LANSING - The Michigan Promise Scholarship, providing up to $4,000 to select high school graduates, was cut by the Legislature Tuesday.

According to the Michigan Promise Scholarship fact sheet for the 2008-09 academic year, the scholarship was geared toward high school graduates for successfully completing two years of post-secondary education and for students who took the Michigan Merit Exam.

"It's true; they have decided to cut it," John Lehman, assistant vice president for student enrollment at Michigan Technological University, said.

However, Lehman said they are hearing daily new status updates concerning the scholarship and finding alternate ways to compensate for the funding lost.

"There are people in Lansing interested in reinstating it to get scholarship funding," he said. "We are cautiously optimistic."

Approximately 1,863 students at Michigan Tech, who receive some form of funding for education, had their financial aid cut by the state, including the Michigan Promise Scholarship, which was the biggest cut.

"If (the scholarship is) not reinstated, they will lose nearly $1 million in scholarship funding for the spring term," Lehman said.

Michigan Tech has already decided to fund $1,000 per student for the fall semester to freshmen and sophomores who received state funding in some way.

"We e-mailed students and let them know that we don't know if the Michigan Promise is going to be there in the spring," he said.

Although the House voted to cut the scholarship, there still is time to for members of legislation to reinstate a program with alternative funds.

"This vote has passed to cut the program, but this is an investment for the future," Lehman said.

Stacey Ashcraft can be reached at sashcraft@mininggazette.com.