A bill to save the New Century Scholarship program by limiting the eligible applicants unanimously passed a legislative committee Friday.
Last year, the Utah State Board of Regents almost cut the scholarship’s financial coverage from 75 percent of a student’s tuition for two years at a Utah state-funded college to 40 percent. It decided against it at the last minute, but said it would revisit how to revise the scholarship, since budget cuts mean there isn’t as much money to go around.
That time has come. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, said they must make revisions to the scholarship for it to survive and added that the adjustments would “enforce stronger academic preparation.”
Senate Bill 132 would add requirements and change the deadline for applicants of the New Century Scholarship. The Utah State Legislature created the scholarship in 1999 for high school students in Utah who also received their associate’s degree upon graduation. If passed, S.B. 132 will—for the first time—require applicants to maintain a 3.5 high school GPA, or an ACT score of 26 if the student did not attend high school.
The bill would also move the deadline at which students need to receive their associate’s degree from September to January, Valentine said.
Students attending BYU or Westminster are also eligible for the scholarship, but they do not necessarily receive 75 percent tuition coverage. Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, questioned whether students attending private college should continue to receive the scholarship because those schools are not affected by state-mandated budget cuts.
Hillyard said he might look to amend the bill on the Senate floor to change this.
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