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Schweitzer to explore getting state money to students

By WALT WILLIAMS Chronicle Staff Writer

Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Friday his office is seeking ways to deliver state dollars directly to Montana college students so they can pay for tuition.


 His comments came a day after the governor's office warned the Montana Board of Regents that there may be little room for new spending for higher education in the coming state budget, given other demands and less-than-rosy revenue estimates.

College students may be facing tuition hikes as high as 9 percent in the near future, but Schweitzer suggested there was little state lawmakers could do about that.

"The Legislature and the executive branch cannot control the dollars once they go to the Board of Regents," he said. "As I said before, we gave them an historic increase in dollars for higher education (in 2005) and they still increased tuition."

Schweitzer was in Bozeman Friday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new pre-release center, where he agreed to a short interview to take questions about funding for higher education.

The Legislature increased college funding by 9 percent during the 2005 regular session. It was a large increase, but not enough to satisfy university budgets.

But the governor's office successfully pushed forward the Governor's Postsecondary Scholarship Program, which will give out $1,000 and $2,000 scholarships to Montana high school graduates seeking two-year and four-year degrees at state colleges.

Only a small percentage of high school graduates will be eligible for scholarships, but the program targets students seeking health sciences and technical degrees -- both areas the governor believes will help build the economy.

"We're going to expand the scholarship programs and we're also going to look at a way of delivering dollars directly to students," he said.

He didn't give specifics about what his office would propose.

"We'll be rolling that out as we go along," he said. "The more time that goes along, the better handle we'll have on what our budget projections are going to be."

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