Students' scholarship funding in doubt

Tania Knight, 19, a Taylorsville High School graduate, says she pulled all-nighters and gave up her social life to earn a competitive state college scholarship.

A few weeks before heading to the University of Utah to major in nursing, those sacrifices seemed like a waste when Knight got a letter stating her New Century scholarship funding was being reduced.

"I was planning on this money. They made a promise to us. We upheld our promise as students by dedicating our time and efforts," said Knight, who has maintained a 4.0 grade point average since seventh grade.

Higher education officials had said they didn't have money to fund the 75 percent tuition scholarships, but on Tuesday legislative leaders, who had been deluged with e-mails and phone calls from unhappy parents and students, promised to restore the funding for the coming school year. The long-term future of the program is uncertain.

On Wednesday lawmakers blasted William Sederberg, Utah's commissioner of higher education, for notifying parents that the scholarship would be reduced just a few weeks before school started and suggested better communication with scholarship recipients in the future.

Sederburg told the education committee, which was meeting for an interim session at the Capitol, that higher education officials didn't send out notices sooner because they didn't want to alarm people in case the state ended up funding the scholarships, which it now has.

But legislators said families and students need more notice if a scholarship is in danger.

"We made a wrong call in this case," Sederburg said. He apologized to the committee.

The New Century Scholarship pays up to 75 percent of tuition at in-state schools for students who enroll in college-level courses and maintain a 3.0 grade point average.

The Legislature decided Tuesday it would find $1.7 million to fund the 2,000 students who qualified for the scholarship this year.

About 30 students attended the committee meeting Wednesday. Some students told the Deseret News if it weren't for Facebook, they would never have known about the scholarship cuts.

Seth Burdette, 18, an Olympus High School graduate bound for Brigham Young University, found out about the scholarship changes on the New Century Web site. He was set to receive about $1,800 in funding for the school year.