This is to inform people living in Kansas about an incredible opportunity to benefit from scholarship opportunities in Kansas open to them as citizens.
Honestly, scholarship/financial aid is one of the most reliable ways to empower both men and women to be able to attend college and pursue their dreams.
What is promise scholarship act?
The Kansas Promise Scholarship is a fully-funded award for eligible high school graduates to attend accredited post-secondary institutions in the state of Kansas. The Scholarship is available for up to 150 students per year. Currently, approximately 73% of students have received the Kansas Promise Scholarship and received an average award of $1383 per semester over the past two years.
The Kansas Promise Scholarship Act Program, or the lottery-funded scholarship, provides free community college tuition for eligible students. The scholarship will pay for up to three years of full-time enrollment and covers tuition only. It is applied directly to a student’s account after they enroll. Any remaining funds roll over to the next semester’s tuition.
Kansas Promise is a state-funded, dual credit scholarship program for eligible high school students and adults. This scholarship is funded by the Kansas Legislature and is provided by local community colleges and universities.
At the top of their classes, Future business leaders teachers, and servicemen are already benefiting from this not-so-well-known program. Students with a 3.0 or higher GPA and a 17 on the ACT or 900 on SAT will be eligible for KPSA. This would cut down on the financial aid that students would be receiving because it would count towards their scholarships. The tuition money could go towards books and living expenses instead of being used for student loans.
Successful candidates can be enrolled in any of the following programs;
- Information technology and security,
- Mental and physical health care,
- Advanced manufacturing and building trades, or
- Early childhood education and development
Kansas Promise Scholarship Act Requirement
For students to be eligible for a service scholarship, they must:
- Be a Kansas resident; AND
- Have graduated from a secondary school within the preceding 12 months or have attended a secondary school and obtained an equivalent credential within the preceding 12 months; OR
- Be 21 years of age or older and a Kansas resident for the preceding three consecutive years; OR
- Be a dependent child of a military servicemember permanently stationed in another state and who, within the preceding 12 months, graduated from any out-of-state secondary school or obtained a high school equivalency.
- Complete the required scholarship application;
- Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid;
- Enter into a Kansas promise scholarship agreement; and enroll in, and complete within 30 months of first being awarded a Kansas Promise scholarship, an eligible program at an eligible institution.
The bill permits students to enroll on a part-time or full-time basis, but students must maintain satisfactory academic progress toward completion of the promise-eligible program and complete the program within 30 months from the first award. Upon completion of the program, students must reside and work in Kansas for a minimum of two consecutive years or enroll in a Kansas institution of higher education and subsequently reside and work in Kansas for a minimum of two consecutive years.
Students satisfy the requirements of the scholarship agreement if they
- Satisfy all the requirements of the Kansas promise scholarship agreement;
- Commence service as a military servicemember after receiving the scholarship;
- Are determined by the Board of Regents to have “made the best possible effort to do so;” OR
- Are unable to satisfy the requirements due to disability or death of the recipient.
If any condition of the agreement is not met and the student is not found to otherwise have satisfied the requirements in accordance with the Kansas Promise Scholarship Act, the student must repay the scholarship plus accrued interest (at the federal PLUS program interest rate) within six months after failing to satisfy the agreement. Causes for repayment would include if a student changes enrollment to an in-eligible program. The bill allows for installment payments on the indebtedness, and the Board of Regents is authorized to transfer repayment accounts to a loan servicer or collections agency. Requirements may be postponed by the Board of Regents for “good cause.”
Promise Scholarship Act Accredited programs
Each Eligible Program must be in one of the four fields of study
- Information technology and security;
- Mental and physical healthcare;
- Advanced manufacturing and building trades;
- Early childhood education and development; OR
- One additional program designated by the institution and identified as Eligible by the Board of Regents, if the additional program is a two-year associate degree program or a CTE certificate or stand-alone program that corresponds to a high wage, high demand or critical need occupation.
See A Complete List Of Approved Programs By Institution
If an additional program is designated by an institution, the program must be kept in place for at least three years, at which time a new program may be selected, as long as it corresponds to a high wage, high demand, or critical need occupation.
Eligible schools for the Kansas Promise Scholarship Act
Eligible institutions must have at least one existing eligible program to be considered eligible and include:
- Public community colleges;
- Public technical colleges;
- Washburn Institute of Technology; and
- Private, not-for-profit institutions that offer eligible programs (this reportedly includes Donnelly College, Hesston College, and the University of Saint Mary).
Institutions will be charged with making individual awards to eligible students (including verification of students’ eligibility), entering into a Promise scholarship service agreement with each student awarded a scholarship, creating and maintaining student-level records as required by the Board of Regents to document satisfaction of the bill’s requirements; and
Institutions shall credit their Promise scholarship funds to the award recipients’ accounts to pay the appropriate amount of tuition, required fees, books, and required materials for the Program in which the student enrolls.
Types of Kansas Promise Act Scholarship
Within certain income guidelines, students may receive a scholarship in the amount of
- The aggregate amount of tuition, required fees, books, and required materials
- Less all other aid, grants, scholarships, or financial assistance awards that do not require repayment.
For eligible students attending a four-year eligible postsecondary institution, the scholarship award is limited to the average cost of what is charged by a two-year eligible public institution offering the same program.
Scholarships are to be prioritized according to applicants’ annual household income:
- $100,000 or less for a family of two;
- $150,000 or less for a family of three; and
- $150,000 + $4,800 per additional family member beyond three.
If funds remain after awarding eligible applicants, other students with greater household income may become eligible.
Responsibilities of the Kansas Board of Regents include
- Adopting rules and regulations by March 1, 2022;
- Identifying eligible programs;
- Developing institutional award amounts based on student credit hour production in eligible programs;
- Creating a statewide application form;
- Creating a statewide service scholarship agreement form;
- Developing grant agreements between the Board of Regents and the participating eligible institutions to clarify institutions’ responsibilities for marketing the scholarship to local community partners, providing for application denial appeals, and providing for repayment, and
- Evaluate the program each year in January.
The Kansas Board of Regents has received a $10 million appropriation for FY 2022 and FY 2023. Beginning in FY 2024, subsequent appropriations could not exceed 150% of the preceding year’s expenditures. For purposes of planning for the administration of this program, it is assumed that the entire appropriation is to be used for student awards. Marketing of the program and processing of individual student awards will be best accomplished with Board coordination and handled at the local level.
For more information, kindly visit the Kansas Promise Scholarship Act official website.