173.198. Undergraduate program established, administration, qualifying degrees--amount--eligibility--exit examinations, analysis of--renewal.
Undergraduate program established, administration, qualifyingdegrees--amount--eligibility--exit examinations, analysisof--renewal.
173.198. 1. There is hereby established the "UndergraduateScholarship Program", which shall be administered by thecoordinating board for higher education. The program shall, uponappropriation, provide scholarships, subject to the eligibilitycriteria enumerated in this section, for persons who pursue anundergraduate degree in the fields of mathematics, chemistry,physics, astronomy, geology, life sciences, teacher's educationin mathematics or science, and foreign languages.
2. The amount of any scholarship granted under theundergraduate scholarship program shall be five thousand dollars,except that in no event shall the total amount of any scholarshipreceived under this section plus the amount of any scholarshipreceived under the higher education academic scholarship program,otherwise known as the "bright flight program", pursuant to section173.250, exceed five thousand dollars.
3. In order to be eligible to receive a scholarshippursuant to this section, a person shall:
(1) Be a United States citizen and a Missouri resident inthe third, fourth, or fifth year of study at any public orprivate institution of higher education in this state and havecompleted at least sixty hours of accredited higher educationstudy at any public or private institution of higher education inthis state;
(2) Rank in the top fifteenth percentile in either the SAT(Scholastic Aptitude Test) or the ACT (American College Test);
(3) Be a full-time student at any public or privateinstitution of higher education in this state;
(4) Be a declared major in one of the academic disciplinesenumerated in subsection 1 of this section;
(5) Agree to submit to the exit examination developed undersubsection 4 of this section.
4. The coordinating board for higher education shall, inconsultation with academic experts in the respective disciplinesin this state, administer comprehensive exit examinations in eachfield of academic discipline enumerated in subsection 1 of thissection to be administered every year. Such examinations shallbe selected so as to measure the breadth of knowledge of theexaminee and allow for novel and creative ideas in the respectivediscipline.
5. The coordinating board shall analyze the results of theexit examination administered pursuant to subsection 4 of thissection. If, in the opinion of the coordinating board, threeyears after implementation of the undergraduate scholarshipprogram in a particular field of study, average scores on exitexaminations of scholarship recipients fall below the fiftiethpercentile, new undergraduate scholarships in that particularacademic discipline at that particular institution of highereducation shall be discontinued for a period of one year.
6. All scholarships issued pursuant to sections 173.197 to173.199 may be renewed annually if the coordinating board issatisfied that the recipient is making satisfactory academicprogress.
(L. 1993 H.B. 566 § 15)