Monday, February 24, 2025
SMITHFIELD — The JoCo Commissioners Promise at Johnston Community College is a last-dollar scholarship program.
What that means is if other financial aid falls short of covering tuition and fees, county tax dollars will cover the difference.
But what if a student needs no financial aid to attend JCC? “Is there any income level that disqualifies a student (from receiving a Promise scholarship)?” County Commissioner Ted Godwin asked JCC President Vern Lindquist on Feb. 16.
“There is not,” Lindquist said.
“Should there be?” Godwin asked.
Lindquist said he didn’t think so. “Because frankly, the program, for the number of students that it’s serving, is really not very expensive,” he said.
At their meeting last week, commissioners gave JCC another $372,000 for the scholarship program, bringing total funding for the current budget year to more than $800,000.
Lindquist said too that the program was designed in part to keep Johnston residents in the county for community college. “I think you really do want to encourage local students to go to college locally,” he said. “The more students who do that, the more students who will end up staying in the county and end up working in the county.”
Godwin was skeptical. “Just seems to me that if someone was making way more than the average family income, maybe the money ought to be reserved for those who are not,” he said.
Commissioners Chairman Butch Lawter said Godwin had a point. “There should be some real financial need,” he suggested.
Godwin said he didn’t want to throw a wrench in the machinery. “But I’ve had young people meet in the grocery store where they working part-time and say, ‘I really appreciate that program,’ ” he said. “But if the parents are independently wealthy, I don’t know why they should be going to school on the taxpayers’ dime.”
“I think that’s a fair concern as we’re seeing the numbers grow,” Lawter said, noting that total county finding had grown substantially from the initial outlay of $250,000.
Commissioner April Stephens said she was OK with some curbs on the scholarship program but didn’t want to discourage Johnston residents from attending JCC. “Because I do feel there are some great kids who come through this program who have every intention of staying in Johnston,” she said. “And it shouldn’t be a detriment to them just because their parents can pay for college.”
Lindquist added that parents of JCC students who plan to transfer to a four-year school appreciate the money the Commissioners Promise saves them. “Though their parents could easily afford Johnston Community College tuition, they’re looking at the whole picture,” he said. “You are giving them back some of their tax dollars in a way that is especially meaningful at a time that is especially difficult for families.”
Commissioners passed JCC’s latest funding request without dissent.
Enter your e-mail address below and select which topics you would like to receive!
Our Hometown DMCA Notices
Newspaper website content management software and services
