Pubdate: Wed, 08 Dec 2004
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2004 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Dave Curtin, Denver Post Staff Writer
Note: Staff writers Erin Cox and Chris Frates contributed to this report.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

COLLEGE AID FOR VICE-FREE STUDENTS

Scholarships Would Go to Deserving Low-Income Students WHO Eschew
Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco.

Gov. Bill Owens on Tuesday proposed a new scholarship program to allow
deserving low-income students to get financial help for college.

But they have to stay away from drugs, alcohol and tobacco to
qualify.

Called the Colorado Achievement Scholarship, the proposal will require
approval by the state legislature.

To qualify, students would have to pass a precollegiate high school
curriculum, maintain a 2.5 high school grade-point average and not
use drugs, alcohol or tobacco, Owens said.

Student performance and behavior would be monitored by their schools
and counselors and an oversight program, Owens said.

A new state board would help manage the program.

"It's a good motivating factor - to take good kids and help them
through the tough middle school and high school years and give them
incentives," Owens said.

Students would apply for the scholarship in the eighth or ninth grade.
They would need a family income that qualifies for a federal Pell
financial-aid grant - income of less than $40,000 for a family of four.

The amount each student would receive is capped at $1,500 - the
average unmet need for regional and community colleges. Unmet need is
the cost of college minus the expected family contribution based on
income and all available financial aid, including grants, work study
and federal Stafford loans.

The initial $50 million for the program would come from surplus money
earned in the state's nonprofit student-loan fund, CollegeInvest.
Funding would come from interest income in the fund.

Assuming an average rate of return, the program would award $2.5
million worth of grants per year.

"We've got to get more kids into college, and the two biggest barriers
are that they're not academically prepared so they can't go or they
don't have money," said Rick O'Donnell, director of the Colorado
Commission on Higher Education. "So we're going to try to give them an
incentive to get academically prepared in high school by saying there
will be money there for you at the end."

The commission passed new tougher precollegiate curriculum in 2003
requiring four years of English, three years of math, three years of
natural or physical sciences, and three years of social sciences.

"I think it will push kids to do something with themselves," said
Bonnie Olguin, a freshman at North High School. "I think kids will see
they have a chance to get money for college."

Carol DeLockroy, interim principal at Green Mountain High School in
Lakewood, was not sure how the students would be tracked for alcohol,
drug or tobacco violations - or whether she even could because of
privacy issues.

"My first reaction is that if (the governor) would ask me to provide
that information about a kid, I don't think I could," she said.

Also on Tuesday, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a
$29.6 million grant to expand the early college program from 17
schools nationwide to 170 schools by 2008.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake