Arkansas Blog

>>Those without a 3.0 and 18 ACT should be dismissed. They are simply not deserving.<<

Hear! Hear! I raise a cup of hot tea to you this morn. I read that article in The Moron News about an hour ago. Seems other states have learned. Hopefully Lt. Gov. Halter will step to the fore and offer some guidance on the entire thing. Otherwise he's created a potential scandal machine.

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While I do agree that need should be a factor in scholarship distribution, I disagree that there should be no merit considerations. The "simple math" also shows that many of those who don't meet merit requirements upon matriculation don't make it to the second year or, often, even the second semester. The goal of this program should be enabling those financially unable to attend college to become college graduates, and to do that there has to be some metric that takes into consideration the likelihood of eventual graduation.

Max, the better question is how many legislators even have a college degree? I've never seen it disclosed, but often wondered if low educational attainment within those chambers explained their inability to put a priority on education.

Regarding the 3.0 GPA eligibility and retention requirement, I hope Arkansas learns a lesson from Georgia's HOPE Scholarship program. Grade inflation was rampant at the high school to ensure that students qualified for the program, and also at the college level to ensure that students could persist in the program.

This hornet's nest is getting bigger every day.

I really couldn't believe what I was reading. The state already has a merit / need based program in the Academic Challenge Scholarship, and it has a surplus of $54 Million because there aren't enough qualified applicants. And they're talking about using the lottery proceeds to create another merit / need scholarship with very similar requirements - why?

Another problem with the ideas discussed in the article is the 3.0 GPA to retain the scholarship. Unless we want to greatly increase the numbers of Journalism & Kinesiology majors we'll seriously rethink that idea; or we'll wind up with the same grade inflation in college that has made HS GPAs all but worthless.

And finally, the administrative costs of the program are derided. Who will administer this program and how will they be paid? Will the college financial aid counselors be handed another 'spare time' duty? I'll bet there won't be many concerns expressed about the admin costs of the lottery itself (I'd bet those guys have already bought private tables at Sonny Williams).

PVNasby has an excellent idea for an AT piece. This whole thing is a disaster slowly unfolding. I'm glad I voted against it.

If we want the new scholarships to do any good, there needs to be some enticement to do the work and remain in school. And Max is exactly right--the good students are already getting scholarships. How about if we require students to actually show up to class, and maintain a 2.5 or so GPA? Or just stay off academic probation--in other words, get on probation, lose your scholarship.

We also need to provide financial help for non-traditional students. There are plenty of folks out there who would love to go to college part-time, in the evenings, but can't afford it. These are people who may have some college hours, but had to drop out for one reason or another. Let's get 'em back into school. You can turn Wal-Mart "associates" into teachers, or nurses, or accountants, instead of having them crushed to death on Black Friday. We need to figure out how to award scholarships to people who want or need to take one or two courses at a time.

The young know that a meritocracy, like freedom, is nothing but a quaint holdover from a mythological past. It's not what you know, it's who you know. If you failed to properly assess your parents' finances you can always suck up to those that did or you can lower your expectations.

"Usually when you ask somebody in college why they are there, they'll tell you it's to get an education. The truth of it is, they are there to get the degree so that they can get ahead in the rat race."
Abbie Hoffman