The Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education reviewed annual reports on the Nebraska Opportunity Grant (NOG), the Access College Early Scholarship (ACE), and the Community College Gap Assistance Program (Gap) at its December 3, 2020 meeting. The NOG, which is awarded to Nebraska undergraduate students with financial need, served 12,956 students in 2019-20 with an average award of $1,446. Unfortunately, due to funding limitations, over 18,000 eligible students were not funded. Students are selected for the grant by their college or university based upon information supplied from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The ACE program served a record 2,473 low-income high school students taking 4,420 college courses, either as dual credit or concurrently with high school courses. Students must apply for an ACE scholarship, and eligibility is based on Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility or other measures of family income. Over 84% of ACE recipients enroll in college after graduating high school compared to 52% of low-income non-ACE recipients. Over 200 students took advantage of the Gap program in the Covid-19-disrupted 2019-20 academic year. The Gap program pays for tuition and course expenses related to short-term training in high-need occupations designed to get students into the workforce or into better jobs quickly. Potential GAP program participants apply for the aid through their local community college.
