Missouri House panel considers an expansion of Bright Flight

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Concern about top Missouri students going to college and taking jobs in other states is prompting lawmakers to consider sweetening financial assistance that the highest performers can receive by staying closer to home.

The House Higher Education Committee examined legislation Tuesday that would add a forgivable loan worth up to $5,000 to Missouri's existing Bright Flight scholarship. Under the plan, each year a graduate works in Missouri after school would count toward one year of loan forgiveness, and those who leave before the loan is repaid would need to repay it with interest.

"It's imperative that we cut down on what we call brain drain," said Rep. Mike Thomson, R-Maryville, who is sponsoring the bill. "We're losing our highest assets. A lot of very sharp kids are leaving the state."

Thomson, chairman of the House committee, said a little more than 2,500 students qualify each year for Bright Flight scholarships and about 6,500 students were receiving the scholarship in 2012.

Based on those numbers, more than 10,000 students could receive the scholarship and attend Missouri schools over a four-year period.

Bright Flight scholarships are awarded based on ACT or SAT scores. Students scoring in the top 3 percent receive $2,500, which is less than the permitted $3,000 maximum. Missouri law also allows students scoring in the top 4 percent and 5 percent to receive up to $1,000 when the top level is fully funded.

Thomson said he intends for the forgivable loans to be available to the top 3 percent for now.

He said when the scholarship was created, it covered much of the tuition at the University of Missouri-Columbia but now "is not much of an enticement to a kid who gets 31 on the ACT and has scholarships offered all over the nation."

Gov. Jay Nixon has included $17 million for a Bright Flight forgivable loan in his budget proposals for next year.

Under the House legislation, students qualifying for a Bright Flight scholarship could choose whether they also want the forgivable loan. Students would need to complete 24 credit hours during their first year and 30 credit hours each following year.

Among the supporters of the legislation were several students and officials from the University of Missouri-Columbia. University officials said top students are targeted by institutions elsewhere, and the campus' director of financial aid said the Bright Flight scholarship covers about 10 percent of total attendance costs.

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Bright Flight is HB1308

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Online

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov