JACKSON, Miss.—After 170 Mississippi foster students were denied full-ride scholarships due to a funding gap, the Woodward Hines Education Foundation has dedicated $800,000 to fund the affected students’ FAITH scholarships.
“ Philanthropy cannot replace government funding,” said Jim McHale, president and CEO of the Woodward Hines Education Foundation, a Jackson-based nonprofit dedicated to accessible postsecondary education. He made the remarks at an Aug. 5 press conference at the Mississippi State Capitol. “State financial aid programs are a public investment …, but at the same time, we realize that when students are facing an immediate barrier, we believe there is a responsibility to help them find their way.”
And across Mississippi, community colleges and universities alike are coordinating to prevent any of the students with completed applications for the FAITH scholarship from being denied this fall. “ Because of our incredible partners around the state—private (institutions), our nonprofits, our universities and colleges across the state—we are going to make sure that every one of these students has the opportunity to take advantage of the scholarship,” said Mississippi Sen. Nicole Boyd, R-Oxford, who marshalled many of the individuals and institutions responding to the scholarship funding crisis after reading the Mississippi Free Press’ July 31 story that broke the news of the FAITH scholarship funding gap.
The week prior, 170 aspiring college students who had largely expected their scholarship money to arrive in the weeks before their move to college campuses across the state received sudden notices from the Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid. The messages warned them that budgetary shortfalls meant they would be receiving none of the funding for the 2026-2027 school year to cover the entire cost of tuition, housing and educational costs.
Some institutions, like Mississippi Christian University and Delta State University, have already fully committed to covering any of the FAITH students with completed applications who were denied. Boyd told the Mississippi Free Press in an Aug. 5 interview that Millsaps College in Jackson and William Carey University in Hattiesburg have made commitments to the students but have yet to finalize their numbers. She said that all the state’s colleges and universities are actively working with their foundations to step in to support the students.
In addition to its direct gift of $800,000, which covers about half of the shortfall in the FAITH program’s funding, Woodward Hines is also opening a charitable fund to allow businesses and individuals to make tax-deductible contributions towards students’ tuition costs for the fall—a stopgap measure, McHale said.
Like most of those present at Wednesday’s press event, McHale was unaware of the immediacy of the coming crisis, and stunned to read news reports of the dramatic loss the many young foster students experienced when the FAITH scholarship funds ran dry.
“ I saw your article on Monday morning, and that really brought it to life,” McHale told this reporter. “We started seeing some communications from foster parents, as well as some of the students who were devastated by this whole thing.”
“ I called an emergency board meeting for yesterday,” McHale explained. “We knew that if the state were to try to make this whole, they can’t make that decision until January. And we can’t afford to have these students going three to four months without any place to go. They’re in foster care … . So we made the decision to guarantee for those students that they have the opportunity to start school in the fall, and then really hope that the Legislature comes through, as they’ve been saying, and make it whole.”
“I was in institutional care in the ’60s here in Jackson,” Mississippi House Rep. Bill Kinkade, R-Byhalia, told the Mississippi Free Press in an Aug. 5 interview. “I saw the limited opportunities that my group had … . That’s where that passion comes from. I relate with the kids that don’t have all these advantages. It’s special, personal to me.” The full name of the legislation bears Kinkade’s name.
FAITH, or the State Representative Bill Kinkade Fostering Access and Inspiring True Hope Scholarship, kicks in for qualifying students after Pell grants and other scholarships are accounted for. It covers the entire cost of a student’s education and lodging, even providing housing accommodations for students if they have nowhere to go during institutional breaks.
However, FAITH scholarships are not continuously funded like other state-level college assistance programs such as the Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant (MTAG). Instead, the Mississippi Legislature appropriates specific funding yearly. Jennifer Rogers, the executive director of the Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid, told the Mississippi Free Press on July 31 that legislators only appropriated $3 million out of a $4.6 million request for this school year.
FAITH scholarships are also prioritized for renewal students before being doled out to new applicants on a first-come, first-served basis. That puts a certain strain on the program as administrators are unclear on how much funding it will receive until shortly before the school year begins.
“There was a projection of what was going to be needed that did not line up with reality,” Boyd said. Two primary factors accounted for the significantly higher cost this year. “It was the amount of people that applied, and that costs have gone up for (postsecondary education) as well.”
Notably, a streamlined process for acquiring student aid in the first place contributed to the significantly higher applications. “FAFSA changed and made it a lot easier to fill out,” Boyd said.
It was clear to legislators earlier this year that a funding crisis over the FAITH program was brewing, but a miscommunication left many expecting that the coffers would run dry in 2027, when the Legislature would be in session and capable of addressing the shortfall.
With incorrect projections as to how much money would be left over, and how much money the program would cost, the $1.6 million gap emerged too late for the Legislature to be able to act directly. Boyd assured the Mississippi Free Press that the Legislature would revisit the program in January to ensure no further disruptions to foster children seeking higher education would occur.
“ Nationwide, only 8 to 12% of people in the foster care system get a two- or four-year degree,” Boyd said. “So it is essential right now that they continue this education while they’re in the process. And they’re dreaming of going to college. They’re making a better situation for themselves. So it’s absolutely critical that we get them on that trajectory.”
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