SB 907 – This act creates the "Early High School Graduation Scholarship Program," to be implemented and administered by the Department of Higher Education. The Program will provide scholarships to students who graduate from public high school in Missouri in forty-one months or less. A student who graduates from high school in no more than forty-one months and meets other requirements as described in the act will be offered a scholarship in an amount equal to eighty percent of the state aid attributable to that student for the school district. The student's high school will be offered a grant in an amount equal to twenty percent of the state aid attributable to that student for the school district. A student can use the scholarship for tuition, mandatory fees, or both, if attending a public institution of higher education in Missouri. If the student attends a private institution of higher education, the student can use the scholarship for tuition, mandatory fees, or both.
A scholarship recipient must use the scholarship within one year of graduating from high school. Exceptions exist for students who cannot attend an institution of higher education because of service to a nonprofit organization, a state or federal government agency, or a branch of the United States military. A scholarship recipient may seek an extension if he or she shows hardship or good cause, as described in the act.
When a scholarship recipient enrolls in a higher education institution, the institution must apply to the charges for tuition and mandatory fees the lesser of the amount of the scholarship or the actual tuition or mandatory fees.
Any student who graduates from high school and receives a scholarship through this program will be included in the weighted average daily attendance of the school district from which the student graduated for the length of time it would have taken the student to complete high school had the student not graduated early. Any funds from this inclusion will be placed in the Early High School Graduation Scholarship Program Fund. These funds will be used to distribute scholarship and grants.
The Department of Higher Education must confirm the student's graduation and higher education enrollment with the high school and institution of higher education.
Each public high school must provide information about the scholarship program to students and include the number and type of credits necessary to meet the program's eligibility requirements and the appropriate order in which those courses must be earned.
By January 31, 2011, the Department of Higher Education, in cooperation with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, must prepare a publication about the program and post it on its website.
MICHAEL RUFF