Silver State Opportunity Grant Now Available
On behalf of the Board of Regents, the Nevada System of Higher Education is pleased to announce that the Silver State Opportunity Grant (SSOG) program, created by the 2015 Legislature under Senate Bill 227 (Chapter 387, Statutes of Nevada), is up and running. As you will recall, under the SSOG Program, need-based grants are awarded to eligible low-income students who are college-ready to pay for a portion of their cost of education at an NSHE community college or state college beginning in Fall 2015. The Legislature appropriated $2.5 million in each year of the biennium to fund awards under the SSOG Program, which is built on a shared responsibility model and guided by a philosophy for awarding grant aid based on the total cost of attendance (tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, and other living expenses) being shared by partners (the state, federal government, family, and the student).
Funding for the program was allocated to institutions based on undergraduate FTE enrollment and eligible students. As a result, approximately two-thirds of the funding was allocated to southern institutions. A complete description of the program and how the grant is calculated for eligible students is available on the NSHE web site.
Since early June when Senate Bill 227 passed, the Board of Regents adopted the necessary policy governing the program and detailed procedures have been implemented to guide the institutions and identify eligible students. As of August 10, 2015, 689 undergraduate students at Nevada State College (NSC), College of Southern Nevada (CSN), Great Basin College (GBC), Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC), and Western Nevada College (WNC) met the program eligibility criteria and were awarded the Silver State Opportunity Grant. Those students will be notified of such in the days to follow. Grants were awarded to students with the most financial need first. In other words, students with the least ability to cover the total cost of their education received the grant first. Awards based on the grant’s shared responsibility calculation ranged in amounts up to a maximum award of $5,500 for Academic Year 2015-16.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support of NSHE students and helping them to achieve their dreams of a college education.
