Students must be enrolled in the eighth, ninth, 10th or 11th grade to be eligible to apply for Oklahoma’s Promise (homeschool students must be age 13, 14, 15 or 16; see the following question). Applications are dated by academic year (i.e., 2022-23 school year). Students completing the seventh grade in May must wait until the next school year application is available in August to apply. Students completing the 11th grade MUST apply before the June 30 application deadline at the end of their junior year.
The deadline to apply for Oklahoma’s Promise each year is always clearly indicated on the application, so it is a good idea to check the application first. The deadline is June 30. However, during years that June 30 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the application deadline will be the Monday following which is July 1 or July 2. Again, please check the application you are completing for the exact date.
Students who are homeschooled must be age 13, 14, 15 or 16 at the time of application (grade levels do not apply). A homeschool student may not apply after they turn 17 years old. The same income and residency requirements apply to all applicants.
For purposes of the Oklahoma’s Promise application, the legal guardian is not the parent but rather the guardian as appointed by a court of law. Temporary guardianship, power of attorney or a notarized statement by the parent do not qualify as legal guardianship. Legal guardians do not need to submit income information but must instead submit a copy of the legal guardian paperwork issued by the court.
Special income provisions apply to students who have been adopted while in the permanent custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services or in the court-ordered custody of a licensed, private, nonprofit child-placing agency or federally recognized Indian tribe. For these adopted students, no income verification is required at the time of application in the eighth, ninth, 10th or 11th grade. However, documentation of the legal adoption is required. These adopted students will be subject to a second income limit while the student is enrolled in college. For students adopted between the ages of birth and 12, the second income limit will be $150,000. For students adopted between the ages of 13 and 17, the second income limit will be $200,000. Parents of adopted children who do not fall under this provision of the law are still subject to the initial income limits at the time of application and the $100,000 second income limit while the student is in college.
The limits applied at the time a student enrolls in Oklahoma’s Promise in the eighth, ninth, 10th or 11th grade are based on the federal adjusted gross income (AGI) of the student’s parents. The AGI of the student’s parent(s) for the most recently completed federal tax year must fall within one of the following categories:
*Documentation of dependent children from the federal income tax return is required.
Special income provisions may apply to children adopted from certain court-ordered custody, children in the custody of court-appointed legal guardians and Social Security benefits based on the disability or death of the student's parent(s). See question "What if the parent(s) federal adjusted gross income (AGI) includes Social Security death or disability benefits?" below or contact the Oklahoma's Promise office for more information.
Special income provisions apply to children adopted from certain court-ordered custody and children in the custody of a court-appointed legal guardian. See questions "What are the application requirements for adopted children?" or "What is the difference between parent and legal guardian?" above or contact the Oklahoma's Promise office for more information.
Income from Social Security death and disability benefits will not disqualify a student from eligibility to apply for Oklahoma’s Promise. However, the income from these benefits must still be disclosed. Subject to the State Regents’ review, if the parents’ federal adjusted gross income, excluding the Social Security death and disability benefits, does not exceed the initial income limits, the student will be eligible to enroll in the program. This provision applies only to Social Security death and disability benefits. Social Security benefits based on retirement and included in the AGI are counted toward the income limits.
For Oklahoma’s Promise, the income limit is verified when the student applies for the program in high school and each year the student is enrolled in college.
*Documentation of dependent children from the federal income tax return is required.
Special income provisions may apply to children adopted from certain court-ordered custody, children in the custody of court-appointed legal guardians, and Social Security benefits based on the disability or death of the student’s parent(s). See the question "What if the parents' federal adjusted gross income (AGI) includes Social Security death or disability benefits?" below or contact the Oklahoma's Promise office for more information.
For an online application, all correspondence will be done by email. If you clicked “Submit,” you will have received an email confirmation immediately. Once you click Submit, you should see the confirmation page that you need to print and mail to the Oklahoma's Promise office with your income documentation (this helps us match your documentation to your record). Once we have reviewed the documentation, you will receive an email confirming your student's enrollment into the program or requesting additional information. Some email providers send our automated emails to spam, so you may want to add okpromise@osrhe.edu to your address book.
For a paper application, all correspondence will be done by regular postal mail. You should include all income documentation with your paper application and send it to the Oklahoma's Promise office. Once we have reviewed the application, you will receive a letter confirming your student's enrollment into the program or requesting additional information.
You must click “submit” for an online application on or before June 30. If you complete a paper application, it must be postmarked on or before June 30. It is recommended that you complete the full process as soon as possible so that the student can work with their school counselor to enroll in the required classes. However, any follow-up paperwork, including income documentation or other documentation requested by the Oklahoma’s Promise office, MUST be submitted on or before Dec. 31 of the student’s senior year. [Students graduating early from high school must submit all required documentation prior to the student graduating in order to be considered for enrollment into the Oklahoma’s Promise program.]
