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SDPB Radio Coverage of the South Dakota Legislature. See all coverage and find links to audio and video streams live from the Capitol at www.sdpb.org/statehouse

Needs Based Scholarship Leaps Forward

If the State Senate gets its way South Dakota will have a new needs based scholarship.
 
The South Dakota Senate unanimously passed a measure to create a college scholarship for bright young students who might not be able to afford higher education.     Republican State Senator Russell Olson is the prime sponsor of the bill.   He says it will give more  young people a chance to succeed in college.   Olson says South Dakota is the only state without this type of scholarship.   
 
"You know the poorest students now have nine times less likely opportunity to get a college degree than the wealthiest.  South Dakota, if we pass this, we finally get to say we're one of the rest of the 50 states that have a needs based system," says Olson.
 
He says funding is not part of the measure at this time. He says that is being worked out later in the session. The measure goes next to the House.    It was one of a large number of bills passed out of the State Senate on Crossover Day.   Yesterday (Wednesday) was the last day for a bill to clear its house of origin.    You can find more about all the bills passed on the Statehouse page here on SDPB.org.