CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – More students will be eligible for the Hope Scholarship Program in the 2026-2027 academic year.

According to West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore, the state met the law requirements to open up the scholarship program applications to all of West Virginia’s school-age children for the 2026-2027 academic year.

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The Hope Scholarship Program, approved by the state legislature in 2021 through the Hope Scholarship Act, was initially only available to West Virginia children entering kindergarten or enrolled in public school for “a qualifying amount of time.” However, the Act states that if the number of Hope Scholarship students and applicants was below 5% of the net public school enrollment for the 2023-2024 academic year, the program will be open to all West Virginia school-age children in the 2026-2027 academic year.

According to Moore’s office, 9,980 students were enrolled or applicants of the program as of Monday, July 1, 2024. They say this puts the total below that 5% threshold, which is 12,416.

“We believe, based on Department of Education estimates, that this will open up Hope Scholarship eligibility to an additional 30,000 to 40,000 West Virginia students in 2026,” Moore said. “This expansion will allow all West Virginia families to use this program as they pursue the educational opportunities they believe work best for their children.”

For the upcoming 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years, the current eligibility requirements stand that a student must be a resident of West Virginia and either:

• Eligible to be enrolled in a kindergarten program
• Enrolled full-time in a public elementary or secondary school in West Virginia for the entire instructional term of the current academic year immediately preceding the academic year they are applying for.
• Or must be enrolled full-time and attending a public elementary or secondary school program in the state for at least 45 calendar days during an instructional term at the time of application and remain enrolled and attending public school until a decision is reached on their Hope Scholarship application.

In December 2023, state officials announced that the scholarship applications would now be open year-round . They had previously only been available from March 1 to May 15.

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