Senate green-lights bill on scholarships

A bill that would create a state needs-based scholarship program zipped through the Arkansas Senate on Monday.

The Senate voted 34-0 to send Senate Bill 248 by Sen. Jane English, R-North Little Rock, to the House for further consideration. The bill would create the Arkansas Academic Challenge Plus Scholarship Program to provide additional funds for students based on their financial need.

Under the bill, a student would be eligible for the new program for an academic semester or academic year if the student applies for and maintains eligibility for a scholarship under the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship program and demonstrates financial need as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is known as FAFSA.

The scholarship would be awarded in increments of $1,000 for each eligible student in each academic year with a maximum of $4,000 for each eligible student in each academic year, as determined by the Division of Higher Education under the bill. The scholarship amounts may vary each year depending on the amount of funding available under the bill.

The sum of an Arkansas Academic Challenge Plus Scholarship and Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship wouldn’t exceed $5,000 in total for each eligible student in an academic year under the bill. Under Act 1105 of 2015, the scholarship size for Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship recipients is $1,000 for the freshman year at two- and four-year colleges. The scholarship size is $3,000 for recipients for the sophomore year at a two-year college, $4,000 for the sophomore and junior years at the four-year colleges, and $5,000 for the senior year at four-year colleges.

The Challenge Academic Scholarship Plus is projected by the state to cost about $13.5 million a year, according to an estimate from the Department of Finance and Administration.