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SB 407

Academic Excellence Higher Education Scholarships

(Miller/Ballweg) Under current law, the Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB) administers the Academic Excellence Higher Education Scholarships Program.  HEAB awards scholarships to certain designated students who enroll on a full-time basis in a participating public or private institution of higher education.  High school seniors with the highest grade point average in their class receive the award, with the maximum number varying according to the size of the school. Under current law, when two or more seniors from the same high school have the same grade point average, there is a mechanism to award the scholarship using a tie-breaker requiring high schools to weigh courses differently.

This bill would permit a senior with the next highest grade point, but not less than 3.800 or the equivalent, to be certified as an alternate and to receive a scholarship if a senior who is designated as a scholar or an alternate with the same grade point average does not enroll in a participating institution of higher education in all cases, regardless of how the high school weighs its courses.

 

SUPPORT: This bill allows a minor expansion to the number of persons eligible to compete for the Academic Excellence Higher Education Scholarship program. 

The scholarship currently provides each student with up to $2,250 per year.  This amount is one-half funded by GPR and one-half by the participating Wisconsin higher education institution.  It is estimated that this bill would allow 106 additional students to be eligible for the scholarship.  While it is impossible to estimate the number of eligible students who might choose to attend a UW System institution, the maximum fiscal impact of this bill on the UW System is estimated to be $119,000 per year.

UW System supports efforts to provide high performing students with financial incentives to attend Wisconsin colleges and universities.  However, state resources available for financial aid are already limited. With this in mind, UW System would support the expansion of need-based financial aid programs (or those awarded on a combination of merit and demonstrated family need), before committing additional resources to merit-based aid.