HB0148b -1- CSHB 148(EDC)
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CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 148(EDC)
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
BY THE HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Offered: 4/20/23
Referred: FINANCE
Sponsor(s): HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act relating to the Alaska performance scholarship program." 1
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 2
* Section 1. AS 14.43.820(a) is amended to read: 3
(a) Subject to appropriation, the commission shall award an Alaska 4
performance scholarship to an applicant who 5
(1) is a resident of the state as defined in AS 01.10.055; 6
(2) graduated or will graduate within 18 [SIX] months from a high
7
school in the state; and 8
(3) except as provided in (c) of this section, has completed, is enrolled 9
in, or plans to enroll in a core academic curriculum of high school level coursework 10
that includes 11
(A) four years of mathematics, four years of language arts, four 12
years of science, and four years of social studies, one year of which may 13
include a foreign language, an Alaska Native language, fine arts, [OR] cultural 14
heritage, or career and technical education; [OR] 15 33-LS0624\S
CSHB 148(EDC) -2- HB0148b
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(B) three years of mathematics, four years of language arts, 1
three years of science, four years of social studies, and two years of 2
(i) a foreign language or an Alaska Native language; or 3
(ii) career and technical education, one year of 4
which includes two semesters of sequentially more rigorous content 5
within a career cluster; or 6
(C) three years of mathematics, four years of language arts, 7
three years of science, four years of social studies, one year of which may 8
be career and technical education, and two years of a foreign language or 9
an Alaska Native language [; 10
(4) HAS A MINIMUM GRADE-POINT AVERAGE IN HIGH 11
SCHOOL OF 2.5 OR HIGHER; THE DEPARTMENT SHALL SET BY 12
REGULATION MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS BASED ON A SUBSTANTIALLY 13
SIMILAR STANDARD FOR DISTRICTS THAT DO NOT ASSIGN GRADES; 14
(5) HAS ACHIEVED A MINIMUM SCORE ON A 15
(A) COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION; OR 16
(B) STANDARDIZED EXAMINATION DESIGNED TO 17
MEASURE A STUDENT'S LEVEL OF PREPAREDNESS TO MAKE THE 18
TRANSITION TO WORK, AS SELECTED BY THE DEPARTMENT; AND 19
(6) IS ENROLLED IN GOOD STANDING IN A COURSE OF 20
STUDY AT A QUALIFIED POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTION IN THIS STATE 21
THAT IS INTENDED TO RESULT IN THE AWARD OF A CERTIFICATE OR 22
DEGREE]. 23
* Sec. 2. AS 14.43.820(g) is amended to read: 24
(g) In this section, 25
(1) "career cluster" means a group of jobs and industries that are 26
related by skills or products; 27
(2) "district" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990. 28
* Sec. 3. AS 14.43.820 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 29
(h) Not later than December 31 of each year, a district shall notify each 30
student in the district who is enrolled in grade 11 of the remaining academic 31 33-LS0624\S
HB0148b -3- CSHB 148(EDC)
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requirements the student must meet to be awarded an Alaska performance scholarship 1
at each level described in AS 14.43.825(a). 2
(i) Not later than August 15 of each year, the commission shall notify each 3
applicant awarded a scholarship under (a) of this section that the applicant has been 4
awarded an Alaska performance scholarship. The notice must 5
(1) identify the Alaska performance scholarship level awarded as 6
described in AS 14.43.825(a); and 7
(2) inform the applicant that 8
(A) the commission may disburse the award only if the 9
applicant meets the requirements described in (l) of this section; and 10
(B) the commission will adjust the applicant's award under the 11
circumstances described in (k) of this section. 12
(j) If a district provides information to or otherwise communicates with a 13
student regarding the Alaska performance scholarship, the district shall also provide 14
information about the requirements to increase an award level under AS 14.43.825(g) 15
- (i). 16
(k) If, at the time an applicant awarded an Alaska performance scholarship 17
graduates from high school, the applicant's grade-point average differs from the grade-18
point average on which the commission based the applicant's award, the commission 19
shall adjust the applicant's award in accordance with the applicable Alaska 20
performance scholarship level described in AS 14.43.825(a). 21
(l) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, and except as provided in (c) of this 22
section, the commission may disburse an Alaska performance scholarship awarded to 23
an applicant under this section only if the applicant 24
(1) has, at the time of the applicant's graduation from high school, 25
(A) completed the core academic curriculum of high school 26
level coursework described in (a)(3) of this section; and 27
(B) met the minimum 28
(i) grade-point average in high school described in 29
AS 14.43.825(a); or 30
(ii) score on a college entrance examination described 31 33-LS0624\S
CSHB 148(EDC) -4- HB0148b
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in AS 14.43.825(a); and 1
(2) is enrolled in good standing in a course of study at a qualified 2
postsecondary institution in this state that is intended to result in the award of a 3
certificate or degree. 4
* Sec. 4. AS 14.43.825(a) is amended to read: 5
(a) The maximum annual awards for the Alaska performance scholarships are 6
as follows: 7
(1) the first award level is $7,000 [$4,755] and requires a 8
(A) 3.5 grade-point average or above; or [AND] 9
(B) very high minimum score on a college entrance 10
examination; 11
(2) the second award level is $5,250 [$3,566] and requires a 12
(A) 3.0 grade-point average or above; or [AND] 13
(B) high minimum score on a college entrance examination; 14
(3) the third award level is $3,500 [$2,378] and requires a 15
(A) 2.5 grade-point average or above; or [AND] 16
(B) moderately high minimum score on a college entrance 17
examination. 18
* Sec. 5. AS 14.43.825(b) is amended to read: 19
(b) A student's eligibility for a scholarship terminates eight [SIX] years after 20
the date the student graduates from high school unless the student qualifies for an 21
extension of time allowed by the department by regulation. 22
* Sec. 6. AS 14.43.825 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 23
(g) Each time a student who is an award recipient completes two semesters of 24
full-time enrollment at a qualified postsecondary institution in this state, the 25
postsecondary institution shall review and notify the commission of the student's 26
postsecondary institution grade-point average. If the student's grades qualify under (h) 27
of this section, the commission shall increase the award level for the student as 28
described in (h) of this section and notify the student of the increase. In this 29
subsection, "full-time enrollment" means enrollment in a course of study that is not 30
less than 15 credits. 31 33-LS0624\S
HB0148b -5- CSHB 148(EDC)
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(h) If an award recipient's postsecondary institution grade-point average is 1
(1) 3.5 or above, or the equivalent established under (i) of this section, 2
the commission shall increase the student's award level to the amount described in 3
(a)(1) of this section; 4
(2) 3.0 or above, or the equivalent established under (i) of this section, 5
the commission shall increase the student's award level to the amount described in 6
(a)(2) of this section. 7
(i) For qualified postsecondary institutions that do not award grades on a four-8
point scale, the commission shall establish by regulation the equivalent rating required 9
to increase an award under (h) of this section. 10
(j) In this section, 11
(1) "award recipient" means a student who has received an Alaska 12
performance scholarship at the second or third award level; 13
(2) "postsecondary institution grade-point average" means the average 14
of all grades on a four-point scale, or the equivalent as established by the commission 15
by regulation, obtained by a student at a qualified postsecondary institution in this 16
state. 17