Wed. Nov 6th, 2024

Money roll wearing a mortarboard graduation cap.

(Catherine Lane/Getty Images)

Arkansas Scholarship Lottery funds could be available as soon as next fall to students attending vocational-technical schools and institutions thanks to passage of Issue 1 on Tuesday.

With an estimated 41% of votes counted, according to The Associated Press, the constitutional amendment received 447,789 (89.2%) yes votes to 53,983 (10.8%) no votes.

The Legislature referred Issue 1 to voters after receiving bipartisan support for the proposed measure in 2023. Lead sponsor Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, said limiting the scholarship funds to students attending two- and four- year colleges and universities turned a “blind eye to a whole segment of our population.”

The ballot measure does not define vocational-technical schools and institutions, and lawmakers will likely determine what schools are eligible for funding in the 2025 legislative session. That’s when the Legislature will also likely set the funding schedule for students at vo-tech schools, as is established for students at other colleges and universities.

Since 2009, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery has provided students at two- and four-year colleges and universities with funding, primarily through the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship. An average of 30,000 students received the scholarship annually, though the number of recipients has been generally decreasing since a peak in 2012-2013.

Each year, $20 million from the state’s general revenue budget is allocated to the lottery program. With Issue 1 approved, another $2 million will be earmarked for students at vocational-technical schools.

Also commonly known as trade schools, the institutions provide students with career-specific training such as nursing, real estate, welding or culinary arts.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

By