This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The gears of bureaucracy did not brake for Alden Williams.
The senior at Copper Hills High believed he had all but secured a scholarship from the state that would help pay tuition at Utah State University. But he'd forgotten to mail in just one of several required forms and was denied.
"I'm still going to pursue this in hopes it gets fixed," his father, Dana Williams, told a panel of lawmakers and higher education officers Wednesday as the 18-year-old serves a Mormon mission in southern France.
Officials didn't take immediate action on his request for more lenient deadlines for the state's New Century and Regents' scholarships. But the issue is likely to come up again as the 2016 Legislature opens and lawmakers debate whether to more than double last year's investment in the Regents' program — from $3 million to a proposed $8 million.
The uptick would allow more students access to more money, Higher Education Commissioner David Buhler said.
Regents' scholarships reward students for taking a heftier high school course load, requiring two years of foreign language, plus higher-level math and science, for example. New Century scholarships, a smaller program, are awarded to students who specialize in math or science, or who earn an associate degree while in high school.
The number of students using Regents' scholarships is expected to expand as a wave of young missionaries returns to Utah — part of a surge of young proselytizers after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2012 allowed men to depart at 18, instead of 19; and women at 19, instead of 21.
The 3,000 Regents' and roughly 300 New Century scholarships awarded annually are an important resource for young missionaries like Williams, because they can be deferred during the two-year service.
It's the main reason why Williams applied, said Dana Williams, a West Jordan father of five. The Williams family appealed the denial but lost.
The testimony Wednesday hit a nerve with Draper Republican Sen. Howard Stephenson, chair of the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee.
"Why isn't more grace given?" when students miss a due date or their transcripts are delayed, the Draper Republican asked. "If a student is qualified, I can't understand why there would be jots and tittles to deny ... It just seems to be so obtuse and so condemning."
The idea of softer deadlines didn't sit well with budget committee chairman Lyle Hillyard. "Students going through this process," said Hillyard, a Logan Republican, "make commitments."
Rep. Marie Poulson, a Salt Lake City Democrat, was more measured, questioning whether more advising was needed for scholarship hopefuls.
Some exceptions are made for students with "extenuating circumstances," Buhler said, but "the deadline is part of qualifying."
The process, which now requires students to provide transcripts and signatures by mail, is moving onto the Internet, Buhler said, as his staff redesigns an application portal.
Since it began in 2010, the Regents' program has grown from a few hundred recipients to 3,000 in 2015. Recipients receive an initial $1,000, plus up to an extra $2,500 per year over two years of college, depending on their grades and how much the Legislature sets aside. A bonus grant of $400 also is available for students with state 529 savings plans. This year, the top award covered about 40 percent of the roughly $6,600 in yearly tuition and fees at Utah State, where Williams expects to become an Aggie in fall 2017.
The smaller New Century scholarship, which Williams lost out on, allots $2,500 a year. Last year, it went to about 260 students, as of the most recent count in October.
Combined with other scholarships, it would cover the bulk of the cost of Williams' degree, his father said, though teenager hasn't decided what to study.
The state-funded scholarships only are available to documented students; they must sign an affidavit saying they are in the country legally. Applicants must complete the forms and send them in by Feb. 1, Buhler said, and generally hear back by mid-March.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the Regents' scholarship and misstated the availability of the New Century grant. Roughly 250-300 students receive the New Century grant each year, but it is not capped at any one amount. The Tribune, relying on outdated information provided to a Legislative panel Wednesday, also erroneously reported the amount of money available through the Regents' scholarship.
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Where do Utah students spend Regents scholarships?
Of the 3,000 state-funded Regents scholarships distributed annually, more than a quarter are used to attend private Brigham Young University. Schools with the highest percentages:
Brigham Young University • 28 percent
Utah State University • 21 percent
University of Utah • 17 percent
Utah Valley University • 10 percent
Source: Utah System of Higher Education