Bright Flight scholars receive less money than originally awarded by state

The Maneater: Latest Stories When freshman Reed Wilson’s father opened up her tuition bill from MU late last semester, he was surprised to find that it was $400 higher than he was expecting. Wilson, a Bright Flight scholar, said she was not aware that a state funding issue left her short almost 27 percent of her guaranteed $1,500 semesterly scholarship until it was reflected in her tuition.
Wilson is one of the 6,685 students in the state of Missouri and one of the 1,964 MU students who receives the Bright Flight scholarship — a $3,000 annual scholarship for in-state students who scored a 30 or greater on their ACT.
Because of a larger-than-anticipated increase of students who qualified for the scholarship for the 2016-2017 academic year, the original appropriation from the state for the program did not cover the cost of providing each student with the maximum scholarship award of $1,500 per semester.
Bright Flight scholars received $1,500 last semester and $1,100 for this semester so far. Liz Coleman, Missouri Department of Higher Education spokeswoman, said the department has requested an additional $1.5 million to cover the rest of the semesterly amount that the students were originally promised.
However, neither the department — nor the students — will find out if they will receive that money until April or May. Coleman said in an email that they will not know until the state legislature votes on the 2018 fiscal year budget toward the end of their session.
Kate Daino, another Bright Flight scholar, said that while one semester will not significantly affect her ability to pay tuition, further cuts would.
“If they just cut it back this semester and bring it back I’ll be fine, but if it’s over all four years I am going to have to come up with some extra money to cover that,” she said.
For the students who qualify for the scholarship, Bright Flight can be a central part of why ...


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