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Arkansas Times
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Education officials say they’re not sure if a recent expansion of Arkansas’s state-funded scholarship programs will be enough to woo more students to pursue higher degrees.
“Finances are always the biggest barrier to students going ahead and accepting admittance,” said Denise Burford, an associate director of academic scholarships and financial aid at the University of Arkansas.
Under Arkansas ACCESS — a higher education bill whose acronym name stands for acceleration, common sense, cost eligibility, scholarships and standardization — the commonly awarded Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship will double its freshman award to $2,000.
Burford said a student’s first year of higher education is typically the hardest to plan financially, and the $2,000 award is also probably not enough to entice lax students to score a 19 on the ACT, an eligibility requirement for the Academic Challenge award.
An undergraduate student taking 30 hours and living in a dorm should expect to pay $31,430 a year, according to data from the University of Arkansas.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders introduced ACCESS in February, and signed it into law only a few weeks later. The bill was framed as a higher education package, and it ropes voter-approved scholarship changes and limitations to free speech under the same proposal. The law introduces various changes to state scholarships that represent an annual $22.6 million increase for student awards, starting this fall.
Burford predicted the increases would encourage more college-bound students to attend the in-state schools where these awards can be used. The updated amount to the Academic Challenge award could help “bridge the gap” for the cost of required on-campus housing for students who live farther than 70 miles from the Fayetteville school, she said.
But the state-funded scholarship dollars are only a small part of the funding puzzle. At the UA scholarship and financial aid office, Burford said students generally benefit from both merit-based and needs-based awards. While federal aid is a common supplement to a student’s payment strategy, Burford said most UA students piece together their funding with state scholarships, school-specific awards, external club recognition or internship grants.
Students who attend vocational-technical schools can now dip into the pot of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery’s awards, per a voter-approved constitutional amendment during the 2024 election. ACCESS codifies that approval and sets the annual trade student award at $3,000.
Alice Tran, dean of the Arkansas Welding Academy in Jacksonville, said the award is a “step in the right direction,” but the money is a drop in the bucket of the average $20,000 annual payment for the welding program.
Tran said she doesn’t expect to see her enrollment numbers spike with new students taking advantage of ACCESS dollars.
“The expense of trades is phenomenal,” Tran said. “It’s not like a traditional college where you put 80 [students] into a classroom, have a professor and you go. Welding seven hours a day, for example, it’s a lot of money to train. And you’ve got to have that — to burn a lot of metal to become good at welding.”
In an average year, Tran said her school trains a cohort of about 120 students, most of whom are fresh out of high school, left the traditional college setting or are professionals aiming to change careers.
“I hate the saying that college is not for everyone, because to me, that says you’re inferior if you’re going to a trade school. I don’t like that,” Tran said. “I don’t like the idea that trades are the, ‘Well, college didn’t work.’”
Of the students at the Arkansas Welding Academy, a vast majority will graduate and be working within two weeks of finishing the program, earning $2,000 a week, Tran said. Making money three years before their peers who chose traditional college, and working a job that won’t be overcome by advanced technology — specifically artificial intelligence — is critical, she said.
Tran said that while the $3,000 annual award is a good thing, it’s going to take more to establish Arkansas as a location companies will flock to. Having a well-trained workforce is the “root of growth” for the state, she said.
“We would love to have more manufacturing in Arkansas, but to do that it’s not just about telling [companies] they have tax advantages,” Tran said. “They’re not going to come if they do not have a well-trained workforce that’s in the area, and that’s where trades come in.”
At the Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas in Stuttgart, financial aid specialist Malcolm Worsham said the $3,000 available to students through the Workforce Challenge Scholarship could “potentially” increase enrollment.
The school offers a variety of programs, including a nursing track that provides students with hands-on learning experiences in a clinical setting, Worsham said.
The average cost of the nursing program is about $3,500 for in-state students, Worsham said, which means the increased state award could cover most of the certification and get students in the workforce faster than their peers who chose a traditional four-year degree.
The funding also gives rural Arkansans a chance to utilize their resources and “get to the door” when it comes to successful careers and their financial outcomes, Worsham said. Even in cases where the funding doesn’t fully cover the program’s cost, he said, “It’s definitely a start.”
Worsham said a robust health industry is a necessity to advance the population mentally, physically and spiritually from childhood to retirement age and beyond.
“We give students more real lifetime experiences [in] their professions,” he said. “[The training] equips them with invaluable skills to enhance better living here in Arkansas.”
Further south at McGehee High School in the Arkansas Delta, counselor LaQuinda Alexander said she provides students with all options for after their graduation, from four-year degrees to nursing certificates.
“I’m not the counselor that believes that every student needs to leave high school and go straight toward the pursuit of a bachelor’s degree,” said Alexander, who has spent 24 years in education and seven years as McGehee High School’s sole counselor. “I show my students the importance of technical programs, the role they play and the opportunity it could provide to them.”
Alexander said she encourages students to take core college classes while in high school through concurrent courses. She also said that if a student doesn’t have a plan after high school, it’s not a bad idea for them to consider vo-tech as a stepping stone.
Trades also provide job security in rural areas, like Desha County, where most people who work in those fields are retired or preparing to retire, Alexander said.
“I try to push them in those directions just because they can obtain something that will help them get a career, instead of just a job. And if they don’t like it, they can always try something different,” she said.
The maximum $3,000 award for the Workforce Challenge Scholarship and the $2,000 Academic Challenge Scholarship are generally positive, but Alexander said the former is still not enough to cover much of the costs, and the latter isn’t enough to convince a financially strapped student that college is affordable.
“I don’t think it’s making a large enough difference to have a student go from, ‘I can’t afford college,’ to ‘I can afford college,’” she said of the Academic Challenge award. “All of the fees, when you factor them in, it’s a lot of money.”
Ultimately, Alexander said funders aren’t realistic about what it takes for students to obtain a degree or technical certificate.
“I think all [scholarship] amounts, no matter how large or small, are beneficial. However, I do think there is a large discrepancy between available funding and the cost of education,” Alexander said. “The resources are getting smaller, but the cost is getting larger.”
For students in Desha County, where one in four people lives in poverty, Alexander said financial aid is crucial. Most students wouldn’t be able to attend college without financial aid, and it’s common for students to drop out of school because they can’t afford it.
In a time when critical voices are increasingly silenced, the Arkansas Times stands as a beacon of truth, tirelessly defending the fundamental rights and freedoms within our community. With Arkansas at the epicenter of a sweeping culture war affecting our libraries, schools, and public discourse, our mission to deliver unflinching journalism has never been more vital. We’re here to “slay dragons” and hold power accountable, but we can’t do it alone. By contributing today, you ensure that independent journalism not only survives but thrives in Arkansas. Together, we can make a difference — join the fight.
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