The state of Arizona has allocated $16.3 million in one-time funding this fiscal year in scholarships for eligible low-income Arizona students. This is in addition to the $20 million ongoing annual funding and the estimated $17.7 million in one-time surplus funding.
The total $54 million — approved by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and the state Legislature — is allotted to the Arizona Promise Program, a “guaranteed scholarship program” for eligible low-income Arizona students in which all tuition and fees are covered for them to attend one of the state’s three public universities — University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University.
UA President Suresh Garimella said he appreciates the governor’s and legislature’s higher education investments “in a challenging budget year,” including “support for the Arizona Promise Program. “By holding in-state tuition flat and expanding access through these targeted investments, the U of A strengthens its commitment to serving Arizona’s students, workforce, and economy,” Garimella said in a statement to the Star.
The program, which started in 2022, provided about $20 million in total funding last fiscal year.
The military veterans scholarship — allotted $10 million in baseline continuation funding in the FY26 budget — offers free tuition to spouses of honorably discharged veterans at state universities and colleges.
The Arizona Community College Promise Program — which was allotted $3 million in the FY26 budget — offers scholarships to eligible low-income Arizona students attending community colleges in the state. This is the first year the community college promise program has a designated funding stream from the state, said Megan Gilbertson, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Board of Regents.
Arizona Teachers Academy — which received $15 million in existing baseline funding and $9 million in new funding — is a scholarship program which helps pay the tuition and fees for students in a state university or community college who make a commitment to teach in an Arizona public school for every year they receive the scholarship.
In the Arizona Promise Program, the total state funding is allocated to the three universities based on each institution’s prior-year count of in-state students in financial need.
“The funding is prorated based on the university’s Pell-eligible Arizona student population,” said Gilbertson. “So, each university has a total number of Pell-eligible Arizona students. So, that means that you have to be an Arizona resident student, you have to qualify based on the language provided in state law, and then we prorate that funding based on the number of students at each university…And each year it will be different.”
While the state allots a portion of the funding for scholarships and grants through the promise program, university dollars as well as federal student aid like Pell Grants also fund them. Pell grants are typically awarded to undergraduate students with “exceptional financial need” and are applied for through FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
In FY24, Arizona’s public universities had 46,417 students eligible for the promise program commitment, totaling $306 million in scholarships and grants. While the universities covered 88%, the state funding covered the additional 12%.
The breakdown of the students was: ASU had 24,653 students with $23 million in state appropriation and $129 million in university aid; UA had 10,764 students with $8 million in state appropriation and $62 million in university aid; and NAU had 8,694 students with $6 million in state appropriation and $77 million in university aid.
Gilbertson said the board is currently finalizing the scholarship distributions from the recently passed state budget and that they will have final FY26 distributions completed this month.
Helping in-state high school graduates receive a higher education is important, ABOR Regent Fred Duval said at a board meeting last month.
At the UA, there has been a steady decline in the ratio of in-state student recruitment and out-of-state student recruitment. Nearly a decade ago, in 2017, the ratio of non-resident to resident students on the UA campus was 15,581 to 25,956. Today in 2025, the ratio stands at 21,806 to 24,735.
Students who earn their bachelor’s degree from an Arizona university triple their earning potential compared to those with a high school diploma, according to the advocacy group Education Forward Arizona.
Gilbertson said that while the state’s public universities were growing their out-of-state student population at a faster rate than in-state students, the promise program is a commitment to Arizona students to ensure that more Arizonans get the assistance to obtain their degrees and keep the price of those degrees affordable.
“States with promise programs do see higher high school graduation rates, they see increased college-going rates, and more students graduating from college,” she said. “So, promise programs across the country are really successful in ensuring that local students can affordably access higher education.”
The Arizona Capitol is seen in in the fading sunlight.
