Scholarships and grants office outlines program mix, requests funding for educator incentive and IT support

Kevin Campbell, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, presented the Scholarships and Grants program budget housed at the Office of the State Board of Education (OSBE). He told the committee the program has 1.35 authorized FTP and that timing of award cycles and applicant counts causes spending variation across fiscal years.

Campbell listed program responsibilities: the Bridger and Underserved Educator Incentive Program, the Opportunity Scholarship, Armed Forces and Public Safety Officer Scholarships, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate (GEAR UP) federal scholarships, and the Idaho Work Study Program. He said 99.5% of the program’s spending is trustee-and-benefit payments and about 0.5% is personnel costs.

OSBE Executive Director Josh Whitworth told the committee some customer-service and administrative work is borne by staff elsewhere in the board’s office and said the program’s public-facing databases and application systems require maintenance and security upgrades. Whitworth asked for two items in the FY2026 request: $1,375,000 for the Bridger and Underserved Educator Incentive program and a $124,000 software-engineer position to address a backlog of database and interface work.

Committee members asked about performance metrics and the impact of the Opportunity Scholarship and Launch programs on enrollment. Whitworth said more detailed outcomes and performance reporting are a priority and staff will provide the requested data. Lawmakers also asked for district-level breakdowns and information distinguishing the board’s definition of “rural” versus “underserved” for the educator incentive program.

Campbell and Whitworth said they would bring back measures showing the program outcomes, numbers of recipients and retention in districts supported by the incentive program. No formal committee vote occurred during the hearing.