Financial support for higher education lacking statewide

South Dakota lawmakers approved Senate Bill 91 which grants South Dakota Board of Regents an additional $150,000 to support of needs-based financial aid.

Although this is may seem like a big number on paper, in relation to how many students are at USD, this will do almost nothing to help students afford tuition.

The South Dakota Needs Based Grant Program (SDNBGP) is made up of  a one-time investment of $1.5 million in state monies to support higher education in South Dakota. The idea behind it was to fund schools from the interest accumulated, however, because it has failed to meet the needs of the state, South Dakota has had to use an emergency fund. Last year the state awarded $229,000 to South Dakota universities, of this USD received 15 percent, or about $33,500 in scholarship funds, supporting a total of 284 students.

While the intention of this legislation is good, the stipulations of receiving scholarships are complicated and will result in little funding for students.

After the university receives this money, it will be divided into awards ranging from $500 to $2,000 to give to South Dakota resident students with financial aid needs. Based on these numbers, this “fund” will only support 100 to 400 students — not even half of the USD student population. This simply isn’t fair.

South Dakota needs to put more effort and money into supporting higher education because its universities are sending educated adults back out into our world. The idea is to keep students in South Dakota to work, but as a state we should be supporting students from the beginning. Just like everything else, you’re only going to get out of something what you put into it. If South Dakota doesn’t pay better attention to students’ needs, it can’t expect students to want to stick around for “opportunity.”

It has become apparent in our society that a degree is needed to succeed in almost every profession. With this basis, most South Dakota high school students are working hard to get into a good school — ideally an in-state school — to continue their education and get a favorable job in life.

College tuition, even in South Dakota, is increasing. If every year the price for an education goes up, does the faint possibility of a scholarship really appeal to young adults? In some cases the answer is no.

The cold hard truth is that college is expensive. Scholarships are given to students with academic merit. However, sometimes not all students have this opportunity, and sometimes these scholarships aren’t enough.

In South Dakota there is a wide range of working class families, and this new program will focus on those who cannot afford higher education.On the surface, this is admirable, but behind the curtain this may leave a high number of college applicants without money to support their goals.

Inadequate funding could possibly turn future students away from wanting to get a higher education. Young adults should not have to make the choice of whether or not to attend college just because they can’t afford it.