Ceiling on scholarships leaves NWOSU students ‘scrambling’ for money
By CAITLIN HOFEN & DYLAN WHITELY, Senior Reporters
Since her first steps on campus, Emily Smith immersed herself in several activities offered by Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Her day typically starts around 5 a.m. as she prepares for morning weights and a workout. Later in the morning, singing in the choir and practicing her solo pieces dominate Smith’s schedule.
After a whirlwind of classes and track practice, Smith walks on the stage in Herod Hall for hours of musical rehearsal. She finally returns to her dorm room late at night to squeeze in some homework and get ready to do it all again the next day.
Like many students, Smith relies on scholarships and financial aid provided by Northwestern to help pay for her education – but she doesn’t receive the full amount of scholarship money she’s supposed to be awarded.
Based on collected data, nearly $3 million worth of internal scholarships and waivers were awarded to Northwestern students in the fall semester of 2021. This money consists of over 2,200 awards.
However, Northwestern puts a maximum monetary eligibility limit, or “cap,” on the amount of money from internal scholarships that a student can receive. After their freshmen year, continuing Northwestern students have a limit of $2,200 per year they can receive in internal scholarships.
HOW DOES THE CAP WORK?
The scholarship cap amount is based on the limited amount of resources Northwestern has at its disposal, said Dr. David Pecha, vice president for administration.
“The scholarship cap has been in place for years and years,” Pecha said. “Mainly, it’s driven by the available resource dollars to pay scholarship recipients.”
The scholarship cap is for internal scholarship waivers provided by Northwestern. Academic and participation scholarships such as band, choir, theater, cheer and other programs are included in the scholarship cap. Athletic scholarships controlled by the NCAA do not fall under the same restrictions. The out-of-state tuition waiver is not included in the cap.
“The high-participation students who have multiple awards or upper academic students are the ones more affected by the cap,” said Tara Hannaford, director of financial aid and scholarships.
Smith, a sophomore music education major, said the scholarship limit affects her everyday life.
“As of this year, I received an academic scholarship because I am a 4.0 student,” Smith said. “The addition of that scholarship broke through the $2,200 cap because I get a $2,000 scholarship for being in Singers [a university choir]. With the way it works out, I shouldn’t be participating in Singers because I can no longer receive the scholarship.”
As a result of the scholarship limit, Smith said she needed to find another way to pay for living in the dormitories on campus.
“I was scrambling last semester to figure out how to afford going to school here,” Smith said. “Luckily, I was able to get a position as a resident assistant this semester. This position covers my room and board expenses. Without that, I probably wouldn’t be able to afford to go to school here this semester.”
Smith said her interest in Northwestern was because of the financial opportunities she learned of when she was recruited.
“I didn’t realize all of the scholarships I received as a freshman wouldn’t carry over into the next years of me being here,” Smith said. “Other institutions I was being recruited by couldn’t offer me as much money my freshmen year, but assured me the money I would receive would increase every year. Here at Northwestern, it’s the opposite. You’re given so much money at the beginning, then the money decreases as you continue.”
TAX-FUNDED SCHOLARSHIPS
Incoming students are not limited to the number of internal scholarships they may receive because the Alva Incentive Program covers what it costs the university to provide those scholarships.
The Alva Incentive Program – a sales tax initiative passed by voters in the Alva community in 1999 – assists with tuition, university housing and other school-related expenses for first-time freshmen and transfer students attending the Alva campus on a full-time basis while maintaining an Alva address. But that money stops flowing to students after the first year.
Smith said she believes she would have chosen a different university had she known the extent of the scholarship cap.
“I came to Northwestern because of the scholarship opportunities and the ability to be involved in everything,” Smith said. “But if I would have known being so involved would have hurt me financially and taken money away by being in multiple things, then I would have gone somewhere else.”
Whether students rely on scholarships and grants or pay out-of-pocket, Northwestern has a limit on the amount of money it awards.
“We have a maximum cost of attendance for each year,” Hannaford said. “The awards, like band, can help build up to cover that cost. All awards total, like Pell Grants, Oklahoma’s Promise and scholarships, cannot be awarded over the cost of attendance. This is a Department of Education guideline.”
Allison Huffmaster is another Northwestern student trying to find ways to pay for her education because of a scholarship limit. The cap that affects her, however, is different.
Huffmaster receives a state-awarded scholarship that covers 16 hours of tuition. After her first year, the scholarship could only be applied as a tuition waiver, which cannot be used to cover fees.
The university applied Alva Incentive Tax money to pay the difference between the state-awarded scholarship and the cost of Huffmaster’s education during her freshman year. From her sophomore year on, the scholarship could only be used to pay for tuition, per state guidelines.
Under Northwestern policy, internal scholarships are considered tuition waivers. Guidelines from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education say that a percentage of Northwestern’s budget can be used for tuition waivers, which take the form of scholarships. First-time students can receive any participation scholarship because the Alva Incentive Tax funds them. Because the tax funds can only be used for first-time students, the participation scholarships can become tuition waivers for continuing students.
Because internal scholarships cannot cover her tuition, Huffmaster said she must depend on other means to cover the cost of fees.
“I have an external scholarship that barely makes a dent in the amount of money I owe,” Huffmaster said.
“I expected to have way more financial help from Northwestern before I started nursing school. I ended up applying for some more external scholarships, but I also have to pay out-of-pocket.”
FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS
For students who are eligible to use participation scholarships, the money comes from a variety of resources, including the Northwestern Foundation & Alumni Association.
“There are several funding sources for internal scholarships,” Pecha said. “Some of it could come from the Alva Incentive dollars for part of the awards. We certainly could use Foundation monies that have been raised and earned off of investments. The university also has a waiver program and some dollars we can put into our scholarship program.”
While the sources for internal scholarships vary, the way many students feel about being capped does not.
Like Smith, the scholarship cap also limited Northwestern senior Jeffery Cher-Aime because of his involvement on campus. He participated in band and choir during his first year at Northwestern, receiving about $2,000 in scholarships from each activity. After his first year, the cap went into place, cutting the amount he received from each program to roughly $450.
“It is one of the reasons I’m not doing choir this semester,” Cher-Aime said. “At the end of the day, it cost me more than it was covering.”
A native of the Bahamas, Cher-Aime said he would have considered going to a different school if he would have known about the cap.
“It was a shock to me, actually,” Cher-Aime said. “After I moved off campus, I received a bill I was not expecting. I went to look at it, and it was because of the cap. If I had known about the cap, I would have transferred after my first year here because I had to pay out-of-pocket to cover the rest.”
Cher-Aime said he has had to come up with other ways to pay for school, which has been a challenge.
“I’m an international student, so I am very limited in the jobs that I can get,” Cher-Aime said. “I have to rely on loans and what income I make from the limited jobs I can get to cover the rest of my fees.”
The frustrations expressed by students concerning the scholarship limit are mixed. Many have said they are confused by the limitations placed upon them.
“I think if people earn a scholarship, they should get it,” Huffmaster said. “If they need to cut back in scholarships, they should make the requirements to receive scholarships harder. If you are doing the work and participating, you should receive the scholarship that was promised. The university should stay true to its word.”
