COLUMN: Lottery should have a home in Utah
If you really wanted to know how to solve this state’s problems with funding its education – then why didn’t anyone look north of us to Idaho, or south of us to Nevada, or even east of us to where my roots lay in Georgia?
Moving to Utah was a decision that now has cost me some time in my pursuits of finishing my higher education. I will talk in terms that my state, Georgia, has had from implementing a state lottery for education since I am familiar with how it works there and not sure all the details to Idaho’s and Nevada’s lotteries.
In any event, in Georgia, if a high school student graduates with a 3.0 GPA, then he qualifies for what we call the HOPE Scholarship, which is completely funded by the lottery. This scholarship pays for your complete tuition to ANY public university, and an added $150.00 per semester for books. Wow, you think? That isn’t all.
If you still can qualify for Pell Grant, you can still have that on top of the state-funded scholarship. So, in a sense you would have schooling and housing pretty much paid for.
To keep this scholarship throughout your college life, you must maintain a 3.0 GPA. If you lose it at any point, you have the opportunity to gain it back again at 30, 60 or 90 credits. Not only can you go through your undergraduate career with little, if any, debt (if you are wise), but also with a better well-educated mind with the GPA requirements so much higher than just the 2.0 required for Federal Financial Aid.
Now, I know there is a religious culture here that is the majority, and of which I am also a part. But just because a state lottery is implemented doesn’t mean that people have to abandon religious principles to support it. There are plenty of other people from surrounding states and other places who will fund it enough for us.
How many Utah license plates do you see on the border gas station markets and in Las Vegas? I am not sure if anyone from Georgia has ever really won the lottery. It is usually people from other states. Do you think I mind that Georgia residents don’t usually win? Heck no … my classes go without being canceled … that is the big winner.
When I am at the point of starting my minor classes, (which I now have to ponder changing because there might not be funding for them, AGAIN), you can bet your dollar that I want a lottery to save my classes.
Actually, you can bet that dollar literally, if you want, too. Come on Utah, think of what will work for education right now. I hope radicals don’t think I am knocking their state, because I love it here, but I am merely letting you be aware of an option to save and aid Utah’s education.
Jill Prichard is a sophomore majoring in photography. Comments can be sent to jillp@cc.usu.edu.