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01-20-2004

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years, 6 months ago

January 20, 2004

ROMNEY OPENS DOOR TO COLLEGE FOR TOP SCORING STUDENTS

Outlines John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program at Everett High School

 

EVERETT – Less than one week after unveiling his Legacy of Learning education initiatives in the State of the State address, Governor Mitt Romney today visited Everett High School to outline a plan to provide free tuition at Massachusetts’ public colleges and universities to the highest performing high school graduates.

 

“Families all across the Commonwealth are struggling to pay to send their children to college,” Romney said. “The new Adams scholarship will make the dream of obtaining a college education a reality for thousands of Bay State students and keep our most talented students right here in Massachusetts.”

 

Romney’s John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program offers four years of free tuition at the University of Massachusetts or at any of the nine state and 15 community colleges to students whose MCAS scores by the end of their junior year rank in the top 25 percent of those taking the test. In addition, the top 10 percent will receive a $2,000 annual bonus to help defray the cost of fees.

 

Based on the number of high school students who took the MCAS test statewide last year, about 16,000 in this year’s senior class will qualify for free tuition, with about 6,500 of them eligible to receive the bonus. In Everett, 11 percent of seniors are in the top 25 percent of all MCAS scorers across the state and three percent are in the top 10 percent, making them eligible for the scholarship program.

 

In order to receive free tuition, students must complete their college studies in four years or less and maintain a 3.0 grade point average. Those students receiving the tuition plus the bonus will be required to maintain at least a 3.3 grade point average.

 

Last academic year, average tuition at the University of Massachusetts was $1,575; $977 at state colleges; and $740 at community colleges.

 

The program is estimated to cost $12 million initially in Fiscal Year 2005 and up to $50 million annually when it is fully up and running by its fourth year.

 

“Our students deserve every opportunity to continue their education after high school, but too often finances stand in their way,” said Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll.

 

Romney also noted that students enrolled in parochial and private schools will be eligible for the Adams Scholarship if they meet the MCAS requirements. The Department of Education will design a program to allow these students to take the MCAS test at their own expense.

 

In addition to the new scholarship program, Romney’s Fiscal Year 2005 budget will call for $80 million in higher education financial assistance for the state’s neediest students.

 

Romney’s Legacy of Learning initiative also expedites the construction or renovation of new schools through a refinancing of the School Building Assistance (SBA) program and the passage of construction reforms.

 

In addition, Legacy of Learning calls for spending $34 million in new dollars on the bottom 10 percent of school districts, where nearly one-third of the state’s students are enrolled.

 

Statewide, Legacy of Learning provides another $10 million, including:

 

 

 

$5 million in grants to school districts to help them manage students who have discipline problems by taking them out of the classroom and putting them in alternative programs;

$3 million to help recruit, retain and train science and math teachers; and

$2 million for intervention efforts in school districts declared “underperforming” by the state Board of Education. Currently, only two districts have that designation – Holyoke and Winchendon.

“Legacy of Learning puts people first, kids first. We’ll be putting our money where our future is,” Romney said.

 

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