Oklahoma scholarship program sees spike in demand

OKLAHOMA CITY — Applications to an Oklahoma scholarship program from the 2026 graduating class have increased nearly 50% from the previous graduating class. 

Over 10,200 students from the 2026 graduating class applied to Oklahoma’s Promise, said Angela Caddell, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. The 2025 graduating class had more than 6,800 applicants, and around 6,100 of them were eligible. 

Lawmakers this session appropriated $88.2 million to the scholarship program for the upcoming fiscal year, an increase from the $73.1 million allocated for this budget year, Caddell said. On average, Oklahoma’s Promise cost $4,892 per student, per year. 

The State Regents Office is “deeply grateful” for the increase and anticipates the program will be fully funded, she said. 

The State Regents had previously projected increased enrollment and a jump in costs for Oklahoma’s Promise as lawmakers had expanded eligibility through changes to income requirements and by opening it to some public school teachers’ kids. 

The Oklahoma’s Promise scholarship program pays for tuition at any Oklahoma public college or university until the student receives a bachelor’s degree or for up to five years. Students’ families must meet income requirements to be eligible. 

At the time of application, family income must not exceed the following limits: 

• $60,000 for families with one or two children; 
• $70,000 for families with three or four children; or
• $80,000 for families with five or more children. 

Family income cannot exceed $100,000 while the student is enrolled in college. There are also special income requirements for children with court-appointed guardianship or certain court-ordered custody. 

Students must apply to the program by Dec. 31 of their senior year of high school. 

Demand for ‘teacher track’

House Bill 1727, which took effect last July, makes the children of Oklahoma public school teachers eligible to apply for Oklahoma’s Promise if they’ve been teaching in the state’s public schools for at least a decade and their family meets certain income requirements. 

Nearly 2,400 students applied for the Oklahoma’s Promise teacher track this budget year and the applications are still under review for eligibility, Caddell said. The review is expected to be complete in August. From this group, 850 were in the 2026 graduating class. 

After expanding eligibility to the scholarship program with the teacher’s track, lawmakers last year initially appropriated only $700,000 to pay for the expansion. 

The income requirements for this expansion are different from the traditional Oklahoma’s Promise requirements. 

The household income of the student’s parents must be less than 700% the federal poverty level. For a four-person household, this equates to an income of $231,000. 

Students still must apply by Dec. 31 of their senior year of high school 

Oklahoma’s Promise has been lauded as a highly successful program that retains most graduates in the state to work and live. 

Nearly 93% are still working in Oklahoma one year after graduation and about 85% are still in the state after five years, Caddell said.