ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
early graduation
college scholarships
Establishes the early graduation college scholarship fund in the Arizona Department of Education to award qualified students who graduate early from high school with a two-year higher education scholarship.
Arizona high school students may graduate early from high school after successful completion of the required course credits and starting in the Spring of 2006, students would also be required to pass the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test. Data is currently not available regarding the estimated number of students who graduate in three years or less from high school, according to the Arizona Department of Education.
S.B. 1129 establishes the early graduation college scholarship fund to award students who graduate early from high school with a two-year higher education scholarship to use at qualified higher education institutions in the State. The scholarship amount for each fiscal year equals one-half of the estimated statewide average per pupil expenditure under the K-12 equalization funding formula and the bill grants the scholarship award over two years.
The basic state aid per pupil equals approximately $4,300 for the average pupil in a school district and $4,800 for the average pupil in a charter school. The average year of full-time tuition at a state university is approximately $2,400.
At this time, any fiscal impact to the state general fund associated with this bill is undetermined. A Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) fiscal note has been ordered.
1. Requires the State Board of Education to award qualified high school graduates with an early graduation college scholarship. Scholarships shall come from monies deposited into the early graduation college scholarship fund.
2. Establishes the following scholarship criteria:
a) Students must graduate from a high school in three consecutive academic years or less after entering the ninth grade.
b) Students must graduate with a grade point average of at least 3.0.
c) Students must submit an application to the State Board of Education.
3. Requires students qualifying for the early graduation college scholarship to receive a scholarship for the next two academic years after the student graduates from high school.
4. Requires the scholarship amount to be one-half of the estimated statewide average per pupil expenditure for all school districts and charter schools collectively for the fiscal year under the equalization funding formula.
5. Stipulates that if the scholarship amount for the two academic years following high school exceeds the amount of higher education tuition owed by the scholarship recipient, then any unused portion of the scholarship amount remains in the scholarship fund for other scholarship recipients in subsequent years.
6. Requires the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to estimate: (a) the per pupil scholarship amount required by this act; and (b) the estimated total funding requirements for the early graduation college scholarships for the fiscal year.
7. Requires the ADE to transfer the amount of estimated scholarship funding to the early graduation college scholarship fund for the fiscal year from basic state aid monies appropriated to the ADE.
8. Requires a scholarship recipient to use a scholarship to defray all or a portion of tuition expenses at a state university or community college or an accredited institution under the jurisdiction of the State Board for Private Postsecondary Education. Stipulates that nothing in this act be construed to guarantee that a scholarship recipient be admitted to or be given preferential admission status by any of the qualifying institutions.
9. Requires the ADE to distribute monies from the early graduation college scholarship fund directly to the qualifying higher education institution in an amount corresponding to the tuition charged for the student’s enrolled credit hours for the first two academic years after the recipient graduates from high school.
10. Establishes the early graduation college scholarship fund to be administered by the ADE.
11. Requires the ADE to distribute monies in the fund for the fiscal year from monies appropriated from the state general fund to the ADE for basic state aid for the fiscal year. Monies in the fund are exempt from lapsing.
12. Provides for a general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Staff
February 5, 2002