Proposed legislation could boost Wyoming’s largest college and university scholarship payout and give higher education students more flexibility in how to use it.
The Hathaway Scholarship is available to every in-state high school graduate and is a key source of financial support for many students attending the University of Wyoming or any of the state’s eight public community colleges.
Lawmakers considered boosting payouts, enhancing flexibility and other changes to the Hathaway Scholarship program during the Joint Education Committee’s meeting last week in Cheyenne.
They considered five bills in total, voting to:
- Advance a bill increasing the award amounts by a 12-1 vote;
- Advance a bill providing for a “lump sum” payment, rather than doling out the award over eight semesters, by a 7-6 vote;
- Advance a bill allowing some Hathaway money to pay for tuition at private institutions by a 9-4 vote;
- Reject a bill opening up the Hathaway for career and technical education-focused programs with a 6-7 vote;
- Reject a bill loosening eligibility requirements with a 2-11 vote.
At the outset of Thursday’s meeting, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder voiced her support for boosting payments and opening the award up for CTE programs.
“I would urge the committee to continue to think about the purpose of the Hathaway Scholarship,” she said. “And really, for me, that has been looking at, number one, how we ensure that we are helping students to receive additional education after high school and then, number two, to keep them here in the state of Wyoming.”
Boosting payments by 40%
The Hathaway Scholarship provides about $16 million a year to in-state students attending UW or any public community college. But inflation and rising tuition costs have hurt the award’s usefulness in recent years.
Hathaways are divided into multiple levels based on GPA and college entrance exam scores.
When the first Hathaways were awarded roughly two decades ago, the top level award covered roughly 90% of a student’s tuition and fees at the University of Wyoming. Today, the same award covers about 40% of those costs.
The lowest level Hathaway award has fallen from covering roughly 45% to covering roughly 20% of tuition and fees at UW. In 2006, the lowest level award covered nearly all tuition and fees at any Wyoming community college. Today, it covers roughly a third of those costs.
The Education Committee will sponsor a bill raising Hathaway payouts for all levels by about 40 percent, the first increase in more than a decade. According to a legislative fact sheet, it was last increased in 2014, when lawmakers approved a 5% bump.
UW student Edwin Morales and other student government representatives testified in the bill’s favor.
“This is my third year representing students at UW, and every year, the biggest concern for students is cost of living and cost of tuition,” he said. “Every year, the tuition goes higher and higher, yet the awards that they get, even at the university level, never go up.”
Last month, the student government unanimously approved a resolution supporting the payout increase and other bills before the education committee.
Offering a more flexible ‘lump sum’
Lawmakers also considered a separate bill to pay out the scholarship in a lump sum rather than over four years, so students at two-year colleges can use more of their award.
Sen. Chris Rothfuss (D-Laramie) said students typically “burn” their Hathaway over eight consecutive semesters, because that’s the easiest way to receive the full award amount. The Legislature has allowed more flexibility in recent years by, for example, allowing students to pause the Hathaway to join the military or go on a religious mission.
Rothfuss said the “lump sum” bill would be an extension of that effort, this time benefiting those who are not seeking a four-year degree.
“You could just use it in four semesters,” he said. “The bill was trying to provide the opportunities for those that are attending our [community] colleges and looking for certifications or looking for associate’s degrees, to not have to spread their Hathaway over eight semesters, but to be able to use it, for example, in four or in two semesters, depending on what's optimal for them.”
The committee advanced this bill on a narrow 7-6 vote, with all six nays coming from the joint committee’s House members. That could be consequential during the legislative session when the bill, if it’s to become law, must pass in each chamber separately.
Declining to loosen eligibility requirements
The committee also rejected a bill to lower eligibility requirements by changing the metrics from GPA “and” exam scores, to GPA “or” exam scores, with a 2-11 vote.
Several lawmakers said the current system of considering both metrics together wasn’t perfect and disadvantaged bad test takers. But they voiced concerns about “grade inflation” by teachers who might be pressured to award higher grades by families who knew GPA alone could secure a larger scholarship.
“The pressures on everybody getting an A get to be just incredible,” Sen. Charles Scott (R-Casper). “And we've got enough problems with that already.”
Opening up state support for alternative institutions
The Hathaway is available to any in-state student attending a public university or college in Wyoming, but lawmakers also advanced a bill that would award smaller scholarships from the same endowment to as many as 200 students attending in-state private colleges.
Lawmakers engaged in a debate about this bill during the last education committee meeting in August. But on Thursday, they said little in support or against the proposal before voting 9-4 to advance it.
The committee rejected a separate bill that would open up the Hathaway for career and technical education, or CTE, programs. Rep. Martha Lawley (R-Worland) voted against the bill but said she wants to support CTE training.
“I don't think Hathaway is the best way to do it,” she said.
Lawley said updating the Wyoming Works Program might be more appropriate. That program already provides individual grants for students pursuing degrees in high-demand fields.
The three Hathaway bills that did advance will have to survive the legislative session in February before they can become law.
The 2026 session is focused on the state budget, so non-budget bills will need to earn a yes vote from two-thirds of all lawmakers in their chamber of origin to even be introduced.
