SB 56 — An Act relating to the Alaska performance scholarship program.

33-LS0350\S33-LS0350\A CS FOR SENATE BILL NO.

56(EDC)56 IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION BY THESENATORS SENATEDUNBAR, EDUCATIONGray-Jackson, COMMITTEEBishop Referred:Introduced:

Finance2/6/23 Sponsor(s):Referred:

SENATORSEducation, DUNBAR,Finance Gray-Jackson, Bishop A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED "An Act relating to the Alaska performance scholarship program." BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:

(2) graduated or will graduate within 1812 [SIX] months from a high school in the state;

and (3) except as provided in (c) of this section, has completed,completed is enrolled in, or plansis toenrolled enroll in a core academic curriculum of high school level coursework that includes (A) four years of mathematics, four years of language arts, four years of science, and four years of social studies, one year of which may include a foreign language, an Alaska Native language, fine arts, [OR] cultural heritage, or career and technical education;

[OR] SB0056B(B) -1-three CSSByears 56(EDC)of Newmathematics, Textfour Underlinedyears [DELETEDof TEXTlanguage BRACKETED]arts, 33-LS0350\SSB0056A (B)-1- threeSB years56 ofNew mathematics,Text fourUnderlined years[DELETED ofTEXT languageBRACKETED] arts,33-LS0350\A three years of science, four years of social studies, and two years of (i) a foreign language or an Alaska Native language;

or (C) three years of mathematics, four years of language arts, three years of science, four years of social studies, one year of which may be career and technical education, and two years of a foreign language or an Alaska Native languagelanguage; [;

and (4) HAShas Aa MINIMUMminimum GRADE-POINTgrade-point AVERAGEaverage INin HIGHhigh SCHOOLschool OFof 2.5 ORor HIGHER;higher;

THEthe DEPARTMENTdepartment SHALLshall SETset BYby REGULATIONregulation MINIMUMminimum REQUIREMENTSrequirements BASEDbased ONon Aa SUBSTANTIALLYsubstantially SIMILARsimilar STANDARDstandard FORfor DISTRICTSdistricts THATthat DOdo NOTnot ASSIGNassign GRADES;grades [;

(h) Not later than January 1531 of each year, a district shall providenotify to each student in the district who is enrolled in grade nine11 orof gradethe 10remaining informationacademic aboutrequirements the CSSBstudent 56(EDC)must -2-meet SB0056Bto Newbe Textawarded Underlinedan [DELETEDAlaska TEXTperformance BRACKETED]scholarship 33-LS0350\Sat Alaskaeach performancelevel scholarship.described in AS 14.43.825(a).

SB 56 -2- SB0056A New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] 33-LS0350\A (i) Not later than DecemberSeptember 3130 of each year, athe districtcommission shall notify each studentapplicant inawarded thea districtscholarship whounder is(a) enrolled in grade 11 of thethis remainingsection academicthat requirements the studentapplicant musthas meetbeen to be awarded an Alaska performance scholarshipscholarship. at each level described in AS 14.43.825(a).

(j) Not later than August 15 of each year, the commission shall notify each applicant awarded a scholarship under (a) of this section that the applicant has been awarded an Alaska performance scholarship.

and (2) inform the applicant that (A) the commission may disburse the award only if the applicant meets the requirements described in (m)(k) of this section;

and (B) the commission will adjust the applicant's award under the circumstances described in (l)(j) of this section.

(k)(j) IfIf, aat districtthe providestime informationan toapplicant orawarded otherwisean communicatesAlaska withperformance ascholarship studentgraduates regardingfrom high school, the Alaskaapplicant's performancegrade-point scholarship,average differs from the districtgrade- shallpoint alsoaverage provideon informationwhich aboutthe commission based the requirementsapplicant's toaward, increasethe ancommission shall adjust the applicant's award levelin underaccordance ASwith 14.43.825(h)the -applicable (j).Alaska performance scholarship level described in AS 14.43.825(a).

(l)(k) If,Notwithstanding at(a) theof timethis ansection, applicantand awardedexcept anas Alaskaprovided performancein scholarship(c) graduatesof fromthis highsection, school, the applicant'scommission grade-pointmay averagedisburse differsan fromAlaska theperformance grade-scholarship pointawarded averageto onan whichapplicant theunder commissionthis basedsection only if the applicant'sapplicant award,(1) thehas, commissionat shallthe adjusttime of the applicant's awardgraduation infrom accordancehigh withschool, (A) completed the applicablecore Alaskaacademic performancecurriculum scholarshipof high school level coursework described in AS(a)(3) 14.43.825(a).of this section;

(m) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, and except(B) asmet provided in (c) of this section, the commissionminimum maygrade-point disburseaverage anin Alaska performance scholarship awarded to an applicant under this section only if the applicant (1) has, at the time of the applicant's graduation from high school, (A) completed the core academic curriculum of high school level coursework described in (a)(3)(a)(4) of this section;

and (B) met the minimum SB0056B -3- CSSB 56(EDC) New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] 33-LS0350\S (i) grade-point average in high school described in AS 14.43.825(a);

or (ii) score on a college entrance examination described in AS 14.43.825(a);

(1) the first award level is $7,000 [$4,755] and requires a (A)[(A)] 3.5 grade-point average or above,above or[; the equivalent established under (g) of this section;

orAND [AND]SB0056A -3- SB 56 New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] 33-LS0350\A (B) veryVERY highHIGH minimumMINIMUM scoreSCORE onON aA collegeCOLLEGE entranceENTRANCE examination;EXAMINATION];

(2) the second award level is $5,250 [$3,566] and requires a (A)[(A)] 3.0 grade-point average or above,above or[; the equivalent established under (g) of this section;

orAND [AND] (B) highHIGH minimumMINIMUM scoreSCORE onON aA collegeCOLLEGE entranceENTRANCE examination;EXAMINATION];

(3) the third award level is $3,500 [$2,378] and requires a (A)[(A)] 2.5 grade-point average or above,above or[; the equivalent established under (g) of this section;

orAND [AND] (B) moderatelyMODERATELY highHIGH minimumMINIMUM scoreSCORE onON aA collegeCOLLEGE entranceENTRANCE examination.EXAMINATION].

*SB Sec.56 -4- SB0056A New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]

6.

AS 14.43.825(c) is amended to read:

(c) Except as provided in (b) of this section, a student receiving a scholarship may remain eligible for up to eight semesters of enrollment in good standing at a CSSB 56(EDC) -4- SB0056B New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] 33-LS0350\S qualified university or college, which may include graduate courses.

A student's eligibility under this subsection is extended by one semester for each semester the student is enrolled part time in good standing at a qualified university or college.

* Sec.

7.

AS 14.43.825 is amended by adding new subsections to read:

(g) For high schools that do not award grades on a four-point scale, or five- point scale for advanced placement classes, the department shall establish by regulation the equivalent rating required for a scholarship awarded under (a)(1)(A), (2)(A), and (3)(A) of this section.

(h) Each time a student who is an award recipient completes two semesters of full-time enrollment at a qualified postsecondary institution in this state, the postsecondary institution shall review and notify the commission of the student's postsecondary institution grade-point average.

If the student's grades qualify under (i) of this section, the commission shall increase the award level for the student as described in (i) of this section and notify the student of the increase.

In this subsection, "full-time enrollment" means enrollment in a course of study that is not less than 15 credits.

(i) If an award recipient's postsecondary institution grade-point average is (1) 3.5 or above, or the equivalent established under (j) of this section, the commission shall increase the student's award level to the amount described in (a)(1) of this section;

(2) 3.0 or above, or the equivalent established under (j) of this section, the commission shall increase the student's award level to the amount described in (a)(2) of this section.