Proposals to change the requirements for getting and keeping the lottery scholarship abound in the Tennessee legislature this year, with three-fourths of the students who start out with these scholarships losing them before graduation.<\/p>\n
Currently, students need a 21 on the ACT or a 3.0 high school GPA to receive the scholarship, then must maintain a 2.75 GPA in their freshman year of college, rising to a 3.0 thereafter.<\/p>\n
The Tennessean reports<\/a> that the measure making the most headway is one to lower the overall college GPA requirement to 2.75, which would result in 1,600 more students retaining their scholarships, at a cost of $7M.<\/p>\n Perhaps a middle ground area would be more appropriate: leave the standards as they now are, but create a way for students to regain their scholarship eligibility after losing it, provided that they bring their GPA back up to the current standard. So, if a sophomore finished out the year with a 2.8, lost the scholarship, then reapplied at the end of his junior year having brought his GPA up to 3.2, he would regain eligibility.<\/p>\n At this point, once it’s lost, it’s lost forever, no matter what the circumstances or how much the student improves. Most reasonable people would concur that the policy is unforgiving; anyone who’s paid attention to how the GPA works understands that it’s harder to raise it substantially in later years. Such students do deserve a second chance.<\/p>\n * * * Unquestionably, she’s learning a lot more than just academics, and it’s really neat to watch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Proposals to change the requirements for getting and keeping the lottery scholarship abound in the Tennessee legislature this year, with three-fourths of the students who start out with these scholarships losing them before graduation. Currently, students need a 21 on … Continue reading
Speaking of which, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Alpha today, as she heads in for her Calculus final at 10:00. However, she called yesterday to tell me that her prof has posted their grades so far, and she needs a whopping 57 (out of 100) to keep her ‘A’ in the class. She’s taken advantage of every extra-credit opportunity given, and has amassed a significant safety cushion in the process. Much of the extra credit has been working quiz problems on the board — something I would not have expected her to do, given that she’s rather shy and reserved most of the time.<\/p>\n