I admit it’s hard not to like West Virginia’s Promise Scholarship Program.  What parent of a high school graduate does not welcome the state paying for in-state college tuition and fees for their child as long as he/she meets the academic requirements?

Had my son gone to college in West Virginia, I would have willingly accepted the subsidy, assuming he could have made the grade. 

However, this program is not cheap--$42 million a year—and the research done so far into Promise is worth a careful review to determine whether the state is getting the maximum benefit on its investment.

A recent report by the WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research found 62 percent of the first graduating classes to receive the Promise (2005-2006, 2006-2007) worked at least three months in West Virginia.   That means at least one out of every three graduates who received state-funded tuition and fees either left the state or stayed here and didn’t get a job.

In fact, the in-state work participation rate for Promise scholars is below the state average.  The report found that 67 percent of all West Virginia college graduates over the same period worked at least three months at a West Virginia job.

According to the report, “This suggests that PROMISE graduates are less likely (emphasis added) to remain in the state after graduation.

Interestingly, the in-state retention rate is also higher for West Virginia college graduates who received money from the state Higher Education Grant Program.  Seventy percent of those recipients stayed in West Virginia to work.

Those grants are awarded based on need and merit while the Promise scholarships are strictly merit based.

One of the arguments—but admittedly not the only one-- by those who first advocated Promise was that students educated here were more likely to remain in the state and help rebuild the economy.  In fact, the research shows students who get Promise are more likely to leave the state.

This is not surprising.  West Virginia may be home, but most young people are going to go where they can find a job.

A study released last year by the High Education Policy Commission found that, “While many participates plan to stay in West Virginia after graduation, they purport that the scholarship program did not impact this decision.”

That report also found that most Promise students planned to go to college whether they got the Promise or not and “many would have attended the same institution in which they were enrolled.”

Promise is a huge political winner. Elected officials love to tout what they are doing to help send students to college.  And, in fact, the assistance does make it easier on the families whose children get the Promise.

The money for the Promise comes from gambling revenues, meaning the addicted and the mathematically-challenged are helping finance the college education of children from largely middle class families. 

But beyond the obvious benefit to those on the receiving end of the redistribution, is there really a net gain for the state equal to the investment of $42 million annually?