<p>^Sheesh! So, it’s true. Some students have little to do, others must bust their butts.</p>
<p>Apparently…all my state needs is my name, congressional district, and transcript.</p>
<p>Don’t want to rain on all of your parades, but a COMPLETE elimination of the scholarship for all current recipients is included in today’s Tea Party Spending Cuts. Obama also wants to see it eliminated. However, Tom Harkin in the Senate has supported it in the past. I plan to call his office on Monday.</p>
<p>Found this online today: </p>
<p>“In all three cases Byrd, Stupak and Denali Obama and House Republicans agree: Its time for them to go. The programs show up on both the administrations cut list for next year and the GOPs proposed trims for this year”. </p>
<p>It doesn’t look good for these scholarships. I hope they decide to keep them - my son is in the running for the Robert C. Byrd. But it looks like if you get this scholarship you have to worry constantly about it being funded each year.</p>
<p>^Oh well, there’s nothing to lose by applying. :)</p>
<p>It is unsurprising that the Repug House leadership is seeking to to defund current and future Byrd Scholarships. (The Repugs have tried this repeatedly in past years.)</p>
<p>However, it is surprising, and infuriating, that Obama also is seeking to
eliminate current and future Byrd Scholarships.</p>
<p>The following is the Obama Administrations’s rationale to zero out the
program in its proposwed budget(<a href=“http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/trs.pdf):%5B/url%5D”>http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/trs.pdf):</a></p>
<p>"The programs listed below are not means-tested, overlap with other
programs [nonsense], have completed their purpose [ditto], or no longer serve a national need [ditto] and would be more appropriately supported with private funding [ditto].
None have performance data that makes a compelling case for continued
funding [ditto]… </p>
<p>"Byrd Scholarships are only available to a small number of elite <a href=“around%200.3%20percent%20of%20first-time%20postsecondary%20students%20receive%20the%20scholarship”>which, it seems, now is a perjorative not only for Repugs but also for the Obama Administration</a>, and States are prohibited from considering financial need when awarding the scholarships. Reliable performance data are not available, and the design of the program suggests these scholarships do not generally facilitate postsecondary education opportunities that would not otherwise be possible for awardees. Given the high academic performance of the students who receive the award, many of these students would still enter an undergraduate course
of study and graduate even without receiving the scholarship. The Department of Education supports student financial aid through a variety of generally available grant and loan programs. During this period of difficult budget choices, the Administration is focusing its Budget on areas where students face barriers to higher education such as
financial need.</p>
<p>It is unfortunate that Bryd no longer is present to defend the program. Perhaps former colleagues in the Senate will do so.</p>
<p>As a Byrd scholarship recipient, I can sympathize. However, in the end it is still an entirely MERIT-BASED federal scholarship. If the administration has the philosophy that the federal government should only fund need-based aid, that is a reasonable stance to take.</p>
<p>It is one of the FEW merit based scholarships available - and doesn’t require need or specific ethnicity. It is extremely unfortunate that it is being considered for cutting, as MANY students have few options for scholarships. Just because you may not qualify for a pell grant does not mean that you have extended resources to afford college. The EFC number is unreasonable and often unaffordable. We are putting many middle class families into further and further debt - much like the housing crisis.</p>
<p>I think the government has to cut its funding somewhere. Unfortunately, all US citizens are going to be affected in different ways. As someone who definitely qualifies for the Robert C. Byrd and is hoping to get it this year, I really would prefer to have this scholarship. But I would like even more for the US to start making cuts and work to get rid of its debt. Therefore, I am willing to sacrifice this scholarship and in other areas if it means less US debt and less US over-spending of money the government doesn’t have.</p>
<p>^^Many colleges and universities all across the country would offer much larger merit scholarships to the high-achieving students that receive the Byrd. You are correct in calling it one of very few purely merit-based scholarships with no other eligibility restrictions that is transferable to any college, but that is a definite luxury.</p>
<p>Obviously I’d like to keep my scholarship, but when it comes down to necessary cuts, I’d rather save WIC, PBS, Planned Parenthood, or any number of valuable public programs that the Republican proposal would cut. Pick your battles.</p>
<p>apparently californians were notified just now (april 4), for the current school year. this is really weird…</p>
<p>Well that’s good news! And Cali is lucky - in Texas, we don’t get notified until June / July! :D</p>
<p>So you mean they are actually saying that they have funds for this scholarship for the 2011/2012 school year? That is great news for those hoping to get the Byrd scholarship. Thanks for letting us know.</p>
<p>sorry if i wasn’t clear (and i see now that i wasn’t), but what i meant was that i got a letter re. 2010-2011 school year for my son who is a current college freshman! this is verrrry strange since school’s just about over. letter was dated march 23–which would presumably be too early to notify california 2011-12 applicants. i guess we’ll see how this plays itself out…</p>
<p>“Key eliminations include Educational Technology State Grants, which sought to make all students technologically literate by the end of eighth grade; Literacy through School Libraries, which provided up-to-date materials for school libraries; and the Byrd Honors Scholarship Program, which provided scholarships to gifted high school seniors. Those cuts amounted to $161 million.”</p>
<p>[Department</a> of Education Fares Well in Budget Deal - High School Notes (usnews.com)](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2011/04/13/department-of-education-fares-well-in-budget-deal]Department”>http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2011/04/13/department-of-education-fares-well-in-budget-deal)</p>
<p>The only large merit scholarship available to students at first-tier colleges appears to have been eliminated.</p>
<p>STINK! 
I am a low-income person who qualifies for the big academic stuff and I could definitely have used this scholarship along with the full Pell grants I got. Sad day.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/statetables/12stbyprogram.pdf[/url]”>http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/statetables/12stbyprogram.pdf</a></p>
<p>It’s most definitely on the chopping block. Under current proposal, there will be funding for fiscal year 2011 but not 2012. I think this implies that the 2011-12 year will be the last for this.</p>
<p>I’m a Byrd Scholar, and a little upset by the way this was handled.</p>
<p>The thing that kind of bugs me is that they didn’t phase it out, but just outright cut it completely. I relied on having this funding for college. They just couldn’t choose to accept no new applicants.</p>
<p>Plus part of me feel that it must have been mildly awkward in Congress, considering how Byrd recently passed away, and this is kind of a turn for the worse on the educational values that were once fought hard for.</p>
<p>I just received this email in Oregon:</p>
<p>“OSAC regrets to inform you that the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholars Program was recently eliminated from the federal budget for 2012. In addition, current funding for this program has been restricted by the U.S. Department of Education. Therefore, you cannot receive the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship for the 2011-2012 academic year. Because of your strong academic record, we recommended that you contact your financial aid office, if you have not already done so, to determine the availability of institutional scholarship funding. You can also complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on line at [Home</a> - FAFSA on the Web-Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov%5DHome”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov) to apply for the many federal financial aid programs available at your college or university.”</p>
<p>Does this mean I just didn’t get it? Or that they are just simply not awarding them this year?</p>
<p>Just received a letter from West Virginia (Sen. Byrd’s and my state) Higher Education Policy Commission, stating that Congress had eliminated funding for the Scholarship, and there is no funding for THIS YEAR. In honor of Sen. Byrd, the State is going to pay for one more year (2011-2012)for West Virginia recipients so that no one who earned this honor will lose it suddenly. Perhaps if you send this message to your state it might give it the same idea. RIP Sen. Byrd, and thank you.</p>
<p>So Illinois residents were never told of the change. Today I contacted the Illinois Student Assistance Commission and was informed that the Byrd Scholarship has not received federal funds but that might change. A sister of an illinois senator informed me that they are still negotiating the budget. </p>
<p>We should all contact our senators and congressmen/women and ask that funding be reconsidered.</p>