Opportunity Scholarship

With the legislature in session, multiple bills continue to be debated and passed, affecting education.  One particular bill that may be of interest is Senate Bill 136 Higher Education Scholarship Amendments, sponsored by Senator Derrin Owens and Representative Lowry Snow. S.B. 136 removeds the ACT requirements from several areas for scholarships and replaced the “Regents Scholarship” with the “Opportunity Scholarship.” Students who have been awarded the Regents Scholarship under the previous guidelines will still receive the funding.  For students to qualify for the Opportunity Scholarship, they will be required to complete 4 credits of English, 4 credits of Math, 3 credits of Social Science, 3 credits of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, and 2 credits of a world language other than English. The Opportunity Scholarship will also require some form of concurrent enrollment (college credit) in Math, Science, and Language Arts. Students must earn a 3.3 GPA in the required courses to be eligible for the scholarship. Students who take the required classes and meet the requirements will receive the Opportunity Scholarship that can be used for tuition and fees at higher education institutions. If the legislation becomes statute, we will inform parents and students of the changes and provide the needed counseling to students who may want to pursue the Opportunity Scholarship.