By JANET CUNNINGHAM Northwestern Oklahoma State University President
The Northwestern News has brought forward the question of scholarship caps. This is a question that the Northwestern Oklahoma State University administration has been grappling with for years. The main issue, as it is with many things, is dollars and cents. The disinvestment by the State of Oklahoma in higher education, and the subsequent rise in tuition, have made it difficult for all institutions of higher education in Oklahoma to keep pace with their scholarship programs.
The highest state appropriation for NWOSU and all of higher education was in 2008. Since then, years of decreased appropriations and state budget shortfalls have made it necessary for institutions to raise tuition. In 2008, 55.1% of Northwestern’s budget was funded by the State of Oklahoma. In 2022, the percentage has decreased to 31.1%. In fiscal years 2016, 2017 and 2018 especially, budget reductions made many institutions vulnerable, which resulted in substantial layoffs and furloughs for employees.
Fortunately, NWOSU was able to navigate this period with minimal impact on faculty and students, though many staff positions were eliminated. However, because the budgets for the institution were static for several years, tuition waivers were not able to be increased, and scholarship caps remained the same.
The university implemented several policies to benefit students throughout these years. For example, the university collapsed several fee items into tuition costs. By doing so, the university ensured that awards such as Oklahoma’s Promise and Regional Baccalaureate Scholars, which are calculated on tuition amounts, yield the greatest benefit to students. Additionally, even though Oklahoma’s Promise is calculated on hours of tuition, Northwestern allows this cash award to pay for any university expense, including room, board and/or books. Several years ago, the university began moving all Foundation scholarship awards out of the cap, and any new Foundation scholarships from donors are also outside of the cap. As of last year, all Foundation scholarship awards are outside of the cap.
For 2021-22, a total of 39 students were impacted by a scholarship cap. While that is not a large number, each student who was impacted is important. Two groups seem to be impacted the most: first, those with two academic awards, such as continuing valedictorian or salutatorian and upper academic; and second, students in the Fine Arts Department who have several opportunities for participation. Discussions with the fine arts faculty began last spring to determine how best to use participation awards. With the addition of endowed funds earnings that will be available in the fall of 2022, plus additional university waivers, progress should be made on this group. One important thing to note is that scholarship caps are looked at each year to determine if they can be raised.
The Northwestern News article referenced students who were unaware of scholarship caps. The university’s website lists very clear information on continuing student scholarships and uses the phrase “maximum monetary eligibility (cap)” and encourages students to contact the Financial Aid Office. The Financial Aid Office is the best source of information for scholarship questions. The contact information is tlhannaford@nwosu.edu, 580-327-8540.
Northwestern’s scholarship program is excellent when compared with other institutions across the state.
• Most institutions have the majority of scholarship dollars in the freshman year. NWOSU is fortunate to have a great freshman year scholarship program because of the city of Alva incentive dollars. By agreement, those resources can only be used for freshman and/or transfer students for one year if they live in Alva. The Alva incentive funds free up scholarship dollars that can be used for continuing students after the freshman year.
• Donors to the Northwestern Foundation have been extremely generous in endowing scholarships. While these endowed funds benefit students across the campus, the Fine Arts Department has the most Foundation funds available for its students. Even so, the unique Northwestern co-curricular experience that offers opportunities for a culturally rich student life through participation in multiple activities puts strains on these resources. The university continues to seek ways to maximize existing and new endowed funds to relieve this strain.
• Eighty percent of Northwestern students receive some type of scholarship award. The variety and availability of awards has been preserved through the university’s commitment to retain a merit-based model for scholarship awards even as other schools have moved to need-based only scholarships.
The goal of Northwestern Oklahoma State University is to graduate the highest number of students with a high-quality education, while simultaneously maximizing the limited financial resources available. The ultimate proof of our success is that 53% of our students graduate with no student debt, while the national average of this measure is 35%. This means that almost one-third more of our students leave Northwestern debt-free than what occurs across the rest of the United States. Additionally, for those who acquire debt, Northwestern’s average student debt load has remained, for many years, less than 50% of the national average. Our scholarship program is an integral part of allowing our students to graduate unencumbered by stifling student debt so they can positively change their part of our world.