Alva Review-Courier -

The semi-annual presentation of the Alva Incentive Scholarship invoice was made Monday night to the Alva City Council. Skeeter Bird, chief executive director of the NWOSU Foundation, explained the financial impact of students who receive the scholarship.

"What I'm going to share with you is a spreadsheet. It was first started in 2015 because one of our councilmen at the time, Joey Melton, asked me at the time 'What is our return on investment for our Alva Incentive Scholarship?'" said Bird after passing around a sheet showing his computations.

"I want to say first, thank you for supporting this scholarship. It's huge. It's a great scholarship. It's a great investment in young people. It's a great investment in the university. By the time I get done, I hope you'll feel like you've made a great investment for our future."

The Department of Education estimates that students spend on food, transportation and entertainment between $3,330 and $4,551, said Bird. Using the lower number, he multiplied that by the 314 students receiving the Alva scholarships this fall. That came to $1,037,456.

The bill for the 314 students this fall received $291,287 in Alva Incentive money. This was multiplied by two to include the spring semester for a total of $582,774 spent by Alva over one year. Dividing $1,037,456 by $582,774 equals 178 percent, the annual return on investment for the first year.

"Or to say it differently, every dollar spent by Alva in the incentive brings back $1.78 to our community," said Bird.

Councilmember Troy Brooks asked, "Was this calculated using communities our size?"

"Great question," said Bird. "This is the first year in the last dozen years that I have not had a student at Northwestern. I had three daughters going to school here so I would always test this with them to see how it worked out to see what they were spending in the community. Steve Valencia would go to the Department of Education, and I would go to my daughters. We would do computations, and we'd always come up within $100. I didn't do it this time because I didn't have a kid going to school."

"Now I didn't have a kid in rodeo," added Bird. "That would be off the charts by the time they get fuel, hay and everything. So, I think picking that conservative number, I think we're pretty close."

Bird went on to explain the impact of the typical fall resident student, not just those receiving Alva scholarships. Fall enrollment at NWOSU is 1205 students. Multiplying by the US Department of Education estimate of $3,304, the annual amount spent by students on food, transportation and entertainment only is $3,981,320.

In 2023 the average resident freshman students spends $6,810 in tuition, $652.50 in fees, $5,700 in room and board, and $1,400 on books for a total of $14,562.50 for the year. Multiplying that total by 1205 students equals more than $17.5 million (not including food, transportation and entertainment). Of that amount, Bird said, "about 80 percent is spent in utilities and payroll and that comes back to our community indirectly."

Councilmember Joe Parsons said, "I look at this tax as something we do for the university as appreciation for what the university is as a whole for our community, but dollar on return ... just curious, the 314 people who, this has always been my sticking point, 314 people that receive this scholarship, would this scholarship have made the decision, I mean, I don't know if there's really a way to track that. But what is the average scholarship that you are giving with these funds?"

Bird looked to NWOSU Executive Vice President Dr. David Pecha for that answer. "The invoice breaks down what the students have received," said Pecha. "Some receive two or three different types of incentives paid by the city, some just receive one. It varies."

"So I guess, lowest to highest could you give me ..." said Parsons.

Council President Daniel Winters said, "Around an average of $1,856 per year per student based on the invoice and number of students."

"I will share with you Joe, the strategy is to give them just enough to get them to go to school here and spread it to as many students as possible," said Bird.

Pecha then stepped to the podium. "Dr. Hannaford (NWOSU president) sends his regrets. He had a last-minute conflict," he said. "Again, I want to thank the council and citizens for their support. I might just follow up with a comment on what you just said. I do know a lot of students if it were not for this Alva Incentive, for the dollars provided by that, would not be at Northwestern. I do know in some cases it was the deciding factor. I know you see a lot of the athletic scholarships that are on here. Those athletic teams have higher recruiting numbers. If they did not have the Alva Incentive money, those students would not be here as part of those sports programs in Alva."

Vote on Invoice Payment

The invoice for the scholarships is paid through the Alva Economic Development Authority which met later Monday. The city councilmembers serve as AEDA trustees. The AEDA oversees the sales tax funds designated for the scholarships.

At that point, Parsons said he had been asked a question by others. He said it's been 20 years, and at what point does the city hold a revote on the sales tax. Winters said the state process is that enough signatures have to be collected on a petition to hold an election.

Sadie Bier made a motion, seconded by Greg Bowman, to approve the $291,387 fall scholarship invoice. The motion carried by a 6-1 vote with Brooks voting no. Councilmember Taylor Dowling left before the AEDA meeting began.