§ 6-82-1103 - Eligibility -- Number of scholarships. - Arkansas Statutes

6-82-1103. Eligibility -- Number of scholarships.

(a) Eligibility for the Second Effort Scholarship Program shall be based on the criteria set forth in this section as well as program rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this subchapter by the Department of Higher Education.

(b) A student shall be eligible for an award from this program if he or she meets all of these criteria:

(1) The recipient shall be at least eighteen (18) years of age or a former member of a high school class which has graduated;

(2) The recipient shall have been a resident of the State of Arkansas for at least twelve (12) months prior to successful completion of the General Educational Development Test;

(3) The recipient must be a citizen of the United States or be a permanent resident alien;

(4) The recipient must be accepted for admission at an approved postsecondary school or college as a freshman, as defined by the Department of Higher Education, and must enroll in an approved institution within eighteen (18) months following passage of the General Educational Development Test;

(5) The recipient must have passed the General Educational Development Test in the calendar year prior to application for the scholarship; and

(6) (A) The recipient must have scored in the top ten (10) of all Arkansans who took the General Educational Development Test in the calendar year prior to application for the scholarship, beginning with test-takers in 1991, as certified to the Department of Higher Education by the Adult Education Section of the Department of Workforce Education.

(B) Provided, however, that the Department of Higher Education is authorized to award a General Educational Development scholarship to an otherwise eligible student who scored in the top twenty-five (25) on the previous calendar year's General Educational Development Test if all test-takers scoring above the applicant on the General Educational Development Test:

(i) Have either received a scholarship;

(ii) Have not applied by the application deadline; or

(iii) Are otherwise ineligible to receive a scholarship.

(c) In no case, however, shall the Department of Higher Education award more than ten (10) scholarships per year.