From Capitol Report New Mexico - The numbers haven’t been adding up for the state lottery in recent years and that means unless the state legislature can come up with a fix, students who qualify for lottery scholarships to New Mexico universities and colleges will see across-the-board reductions.The scholarship program is facing a $5 million shortfall as the state lottery is taking in less money in recent years due to the stagnant economy while tuition rates at New Mexico institutions are rising. Since its inception in 1996, more than 82,600 students from across the state have been awarded lottery scholarships.
The scholarship program will continue but unless Roundhouse legislators come up with a solution, Dr. Garcia said the amount given to students will be reduced by an estimated 35 percent. “That would be a serious hit,” Garcia said.
Officials at Higher Ed are talking to legislators and exploring options as the legislature gets ready for its 60-day session starting on Jan. 15. Among some of the suggestions?
Raising the grade point average to keep the scholarships from 2.5 to 3.0 and/or increasing the minimum number of credit hours for students from 12 to 15 per semester.
But Garcia told Capitol Report New Mexico that initial analysis shows ”there’s not enough dollars” in raising GPA or credit hours to get the scholarship fund where it needs to be.
Another option is to give the scholarships to lower and middle-income students only. “We’ve noticed that a high percentage of lottery scholarship recipients come from relatively high-income earners,” Garcia said of families with incomes of $80,000-$100,000 a year.
Whatever options are chosen, it’s up to the members of the Roundhouse to fix it or else the automatic cuts go into effect. “We can’t pay for what we have,” committee chairman and state Sen. John Arthur Smith (D-Deming) said. “We’ve got to corral this runaway horse.” Read more
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