HB0148c -1- CSHB 148(FIN)
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CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 148(FIN)
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
BY THE HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
Offered: 2/14/24
Referred: Rules
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\U
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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 January 15 of each year, a district shall provide to each 30
student in the district who is enrolled in grade nine or grade 10 information about the 31 33-LS0624\U
HB0148c -3- CSHB 148(FIN)
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Alaska performance scholarship. 1
(i) Not later than December 31 of each year, a district shall notify each student 2
in the district who is enrolled in grade 11 of the remaining academic requirements the 3
student must meet to be awarded an Alaska performance scholarship at each level 4
described in AS 14.43.825(a). 5
(j) Not later than August 15 of each year, the commission shall notify each 6
applicant awarded a scholarship under (a) of this section that the applicant has been 7
awarded an Alaska performance scholarship. The notice must 8
(1) identify the Alaska performance scholarship level awarded as 9
described in AS 14.43.825(a); and 10
(2) inform the applicant that 11
(A) the commission may disburse the award only if the 12
applicant meets the requirements described in (m) of this section; and 13
(B) the commission will adjust the applicant's award under the 14
circumstances described in (l) of this section. 15
(k) If a district provides information to or otherwise communicates with a 16
student regarding the Alaska performance scholarship, the district shall also provide 17
information about the requirements to increase an award level under AS 14.43.825(h) 18
- (j). 19
(l) If, at the time an applicant awarded an Alaska performance scholarship 20
graduates from high school, the applicant's grade-point average differs from the grade-21
point average on which the commission based the applicant's award, the commission 22
shall adjust the applicant's award in accordance with the applicable Alaska 23
performance scholarship level described in AS 14.43.825(a). 24
(m) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, and except as provided in (c) of this 25
section, the commission may disburse an Alaska performance scholarship awarded to 26
an applicant under this section only if the applicant 27
(1) has, at the time of the applicant's graduation from high school, 28
(A) completed the core academic curriculum of high school 29
level coursework described in (a)(3) of this section; and 30
(B) met the minimum
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(i) grade-point average in high school described in 1
AS 14.43.825(a); or 2
(ii) score on a college entrance examination described 3
in AS 14.43.825(a); and 4
(2) is enrolled in good standing in a course of study at a qualified 5
postsecondary institution in this state that is intended to result in the award of a 6
certificate or degree. 7
* Sec. 4. AS 14.43.825(a) is amended to read: 8
(a) The maximum annual awards for the Alaska performance scholarships are 9
as follows: 10
(1) the first award level is $7,000 [$4,755] and requires a 11
(A) 3.5 grade-point average or above, or the equivalent 12
established under (g) of this section; or [; AND] 13
(B) very high minimum score on a college entrance 14
examination; 15
(2) the second award level is $5,250 [$3,566] and requires a 16
(A) 3.0 grade-point average or above, or the equivalent 17
established under (g) of this section; or [; AND] 18
(B) high minimum score on a college entrance examination; 19
(3) the third award level is $3,500 [$2,378] and requires a 20
(A) 2.5 grade-point average or above, or the equivalent 21
established under (g) of this section; or [; AND] 22
(B) moderately high minimum score on a college entrance 23
examination. 24
* Sec. 5. AS 14.43.825(b) is amended to read: 25
(b) A student's eligibility for a scholarship terminates eight [SIX] years after 26
the date the student graduates from high school unless the student qualifies for an 27
extension of time allowed by the department by regulation. 28
* Sec. 6. AS 14.43.825 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 29
(g) For high schools that do not award grades on a four-point scale, or five-30
point scale for advanced placement classes, the department shall establish by 31 33-LS0624\U
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regulation the equivalent rating required for a scholarship awarded under (a)(1)(A), 1
(2)(A), and (3)(A) of this section. 2
(h) Each time a student who is an award recipient completes two semesters of 3
full-time enrollment at a qualified postsecondary institution in this state, the 4
postsecondary institution shall review and notify the commission of the student's 5
postsecondary institution grade-point average. If the student's grades qualify under (i) 6
of this section, the commission shall increase the award level for the student as 7
described in (i) of this section and notify the student of the increase. In this subsection, 8
"full-time enrollment" means enrollment in a course of study that is not less than 15 9
credits. 10
(i) If an award recipient's postsecondary institution grade-point average is 11
(1) 3.5 or above, or the equivalent established under (j) of this section, 12
the commission shall increase the student's award level to the amount described in 13
(a)(1) of this section; 14
(2) 3.0 or above, or the equivalent established under (j) of this section, 15
the commission shall increase the student's award level to the amount described in 16
(a)(2) of this section. 17
(j) For qualified postsecondary institutions that do not award grades on a four-18
point scale, the commission shall establish by regulation the equivalent rating required 19
to increase an award under (i) of this section. 20
(k) In this section, 21
(1) "award recipient" means a student who has received an Alaska 22
performance scholarship at the second or third award level; 23
(2) "postsecondary institution grade-point average" means the average 24
of all grades on a four-point scale, or the equivalent as established by the commission 25
by regulation, obtained by a student at a qualified postsecondary institution in this 26
state. 27
* Sec. 7. AS 14.43.849(2) is amended to read: 28
(2) "grade-point average" means the average of all grades on a four-29
point scale, or five-point scale for advanced placement classes, or the equivalent as 30
established by the department by regulation, obtained by the student in high 31 33-LS0624\U
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school; 1