the weekend, and one thing that came out pretty clearly and did
not seem to have been addressed in the goals, is the need to
assist non-traditional students to graduate from college, which
goes back to the question he asked earlier about why they need a
six-year window. He said he asked the administration that
question and did not receive a good answer. He believed they
should encourage non-traditional students to graduate as well.
8:11:30 AM
MURRAY RICHMOND, aide to Senator Thomas, said the requirements
for the scholarship are all based on high school performance, so
non-traditional students who have been out of high school for
some time may not qualify for a number of reasons.
MR. STEWART said the governor's original proposal did address
this in section (B) under "Qualifications of Applicants,"
specifically on page 4, lines 27-30, which says:
...for the purposes of this subparagraph, allowable
circumstances include an Alaska resident high school
student having left the state because of the military
service of the student's Alaska resident custodial
parent.
Later in that paragraph on page 5, lines 3-4, it states:
...for purposes of this paragraph, standards for
extension of time must include time while the student
is in military service;
So the governor's original proposal did countenance a person who
might graduate, go into a branch of the service and thereby get
pushed past that six-year window. He said that during the most
recent conflicts, there were times when troops were not allowed
to rotate out and under that kind of scenario, even a person who
had gone in under a four-year enlistment and thought he would be
out of the military in time to activate his eligibility under
this scholarship, might be held in country beyond the six-year
window through no fault of his own.
8:14:00 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said he understood and appreciated that, but
that extension does not apply to military spouses who are
another important element of the population.
CO-CHAIR MEYER agreed that people might delay college for a lot
of valid reasons.
8:14:48 AM
MR. STEWART explained that the original proposal by the
administration provided for essentially two types of scholarship
tiered by grades: a performance scholarship and a career and
technical scholarship. The CS proposes a three-tiered system
with grades determining the level of the scholarship. The top
tier is the performance scholarship and requires a 3.5 grade
point average or higher; the opportunity scholarship begins at
2.5 GPA, and the career and technical scholarship injects a
needs-based component.
The governor's original proposal was a needs-based scholarship
but did not have an explicit needs-based component, which is to
say that any student who had achieved a high enough academic
standard would receive a scholarship. The governor's amendments,
though, injected a dedicated needs-based component that would
allow the state to take care of half the outstanding need of a
student after payment of the required $2000 family contribution.
MR. RICHMOND interjected that the academic requirements were
skewed towards four years of science and four years of math, and
while they didn't want to take anything away from the academic
rigor, they wanted to provide something for students who might
not be scientifically or mathematically oriented; so they added
two years of foreign language as an alternative, but high grades
would still be expected.
MR. STEWART added that the original basis for the governor's
proposal was the Taylor Plan to move kids toward an engineering
and science curriculum. The CS countenanced a broader palette of
curricula and students including those who might want to go into
other fields like business or political science.
8:19:03 AM
MR. RICHMOND directed the members' attention to two charts in
their packets titled "Governor's Proposed Amendment" and
"Governor's Proposed Amendment (with UA scholarship)" that
showed how a student with maximum financial need would fare
through this system.
8:20:07 AM
SENATOR DAVIS asked if the amount for the Pell Grants as shown
on the chart titled "Governor's Proposed Amendment" had been
updated, because she was under the impression that the maximum
amount was less than $5000.
MR. RICHMOND answered that he called the Federal Application for
Financial Student Aid (FAFSA) organization and was told this was
the amount that would be allowed next year.
CO-CHAIR MEYER questioned whether this figure was for the lowest
income level and, therefore, the highest award.
MR. RICHMOND answered that it was based on a student from a
household with an income of roughly $40,000, but other variables
affect that figure.
8:21:09 AM
He continued that the chart was broken down not only by academic
award level, but by the cost of attendance at each of the
University of Alaska campuses. Looking first at the "Governor's
Proposed Amendment" chart, he said column one illustrated the
calculation for a student attending UAA in 2010 to be $19,035.
This student would receive a maximum Pell Grant in the amount of
$5350 and assuming an A level would get a GPS scholarship of
$4755 for a total of $10,105 leaving $8930 in unmet need. The
student and his family would have to come up with at least $2000
through loans, work-study or in some other way, leaving $6930,
of which the state would pay half, or $3465.
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked if that was based on a 15-hour semester.
MR. RICHMOND answered yes.
8:23:19 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked about the difference in cost of attendance
between the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and the
University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF).
MR. RICHMOND explained that cost of attendance included tuition,
fees, books, and cost of living in the area including
transportation, personal care supplies and occasional meals out.
8:24:01 AM
Moving to the second chart, "Governor's Proposed Amendment (with
UA scholarship)", Mr. Richmond said, the same student with the
Alaska Scholars tuition waiver of $2750 would have total grants
of $12,855 and a remaining need of $6180, minus the required
$2000 family contribution, for a total of $4180 in eligible base
need. The state would pay 50 percent of that, so an Alaska
Scholar making A grades would have to come up with a total of
$4090 on his own.
8:26:08 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked if additional assistance could come from
the state loan program.
MR. RICHMOND replied that when a student fills out the FAFSA
form, he indicates which university he would like to attend.
That organization sends everything the student could apply for
in his state, which in Alaska might include a Stafford Loan or a
scholarship specific to a particular major. He said he was not
clear on whether this additional money would be counted against
the 50 percent or would be added to it.
8:27:54 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked where in the bill it delineates who the
first payer is and where the state fits into that queue.
MR. RICHMOND could not say where in the bill that could be
found, but said the state is always the last payer.
SENATOR HUGGINS asked if he had received any feedback on
sweeteners to induce people to go into particular career fields.
MR. RICHMOND answered that the heavy requirements for math and
science would naturally target engineers, mathematicians, and
scientists, but he was not aware of any particular sweeteners.
8:29:32 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS said they should talk about whether or not they
want this program to include a work force shortage discipline
component.
8:31:11 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS offered feedback from a constituent who asked if
the state had included some mechanism, perhaps a matching
component, to reward kids who have saved their own money toward
an education.
MR. RICHMOND said he was not aware if anything like that.
8:33:27 AM
LES MORSE, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Education and
Early Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska, said he thought the
side-by-side comparison of the administration's proposal and the
CS was clear and very helpful.
CO-CHAIR MEYER referred Mr. Morse to the charts on the
governor's amendments and asked if he could speak to the idea of
a sweetener for certain discipline shortages and to where other
scholarships fell in the financial hierarchy.
MR. MORSE said he could not speak to that.
MARCY HERMANN, Legislative Liaison, Department of Education and
Early Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska, answered that when she
filled out the FAFSA for her son, there were federal sweeteners
for teachers and for science and math-heavy students but she
could not speak to any others. She mentioned that she did know
of one other income-eligible grant, the Supplemental Education
Opportunity Grant (SEOG).
8:35:19 AM
SENATOR DAVIS said she would like Stephanie Butler to speak to
the various grants and scholarships.
SENATOR STEVENS said his main question to the department is how
they intend to reach the standards that are required in the
governor's bill.
8:35:59 AM
MR. MORSE responded that part of the idea of this bill was to
drive curriculum improvements. The administration was in the
process of analyzing districts' abilities and figuring out what
could be done to improve them.
8:37:01 AM
SENATOR STEVENS commented that he had frequently heard people
talk about online or video-conference classes as being the
silver bullet that will solve the problems Alaska faces in
offering a rigorous curriculum in the outlying areas, but he was
not sure how viable those options really were because distance
education takes a lot of self-discipline.
8:37:43 AM
MR. MORSE said he agreed that it required a lot of discipline,
and he didn't think it was a magic bullet, but it could fill
some of the need, especially if it was offered in a district
that already had distance education.
8:38:38 AM
SENATOR DAVIS asked Mr. Morse when the department would have
that analysis available.
MR. MORSE assured her that it would be available soon.
8:39:32 AM
SENATOR DAVIS asked Ms. Butler to give them a quick overview of
the grants available to students and the average amount of money
a student gets in grants in the state of Alaska. She also asked
for a breakdown by percentage of the grants, loans and personal
funds the average student uses to fund his education.
STEPHANIE BUTLER, Director, Operations and Outreach,
Postsecondary Education Commission, Juneau, Alaska, said she
could not provide accurate numbers off the top of her head. She
did say the types of grants available are the Pell Grant, which
is federal, the SEOG, which is federal money allocated to the
schools, and the Alaska Advantage State Grant, which is a very
small program, only about $650,000 statewide.
SENATOR DAVIS asked where Alaska ranks nationwide in terms of
needs-based educational grants.
MS. BUTLER replied that Alaska is lowest in the nation in terms
of needs-based grants.
8:41:43 AM
SENATOR DAVIS asked if they could have the breakdown by Friday.
MS. BUTLER said yes.
8:41:59 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked where these other grants and scholarships
fit in the financial hierarchy for calculating unmet need.
MS. BUTLER answered that one of the administration's goals was
to supplement not supplant the federal aid programs.
8:42:48 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked where private grants would fit in the
hierarchy.
MS. BUTLER said those would be considered before state aid
whenever possible.
8:43:27 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked where the National Guard's Tuition
Assistance fits in.
MS. BUTLER answered that she thought that kind of assistance
would be considered prior to state aid.
SENATOR HUGGINS noted that there is also a program for survivors
of military personnel killed in action and said there should be
language in the bill to address these other types of aid.
8:44:35 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER opened public testimony. He said the committee
would continue public testimony on Friday as well and into the
following week if necessary.
8:45:52 AM
TYLER PRESTON, Senate President, University of Alaska Southeast
(UAS), Juneau, Alaska, thanked the governor for his initiative
and said he supported the CS. In response to Senator Davis'
question, he said that Alaskan students' grant aid for 2007/08
was $38 per student compared to $466 per student in other
western states and $608 nationally. As a result, University of
Alaska (UA) students can anticipate about $25,000 loan debt as
compared to $17,000 in the other western states and $20,000
nationally.
As a student he said that he looks at the proposal for need-
based aid and he supported it vehemently. He said Alaska is the
lowest state in the nation for need-based aid and it has been
that way for 16 years. He said that supporting the University
supports the state's workforce; it gives the state an
opportunity to grow. At their event on Saturday, David Stone
said that 20 percent of Alaska's workforce is composed of out-
of-state workers. The state has a shortage of people in the
areas of health and engineering, and people who come in to work
in those fields do not tend to stay here to spend their money.
He emphasized that since 1999 the college participation among
low-income students dropped by about 2.3 percent.
8:48:43 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked Mr. Preston what his plans are.
MR. PRESTON said he was currently majoring in creative writing
in preparation for a Masters Degree in teaching. He is planning
on going to grad school here in the state and he hoped to teach
high school English.
SENATOR STEVENS asked him if he thought the GPS placed too much
emphasis on science and math and not enough on other fields.
MR. PRESTON said he found it troubling that there isn't an
emphasis on arts as well. Many incoming university students have
deficiencies in language arts and mathematics and need to take
remedial classes when they enter.
8:50:29 AM
PETER FINN, Speaker, Coalition of Student Leaders, University of
Alaska Anchorage, said he is majoring in economics and political
science. He said he supported the CS for SB 224 very strongly.
He said 68 percent of Alaskan students get education loans.
He related the story of he was raised by a single parent who had
to work; they lived fairly well until they moved to Alaska where
she became bedridden for about five years. He said they lost
their car and were forced to move from their home to low income
housing. Most importantly he went from being a very good student
to one who was failing and was repeatedly withdrawn from high
school. Luckily, he was able to test into the University of
Alaska Anchorage and able to receive the Pell Grant, which is
the reason he went to college. He wanted them to know this story
because right now a huge portion of the Alaska population won't
end up as lucky as he did coming from that background.
Currently, only 7.9 percent of Alaskan students from low-income
backgrounds are going to go to college. That is well below the
national average of 23.8 percent, he said, and is the reason he
favored the strong needs-based component in the proposed CS.
8:54:13 AM
SENATOR OLSON asked how many students he believed are good
students and strongly motivated but cannot attend college due to
financial hardship.
MR. FINN answered that he could not give him a number without
some research, but could say from his own experience that often
it is not a matter of how good a student a person is. In his
case, he said he had difficulty even getting to school. It was
also extremely difficult not having parental support and
guidance to help him learn the habits of a successful student.
Once he got out of that environment things changed, he said; his
GPA is over 3.0 and he plans to continue to graduate school.
SENATOR OLSON said as a student for many years, he looked at
money coming in as something positive, and it didn't occur to
him until later that he would have to pay those loans back. He
asked Mr. Finn what he thought about burdening future students
with paying back grants that the Legislature is proposing.
8:56:39 AM
MR. FINN responded he saw this program as an investment in
Alaska's economy. Some of the students may not succeed and that
is the risk. In the long run, society benefits by having
educated people. The state is already investing in education by
sending students through the K-12 system, which is where the
vast majority of education spending is directed, and if students
who have gone through that system show potential, it is
worthwhile to continue investing.
SENATOR OLSON asked him to justify that attitude with the
significant default rates on student loans.
MR. FINN asked what type of loans Senator Olson was referring
to.
SENATOR OLSON responded that he was thinking about the state's
revolving loan program.
MR. FINN said he still thought it was worth the risk, because
the state will be better off if more kids are educated.
8:58:49 AM
SENATOR DAVIS said that providing more scholarships and grants
is moving in the right direction, because if students have less
loan debt, there will be fewer defaults.
8:59:38 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked Mr. Finn if the University helped him
develop the successful habits and if so, how.
MR. FINN said he was hesitant to speak to the effectiveness of
the University in general, but the most beneficial thing they
did for him was provide financial aid advising. The idea of
paying the huge amount of money needed to attend school was
daunting, and they did help him there. They did not help him
prepare for the lifestyle change or to develop the positive
habits he mentioned, and he did very badly during his first
year.
9:02:04 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said it didn't sound as if there was much
counseling provided and he appreciated knowing that.
9:02:50 AM
AMBER WILKERSON, Eagle River, Alaska, said she is a public
relations student at UAA and believed that it was crucial to
adopt the CS. She said she had been struggling for seven years
to finish college not because she isn't a hard worker or because
she can't focus, but because she has to pay most of the cost of
attendance out of her own pocket. Even with the help of federal
aid, she has a huge gap to fill with her own money and has had
to work more and more hours to stay in school.
9:04:52 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked about the six-year window and the emphasis
on science and math.
MS. WILKERSON said she thought the six-year window should be
increased, because it is very difficult for many students to
graduate in four years due to the hours they have to work. She
said she approved of the emphasis on science and math.
9:07:01 AM
NICK MOE, Political Science major and student Government
Relations Director at University of Alaska Anchorage,
Anchorage, Alaska, said he supported the CS for SB 224. He
pointed out that the students who were there advocating for this
legislation are not the ones who would benefit from the bill,
but they know how much it would help others.
Tuition has increased for seven years in a row, he said, and all
the other costs associated with college attendance are
increasing as well. At the same time, it is getting harder to
get student loans due to increasingly stringent credit
requirements. He said that last semester he was denied the
Alaska Advantage loan, the same loan he had received for the
previous two years, which seemed ironic, because he had just
been pre-approved for a home loan of up to $100,000. In closing,
he thanked the committee for working on this legislation and
encouraged them to move forward with the committee substitute.
Speaking to Senator Huggins' comments about PFD savings, he said
that according to statistics found on the UA Scholars web site,
if a student saved all of his PFDs through age 18 and received a
UA Scholars award, that would cover less than half the cost of
attending college for four years, so there is still a great need
for a scholarship program like this.
9:10:37 AM
AMY VOSS, representing herself, Anchorage, Alaska, said she just
graduated from UAA with a major in German and international
studies, and she supported SB 224. The UA Scholars award was the
main reason she decided to attend school in Alaska, she said,
and the quality of the programs at UAA convinced her to stay and
pursue her Master of Arts in teaching. She believed that this
scholarship program would convince other talented students to
stay in Alaska.
She agreed with previous speakers that there is a great need for
financial assistance due to the rising costs of education. One
of her friends had been attending UAA for six years and had had
to work two to three jobs all of that time in order to pay for
college without going into debt. Juggling school and work made
it very difficult for her to keep up her grades. There is a
difficult balance to be reached between the time spent on
finishing school and on paying for it, she said. Pursuing a
college education should not automatically mean going into debt
for years.
9:13:08 AM
RYAN BUCHHOLDT, Speaker, UAA Assembly, University of Alaska
Anchorage, Anchorage, Alaska, said he supported the CS for SB
224. He said that Alaska has been dead last by a very large
margin throughout the 14-year data set used in the study cited
by Mr. Finn when he spoke about the number of low-income
students who pursue postsecondary education. He said he believed
the problem in low-income participation was tied directly to
Alaska's lack of needs-based grant programs.
He referred to a $7 million anonymous donation given to UAA last
year specifically to provide needs-based grants to first-
generation college students who are from single-mother or
minority families. During the first year about 400 of 1300
applications met the eligibility requirements and about 50
awards were given.
MR. BUCHHOLDT said that about 1 percent of UA tuition goes to
needs-based grants; that was about $832,000 during the academic
year of 2007-2008. He said Alaska is vastly under-serving those
students who need more money to go to college and who have to
put work above school in order to continue. He said that he
alternates between going to school full time and part time so he
is able to work.
He closed by saying that only 18.9 percent of Alaska's students
are categorized as having an estimated zero-family contribution
and many are disqualified from getting federal grants due to the
higher income level here, which is set off by Alaska's higher
cost of living, especially in rural areas. He emphasized that
the CS is a much more robust plan for needs-based students and
that he liked the fact that there is a path for career and
vocational students.
9:18:56 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked if he would comment on the six-year
window.
9:19:13 AM
MR. BUCHHOLDT replied that he graduated from Service High in
2003 and has been going to college off and on ever since due
primarily to cost, but even students who have enough money to
concentrate on their studies may find it difficult to get
through in four years, because the courses they need aren't
always available when they need them. He has had to change his
educational plan to accommodate that.
9:20:43 AM
CHARLES SUTTON, representing the graduating class of 2010,
Wasilla, Alaska, said he supported SB 224. He said he was
advised by his teacher to review his transcripts and make
changes to his high school classes as necessary so he would meet
or exceed the requirements in HB 297 and SB 224. Because he was
lacking in science and math credits, he doubled up on those
classes while also taking college-level courses at UAA and UAF.
He gave up a part time job offer, his hobbies and his elective
courses so he could dedicate his time and attention to meeting
the scholarship requirements. He said he is a needs-based
student, but has straight As and is willing to work hard for
this opportunity. As a graduate of the class of 2010, he urged
the committee to consider amending SB 224 to include his class
in the program, even if it means they will not receive any funds
until the July 1, 2011 start date.
9:23:23 AM
LESLIE SUTTON, parent of Charles Sutton, said she wanted to
testify regarding the transition provision in SB 224,
specifically page 13, lines 19-21. She expressed her feeling
that based on the governor's announcement of this bill in
October, graduates of the class of 2010 should be allowed to
apply. She assured the committee that the students do not expect
the state to lower the bar for them; they have worked very hard
to meet the academic requirements. They also realize that funds
will not be available until July 1, 2011 and consider it a small
price to pay for the knowledge that they can stay in Alaska and
continue their education. In closing she said that she believed
the budgeted funds should be able to handle the number of 2010
qualified graduates the first year, because of the lower number
of 2011 applicants who will be prepared to qualify during this
transition period.
9:25:17 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER thanked her for bringing for her comments and
assured her the committee would consider it. [SB 224 was held in
committee.]
9:26:32 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Co-Chair Meyer adjourned the meeting at 9:26 AM.
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