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Iowa school-choice beneficiary credits ESA and scholarship for college pathway
Summary
Betsy Sanwell told a public forum that an Iowa Education Savings Account and a Catholic tuition scholarship enabled her to attend private schools and become a first-generation college student, arguing the programs were essential to her educational success.
Betsy Sanwell, who identified herself as a "school choice beneficiary," told attendees that the Iowa Education Savings Account (ESA) and a Catholic tuition organization scholarship grant made it possible for her to attend a Catholic private middle school and a private high school.
"If it weren't for these opportunities and scholarships, I wouldn't be where I am today," Sanwell said, adding that she would not have been a first-generation college student without them. She said the programs allowed her to "flourish in [the] high school environment."
Sanwell framed her remarks as personal testimony in support of school-choice programs, describing them as decisive factors in her academic trajectory. She named the Iowa ESA and a Catholic tuition scholarship as the specific supports she received and described their impact on her ability to access private K-12 education and later attend college.
There was no formal question-and-answer recorded in this testimony, and no votes or official actions were noted in the transcript. The remarks were presented as firsthand experience rather than a policy analysis or program evaluation.
