A scholarship plan proposed by Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Schmidt is feasible but would come at a great cost to the state, says a spokesman for the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Schmidt’s CLIMB (college level merit-based) Scholarship Plan guarantees full tuition at any Illinois public college, university or community college for any student who earns a cumulative B average throughout high school. To maintain the full scholarship, college students must continue to maintain a B average.

Students who choose to attend a private college will qualify for a $1,000 annual scholarship grant if they meet the grade requirements of the plan.

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Schmidt proposes to fund the plan by placing a two percent cap on non-education spending over a four-year period.

The program in Illinois could get real expensive real fast, said Ross Hodel, deputy director of the IBHE. That’s not to say that the plan is a bad idea, but it would create a major fiscal impact.

Hodel said the plan is modeled after the Hope Scholarship plan in Georgia, which provides students with a B average or above in high school with tuition, fees and book allowances as long as they maintain the B average in college.

Hodel said there are several significant differences between Georgia and Illinois that would affect the plan’s affordability. Firstly, in Georgia there are about 200,000 students enrolled in higher education institutions, compared to about 750,000 in Illinois.

Secondly, Georgia recently instituted a state lottery to fund the Hope Scholarship plan. By contrast, Schmidt proposes to fund CLIMB by capping non-education spending at 2 percent, or just under the level of inflation.

Students will be required to apply for state and federal financial aid, and then the state will make up the difference if necessary.

In Illinois, full time enrollment at a public university averages $2,776 per semester. There are 161,000 students currently enrolled in public universities in Illinois.

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In Georgia, 50 to 60 percent of the students enrolled in public universities have a B average or above. This figure would equate to about 80,000 students in Illinois with a B average or above. Tuition for those 80,000 students would equate to more than $222 million.

For Illinois community colleges the average tuition is about $1,450 per semester. Based on the averages in Georgia, that equates to 90,000 Illinois community college students with a B average and about $130 million needed to fund community college students.

Schmidt’s plan also promises $1,000 tuition allowances to all B average or above students attending Illinois private colleges. There are 150,000 Illinois students currently enrolled in Illinois private colleges and almost half of these students have a B average or above. It would cost $75 million to provide all of these students with scholarships.

Add these figures up and the plan gets expensive real fast, Hodel said.

Hodel said that for 15 or 16 years, Illinois’ Merit Recognition Scholarship program has provided $2,500 to students in the top 5 percent of their high school class.

The General Assembly has granted only half of the money needed to fund the program, and in the last two or three years, only students in the top 2.5 percent of the class were given scholarships.

I think John Schmidt’s plan sounds like a good program, Hodel said. But, I hope it wouldn’t detract from other student aid programs.

Illinois has the nation’s second largest financial aid program, second only to New York.

Schmidt’s fellow candidates in the gubernatorial race are not as optimistic about the plan as Schmidt, a former U.S. Justice Department Official.

John Schmidt’s plan sounds attractive, but I think it has serious questions regarding its overall affordability, said Dave Stricklin, spokesman for campaign opponent U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard, D.-Ill.

Delmarie Cobb, press secretary for former Attorney General Roland Burris, said guaranteeing every B average student an automatic scholarship is unreasonable. Cobb said that the scholarships should be based on need.

Candidate Jim Burns could not be reached for comment.

Schmidt’s proposal is being regarded as idealistic by Schmidt’s opponents. However, the Schmidt camp maintains that the plan is not only realistic but completely feasible.

“Absolutely, we used a conservative number of three percent concerning growth of revenue; it is currently four to five percent a year,” said Becky Carroll, press secretary for Schmidt. “There will be more than enough money to fund this plan.

“Besides, this is a valuable investment. We are sending a message to students that their hard work and perseverance will pay off.”

Schmidt has made a number of complementary proposals regarding education since entering the race.

One proposal is living up to the financial commitment established in the General Assembly’s recent school reform bill. That bill set a spending foundation for every child of $4,225 for FY 1999, with a $100 increase each year through 2001.

Schmidt says that dedicating enough money to cover that increase will be his first priority as governor.

To justify his CLIMB plan, Schmidt asserts that a high school degree is no longer sufficient to compete in today’s job market.

However, Cobb says the plan is elitist and neglects many potentially good students.

“Studies have shown that C students often wind up being very focused and determined in college; many of our leaders were C students,” Cobb said. “We cannot write off average students for above average students.”

Hodel said the Hope Scholarship program has been very successful in Georgia. At University of Georgia, 97 percent of in-state freshmen receive the Hope Scholarship and at the Georgia Institute of Technology 96 percent receive the Hope Scholarship.

The program cost $174 million annually in Georgia, but would cost much more in Illinois because Illinois would have more eligible students.

This plan is feasible and maybe even affordable, Hodel said. However, it would depend on continued economic growth, and the General Assembly would have to agree that it would be first priority.