The Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development is getting ready to implement a new scholarship aimed at helping high school students afford dual credit college courses.
The A+ Dual Credit/Dual Enrollment Scholarship will be available next spring semester for Missouri's high school juniors and seniors who are on the A+ Scholarship path and taking dual credit or dual enrollment courses with a state college or university.
The scholarship, which covers the cost of tuition and fees for dual credit or dual enrollment courses, is awarded based on financial need with those demonstrating a higher need prioritized first.
"Dual credit and dual enrollment coursework provides high school students the opportunity to save time and money by getting a head start on their post-secondary studies," said Jessica Duren, MDHEWD assistant commissioner for communications and outreach. "This scholarship is intended to increase usage of dual credit and dual enrollment coursework, with a focus on students for which the cost of the coursework is a barrier."
MDHEWD will prioritize scholarship awards based on adjusted gross income from the most recent tax year.
The amount of each scholarship is dependent on the actual tuition and fee charges after non-loan aid is applied, but covers the complete cost of tuition and fees.
The cost of dual credit or dual enrollment tuition and fees depends on the number of credit hours the student enrolls in and the amount colleges and universities charge per credit hour.
A student taking a three- credit hour dual enrollment or dual credit English course, for example, may be charged $75 per credit hour for a total tuition of $225, and an additional $25 in fees. If the student receives $100 in non-loan financial aid from the college or university, the scholarship would apply to the remaining $150 required to enroll in the course.
Students taking dual credit or dual enrollment courses from more than one college or university can receive the A+ Dual Credit/Dual Enrollment Scholarship for each one.
Most college and university dual credit and dual enrollment courses are eligible for coverage under the scholarship, so long as they participate in the state's student financial aid programs.
"As to the types of institutions that might not be able to participate, in the public category, area vocational-technical schools are not likely to offer either dual credit or dual enrollment so we don't anticipate many, if any, applications for students attending those schools," Duren said. "In the private institution category, students attending proprietary (for profit) institutions, theological schools and seminaries cannot participate as they are not eligible to participate in the state student financial aid programs."
Students must complete the scholarship application each semester, but are only required to send tax return documentation with their first application of the year.
Duren said it is difficult to predict how many Missouri high school students will apply for the scholarship because it is different from the other programs administered by the department and there are no comparable models in other states.
"In addition, the mid-year implementation of the program and limited funding add to the uncertainty," Duren said.
The Missouri General Assembly appropriated $5 million for the scholarship program to operate throughout fiscal year 2022 - which began July 1, 2021, and ends June 30, 2022.
Duren said the entire $5 million budget will be used for the upcoming spring semester only, meaning the General Assembly will need to re-appropriate funds to keep the scholarships running for the fall 2022 and spring 2023 semesters.
The department proposed an administrative rule to govern the program and filed that with the secretary of state's office in September.
That rule is now open for a public comment period through Oct. 30.
The department will then review the public comments and file a final order of rule making with the secretary of state in November or early December, depending on how extensive the comments are.
Around the same time, the scholarship application will become available on the MDHEWD website.
The first awards will be administered in late January or February.
Duren said it is difficult to predict how long applications will take to process, given the number of applicants is unknown and the administration of funds is unlike any of the department's other financial aid programs.
She said the program's initial administration will be largely manual because of the short implementation timeline.