For Immediate
Release: May 6, 2004
Audio
Clip
Senator Mike Morgan
Senate Appropriations Chair Keeps OHLAP Funding
Promise
State Senate Appropriations Chairman Mike
Morgan, D-Stillwater, has kept his word—the state’s
Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP) will be
fully funded in the 2004-2005 school year.
“Last November, Sen. Herb Rozell and I pledged this
would be one of our top priorities for this session. The
9,000 Oklahoma students who are counting on these scholarships
this fall can rest assured that promise has been kept,”
Morgan said.
Rozell, D-Tahlequah, is chairman of the Senate Appropriations
Sub-Committee on Education.
Despite last year’s historic budget shortfall, the
lawmakers worked to ensure the nearly 5,000 Oklahoma high
school seniors anticipating those scholarships weren’t
disappointed.
“It was not easy, but we did secure the $11 million
we needed last year to make sure those kids got the opportunity
they deserved. During the 2004-2005 school year, we’re
going to have 4,800 continuing OHLAP scholarship students
plus an additional 4,200 new freshmen. As promised, we’ve
allocated $19.2 million this session to fully fund the program,”
Rozell said.
OHLAP scholarships are available for Oklahoma high school
graduates who have met specific academic requirements, and
whose parents make less than $50,000 a year.
Sen. Morgan explained that the $19.2 million to fully fund
OHLAP was an investment that will yield high returns for
the Oklahoma students earning college degrees and ultimately
for the entire state.
“Look at the U.S. Census Bureau figures or talk to
experts in economics or in higher education and they’ll
tell you that the cities and states with the highest per
capita incomes are those with the highest numbers of college
graduates,” Morgan said. “OHLAP could well be
one of the most important economic development programs
Oklahoma has ever implemented.”
For
more information contact:
Senate
Communications Office - (405) 521-5774
