SCS/HB 1865 - The Access Missouri Scholarship Program is established in order to provide assistance to college freshmen who are not eligible for the A+ Program or have chosen institutions not covered by the A+ Program. The maximum award will be $1,000. The new program, as well as the Gallagher, Guarantee, and Bright Flight programs, has a 2.5 grade point average requirement for renewal. The 2.5 initial qualifying grade point average and extracurricular activity for the Guarantee Program are eliminated. Obsolete language is deleted, and the Gallagher Program's criminal background disqualifications are changed to be the same as those in the Guarantee Program. The joint committee on education will study options for making the state-need-based scholarship programs more efficient and effective by combining such programs. Further, the joint committee will study the feasibility if including students enrolled in proprietary schools in all state-based financial aid programs.
The act has an effective date of July 1, 2007, and the Access Missouri Scholarship Program will sunset after two years. DONALD THALHUBER