Legislature(2011 - 2012)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/04/2011 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB43 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 43 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 43-ALASKA PERFORMANCE SCHOLARSHIPS
8:06:34 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER announced the consideration of SB 43. He
explained that Jomo Stewart, a former co-committee aide to the
Senate Education Standing Committee and committee aide for the
Joint Legislative Higher Education Scholarship Funding Task
Force, would give a presentation on the recommendations produced
by the task force. The goal, he said, is to discuss amendments
that will integrate some of these recommendations into SB 43.
8:08:08 AM
JOMO STEWART, Staff to Representative Steve Thompson, began with
an overview of the task force process. He said the first meeting
was an overview on the background of the scholarship bill itself
[SB 221, which passed into law during the 26th legislative
session]. Second, the task force looked at the merit-based and
need-based components of the scholarship. Next, it examined the
means and mechanisms of funding the scholarship program, which
was the task force's primary task. He explained that the
information gathered was used to look at various proposals that
could establish a sustainable funding mechanism. Finally, the
task force developed a report with recommendations for improving
the scholarship [included in the document packet].
MR. STEWART gave a summary of the following recommendations
[located on Executive Summary Page ii]:
Funding and Finance
· The Legislature should immediately create a Scholarship
Fund for the Scholarship program.
· If possible, the Scholarship Fund should be immediately
capitalized to the point where it can be both self-
sufficient and self-sustaining.
· Otherwise, enough money should be deposited into the
account to act as a "surety account" for future generations
and cohorts of students.
Merit-Based Component
Curriculum:
· No immediate amendment should be made to the Scholarship
curriculum until its yearly reporting can provide data to
serve as a factual basis for such alterations. This
includes the allowance of a dual curricular system, rather
than a unified curriculum for students to qualify for the
scholarship.
· The Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
should specify the "required courses" not specifically
delineated in statute for each curricular subject area and
define the content requirements and standards for those
courses.
8:16:09 AM
SENATOR FRENCH said that it is his understanding that many
school districts in rural areas are concerned that its students
will be unable to qualify for the scholarship because they can't
meet the curriculum requirements. He asked what impact this may
have in rural Alaska.
MR. STEWART replied that SB 221 made some accommodations for
this issue. He explained that the first cohort of students to be
eligible for the scholarship is this year's students who may not
have taken all the components of the required curriculum.
SENATOR FRENCH asked whether "this year's students" implies this
year's freshmen or seniors.
MR. STEWART replied this year's graduating seniors. He
reiterated that these students will not have had the benefit of
four years knowledge of the required curriculum. SB 221 included
transition language that helps accommodate this reality.
He continued that with regard to rural Alaska, the legislature
was told, last year, that every school in the state would be
able to provide the required curriculum. However, anecdotally,
this may not be the case and was recognized by the
administration, the legislature, and the task force. The task
force included the following recommendation under the merit-
based component to address this concern:
Distance Delivery:
· The legislature should do an assessment of the State's
existing distance delivery capacity and, should it be
necessary, develop a plan (including cost estimates) for
upgrading DEED's capacity to provide virtual program or
distance-delivered secondary courses.
He said it is up to the committee to decide whether this
accommodation is sufficient.
SENATOR FRENCH said he would like to hear from the state's
school districts on whether it will be able to provide the
required curriculum. He asked if a time frame was placed on the
assessment.
MR. STEWART answered that it was a general recommendation within
the report and was not time specific.
8:19:50 AM
SENATOR STEVENS concurred with Senator French. He said
establishing a virtual program is not enough, there will need to
be individuals to help students use these virtual tools as well.
CO-CHAIR MEYER agreed. He said that the administration needs to
address this issue.
SENATOR DAVIS said that the previous commissioner and DEED
stated that it will provide what is needed for rural students to
be eligible for qualification. She said the new commissioner
needs to review this and inform the committee of what actions
will be taken to meet these needs.
MR. STEWART added that the scholarship program is supposed to
act as "bottom up driver" for transforming the state's
educational system, so that every student has access to this
curriculum.
He continued that, while last year's original scholarship bill
did not include a needs-based component, the version that came
out of the House and Senate Education Standing Committees last
year did. This component, however, was not included in the
structural frame work of SB 221. He explained that the task
force gave consideration to a needs-based component and the
different mechanism to provide funding. The task force
recommended two kinds of needs-based assistance.
Needs-Based Component
· To directly support scholarship awardees, a capped needs-
based supplement should be reintegrated into the
scholarship.
· To assist nontraditional students, however, the legislature
should continue its support of the AlaskaAdvantage grant
program but do so at a higher than historic levels.
8:25:39 AM
SENATOR STEVENS commented that it was interesting that both the
House and Senate Education Committees insisted that there be a
needs-based component, despite the "expert advice they were
receiving." He asked Mr. Stewart whether students who qualify
for needs-based funding would be accommodated through the merit-
based form of the scholarship.
CO-CHAIR MEYER clarified that the task force looked for several
alternatives for the needs-based program and the AlaskaAdvantage
program seemed to be a good source. He explained that the hope
was to keep the merit- and needs-based components separate,
while continuing to tie them together as well.
SENATOR STEVENS reiterated that he thinks it is important that
the House and Senate came to the same conclusion separately.
MR. STEWART said under that original needs-based construct the
actual cost to the state could have been substantial. The
original scholarship proposal was about $20 million per year and
with the addition of the needs-based program the cost would have
doubled.
He explained that the recommendation from the task force was
that the needs-based component should be capped at some level;
otherwise the needs-based component could "dwarf the value of
the scholarship" over time.
SENATOR FRENCH asked what he meant by "dwarf the value of". He
said if a merit-based scholarship is awarded pro-rata, based on
the money available to qualifying students, there still may be
an enormous financial gap between the amount of the scholarship
and the actual cost of going to college.
MR. STEWART replied that the task force ignored the phrase "pro-
rata." He explained that the merit-based scholarship is pegged
at the 2010 tuition rate at UAF [University of Alaska
Fairbanks].
SENATOR FRENCH asked what happens if there is not enough money
to fully fund the students who qualify for the scholarship. He
recollected that, under this circumstance, the award amount
would be reduced pro rata per student.
MR. STEWART answered "that is one way of keeping costs in
check."
SENATOR FRENCH said that this is how he understands the funds
would be awarded.
CO-CHAIR MEYER said this is a topic that should be discussed
with Ms. Barrans. He explained that the program the Alaska
Commission on Postsecondary Education currently uses is on a pro
rata basis.
SENATOR FRENCH explained that he is trying to understand the
mechanics of the scholarship.
8:34:13 AM
MR. STEWART continued with the tasks force's report summary:
Other Policy Recommendations
· Any institution which accepts Scholarship awards should
integrate an advisor/advocate program to assist scholarship
awardees in expediting the students' time to education
program completion.
· Institutions accepting scholarship awardees should make
their best effort to provide course delivery structures
that allow for two and/or four year certificate/degree
completion timeliness.
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked him to address how this scholarship would
apply to two-year schools.
MR. STEWART answered that the scholarship is available to
students on both the academic and VOTECH [vocational-technical]
track. He said he believes the awards are structured slightly
differently.
In summary he read the end of the task force's executive
summary:
Implementation of these recommendations is expected to
provide the structure necessary for the Scholarship to
meet its two great promises: Its promise to Alaska
that it can raise student academic performance by
raising expectations, and its promise to students
that, if they challenge themselves and achieve
academic success under a highly rigorous curriculum,
the State will reward them with a Scholarship.
He informed the committee that Representative Seaton has come
forward with a work-draft bill to try and integrate the
recommendations in the task force report.
CO-CHAIR MEYER said the committee will discuss some amendments
[to SB 43] on Monday, with the hopes of having a committee
substitute by Friday. He said he intends to close public
testimony after Monday's meeting.
He asked Ms. Barrans to address the needs-based component and
rural school concerns.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS concurred, the availability of the curriculum
components in rural schools and the funding of the scholarship
are two primary concerns.
SENATOR STEVENS said he had two concerns. The first was the
confusion of including both the merit- and needs-based
components into one bill. The second was trying to develop a
funding structure which addresses both components.
8:42:04 AM
DIANE BARRANS, Executive Director, Alaska Commission on Post
Secondary Education (ACPE), Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED), said attachment 8 of the task force report
is the presentation made by the commission [located on
Attachments Page 18 of the report]. She explained that the
existing grant program [AlaskAdvantage Education Grant] is
administered through the Free Application for Federal Student
Aid (FAFSA) and any students filing and attending a school in
Alaska are in the pool. Eligible students must be half-time
enrolled in a title IV program. She said this is different than
the Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS) which includes a
broader scope of institutions.
She continued that the commission ranks and funds grants to the
pool of eligible students on a needs-based basis. She explained
that there is attrition with this program because the aid from
the grant is awarded after a student's decision to attend
school, which makes the aid unpredictable.
With regard to the curriculum components, she said that the
department has created both a "phase-in approach" and a grace
year for the 2011 and 2012 graduates. The grace year would allow
students an additional year to complete any necessary classes
that they have not been given reasonable access to in order to
be eligible for qualification.
8:49:09 AM
SENATOR FRENCH turned to page 16 of the report which included
the current [AlaskAdvantage] grant amounts. He noted that a
portion of the grant amounts are based on SAT/ACT scores and
asked if the current program could be characterized as being
somewhat merit-based.
MS. BARRANS replied yes. She said that the base grant is $1,500
per year and a student demonstrating high academics through
their SAT/ACT score will qualify for the maximum grant of
$3,000. She explained that any student who applies for the APS
would automatically be enrolled in the pool for the
AlaskAdvantage Education Grant because the FAFSA is used for
both programs.
SENATOR FRENCH asked whether, in the presence of a strong merit-
based scholarship program, it is important to continue giving
extra points to strong merit-based students for a grant that
will become a needs-based pool of money. He explained that it
seems this might undercut the needs-based student to access
funds.
MS. BARRANS replied that she agrees with him to an extent.
However, she said she believes the way the two components are
currently structured complement each other. For this reason, she
explained, an extra needs-based program in the scholarship
program is not necessarily needed.
SENATOR FRENCH asked, given the merit-based scholarship program,
whether the AlaskAdvantage Education Grant should be adjusted to
reduce the advantage to strong academic performers.
MS. BARRANS answered no.
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked if ACPE prioritizes certain majors.
MS. BARRANS replied that students in identified workforce
shortage programs also qualify for the maximum grant.
CO-CHAIR MEYER said he appreciates that SAT/ACT scores are taken
into consideration before a needs-based grant is given. He
explained that he has two concerns about the needs-based grants.
First, many students are not prepared for college and
administering grants on a strictly needs-based basis sets these
students up for failure. Second, the commission needs $8.5
million to fully fund the grant program and he is concerned the
finance committees will think it is too much. He asked Ms.
Barrans if there was a compromise that could be made.
MS. BARRANS answered that $8.5 million is the amount needed in
order to increase the base grant to $3,000 for all eligible
students. If the commission continued to administer the program,
as it currently stands, then $4.3 million is needed. She noted
that the grants are currently administered in order of need
priority, whether the student qualifies for the base or priority
grant amount.
CO-CHAIR MEYER announced he would hold SB 43 in committee and
kept public testimony open.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS commented that there are several amendments to
discuss.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Scholarship Funding Task Force Report Transmittal Letter.pdf |
SEDC 2/4/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Scholarship Funding Task Force - Final Report.pdf |
SEDC 2/4/2011 8:00:00 AM |