State Sen. Randy Head (R-Logansport) says he believes Indiana lawmakers succeeded in saving the 21st Century Scholars Program without damaging the program’s intent.
That’s good news.
The program began in 1990 as a way to make higher education a possibility for students who otherwise would have been unable to afford the cost of tuition. The problem was that the number of students signing up was growing at a time when funding was getting harder to find.
Head says that for the most part, changes approved by the legislature will have no effect on students currently enrolled in the program. The only exception, he said, is a higher grade point average. Rather than the 2.0, or “C” average, that had been required under the old rules, students will now be required to maintain a 2.5 throughout their high school careers.
Frankly, that change only makes sense. Guidance counselors say students will likely need at least a 2.5 average in high school to achieve success in college.
For students new to the scholarship program, the new rules require that they fill out a federal financial aid application as high school seniors. This application is designed to make sure that families still need the financial help they needed when the student signed up for the program in middle school. It might also turn up other sources of assistance that might offset the cost to the state.
All of that sounds reasonable.
Our concern with the proposed changes had been that prospective 21st Century Scholars not have the rug pulled out from under them at the last minute because of a parent’s promotion at work. Parents should not be forced to choose between a child’s dream of a higher education and the advancement of their own careers.
The promise of the 21st Century Scholars program was that students who fulfilled their pledge to stay out of trouble with the law, to avoid drugs and alcohol and maintain good grades in school would have a chance at a college education. From all indications, the revised rules maintain that promise.
Head and his colleagues in the General Assembly should be applauded for their efforts to preserve this valuable program. Our hope is that the state will be able to maintain it for generations to come.