Promise Scholarship will help Nevada students pay for college

Students take notes in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

In about three months, community colleges across Nevada will welcome the first students of the state’s Promise Scholarship program.

Nate Mackinnon, vice chancellor for community colleges for the Nevada System of Higher Education, reported Thursday that 1,318 students remain eligible to receive scholarship money for the fall semester.

“I think it’s a wonderful start,” Regent Andrea Anderson said during Thursday’s meeting of the community college committee. “As short of a deadline that you had to put it together … I’m pleased with the number.”

More than 12,000 high school seniors across the state applied for Nevada Promise — a last-dollar scholarship program which covers student fees at a community college after other aid sources have been exhausted.

To be eligible for the scholarship students had to complete two training sessions, 20 community service hours, a mentoring session and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

“I believe that for the first year of this program, especially with the timelines, it’s a strong number,” said Maria Marinch, executive director of Inclusive Learning and Engagement at the College of Southern Nevada. “It speaks to the commitment of the student who did all of these requirements to go to college.”

Out of the state’s four community colleges, CSN has received the most interest, with 675 Promise-eligible students set to enroll in 12 credits for the fall semester.

But Marinch said it’s possible that more will become eligible over the summer because student registration remains open.

Mackinnon said the system will distribute about $2.3 million of the $3.5 million that the state Legislature allocated for the program in 2017. Some students may be eligible for the Millennium scholarship, and that data isn’t released until July, which may impact the overall distribution.

“We’re working diligently to maintain the strongest communication with these students,” Mackinnon said. “They’re invested. They did the community service hours, and the meeting with their mentors, so we’re hoping that for most of them, it’s their plan A.”

He called the program a “game changer” for the state.

“It’s removing that notion that college is not affordable, and provides a path for any high school senior if they hold up their end of the bargain,” he said.

Those who are currently eligible to enroll represent about 11 percent of initial applicants. But Marinch said the program’s impact goes beyond the final enrollment numbers.

“That engagement and that information that was provided in exchange has an impact on the students,” she said. “We assisted a lot of parents and students in the process.”

Mackinnon said NSHE is working to engage the 2019 senior class, and first-time applicants can apply beginning Aug. 1.

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.