Idaho Opportunity Scholarship: Where the money goes

Kevin Richert | 02/21/2019

Opportunity Scholarships, by school
Infogram

As I was researching my Wednesday story on the Idaho Opportunity Scholarship, the State Board of Education shared some interesting numbers I didn’t even ask for.

The numbers show where students used the state-funded college scholarship, from 2008 through 2018.

A few things to remember.

First, students can only use the Opportunity Scholarship in-state.

Second, that reference to Eastern Idaho Technical College is dated. EITC is now the College of Eastern Idaho, the state’s fourth community college. If this Idaho Falls-based college continues to grow in the next few years, it would stand to reason to expect more students to use the scholarship there.

Third, of course, is the growth of the scholarship. These numbers are a year old. They don’t reflect 2018-19, when the state committed a record $13.5 million to the scholarship.

Gov. Brad Little has requested $20.5 million for 2019-20. Lawmakers will consider this request in the next couple of weeks.

Kevin Richert

Senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert specializes in education politics and education policy. He has more than 30 years of experience in Idaho journalism. He is a frequent guest on "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public Television and "Idaho Matters" on Boise State Public Radio. Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KevinRichert. He can be reached at [email protected]