Senate could renew scholarships

A provision in the Senate’s 2005 budget would continue a tuition grant created last year that offers the graduates of the N.C. School of Science and Math free tuition at any UNC-system school.

Sen. A.B. Swindell, D-Nash, co-chairman of the Senate’s higher education appropriations subcommittee, said the program helps further develop North Carolina’s science and math research.

He was one sponsor of the provision in the Senate’s 2005 budget.

“Anything we can do to encourage folks,” Swindell said, noting that NCSSM produces the state’s “best and brightest” students.

But the House budget bill, expected to be released in early June, might be influenced by a January report completed by the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy that criticized the grants.

“The premise behind giving this tuition wavier is completely unjustifiable,” said George Leef, director of the center.

Leef said the grant’s purpose was to keep NCSSM graduates contributing to the state’s economy and developing the region’s math and science research — a goal he said will not be accomplished by free tuition.

“It’s hard to believe this can have any real impact,” Leef said.

UNC-system graduates do not always stay in the state once they earn degrees, Leef added.

“It’s most unlikely the state will keep its hold on any of them.”

The tuition grant could make it harder for the state’s private schools to compete when the public schools offer free tuition, Leef said.

Many NCSSM graduates paid to attend a UNC-system school before, but now graduates get a free ride, he said.

“It’s folly to give students free tuition who went to a special school,” Leaf said.

But legislators and advocates of NCSSM disagree.

The report failed to mention that the tuition grant is a merit accomplishment, said Craig Rowe, director of communications for NCSSM.

“They did not really get all the facts out there,” Rowe said.

In an average year before the scholarship was created, 65 percent of NCSSM graduates paid to attend a UNC-system school.

In 2004, 80 percent of NCSSM graduates attended a UNC-system school for free, and 76 percent of graduates will attend a UNC-system school in fall 2005.

“I had actually already decided to stay in-state,” said Rachel Wingo, an NCSSM senior.

She plans to attend N.C. State University in the fall and hopes to double major in English and agriculture science.

The grant might free up more scholarship opportunities for other students because a smaller number of NCSSM graduates would pursue competitive state scholarships, Wingo said.

Wingo said she wants to stay in North Carolina after graduating college to become a teacher.

Many NCSSM alumni stay in North Carolina after college graduation, Rowe said, noting that 50 percent of NCSSM alums currently pay N.C. taxes.

Wingo said North Carolina might begin attracting recent graduates because it quickly is becoming a leader in science and math.

The 2004 budget provided $780,000 in scholarship money for graduates and would be carefully watched in following budgets, Swindell said.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.