30-231.2 - Criteria for awarding and renewal of scholarships; awards made by the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Committee; eligible students; Standards of Learning requirements and assessment

§ 30-231.2. Criteria for awarding and renewal of scholarships; awards made bythe Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Committee; eligible students;Standards of Learning requirements and assessments waived for eligiblestudents.

A. With the funds made available from gifts, grants, donations, bequests, andother funds as may be received for such purpose, scholarships shall beawarded annually. Awards may be granted for part-time or full-time attendancefor no more than one year of study for students enrolled in adult educationprograms for the high school diploma and preparation programs for the GeneralEducation Development certificate or the College-Level Examination Program(CLEP) credit, and for no more than the minimum number of credit hoursrequired to complete program requirements, except as approved by theCommittee for students enrolled in the following approved education programs:(i) an approved career or technical education or training program at aVirginia community college, or at an accredited career and technicaleducation postsecondary school in the Commonwealth; (ii) a two-yearundergraduate comprehensive community college program; (iii) a four-yearundergraduate degree program; (iv) a recognized five-year undergraduatedegree program; (v) a masters or doctoral level degree program; and (vi) aprofessional degree program. Awards granted may also be used for theCollege-Level Examination Program (CLEP) examinations and costs related topreparation for the tests, transition programs and services, and dualenrollment programs as may be approved by the Committee, in accordance with §30-231.8. Awards granted to applicants accepted for enrollment at accreditedcareer and technical education postsecondary schools shall be made inaccordance with Article VIII, section 11 of the Constitution of Virginia. Inaddition, no scholarship under this Program shall be used to obtain multiplebaccalaureate, masters, doctoral, or professional degrees.

B. The Standards of Learning requirements and all related assessments shallbe waived for any student awarded a scholarship under this Program andenrolled in an adult basic education program to obtain the high schooldiploma.

C. No student pursuing a course of religious training or theologicaleducation or a student enrolled in any institution whose primary purpose isto provide religious training or theological education shall be eligible toreceive scholarship awards. However, nothing in this section shall beconstrued to prohibit a student from taking courses of a religious ortheological nature to satisfy undergraduate and graduate electiverequirements for a liberal arts nonreligious degree.

D. Only students who are domiciled residents of Virginia as defined by §23-7.4 shall be eligible to receive such awards. However, to facilitate thepurposes of this Program only, the Committee may establish a list ofacceptable documents to verify United States citizenship and legal presencein the Commonwealth from among those included in regulations promulgated bythe Department of Motor Vehicles governing legal presence in the Commonwealthto obtain a driver's license or identification card, and regulationspromulgated by the State Health Department governing requests for and accessto vital records.

E. Scholarships shall be awarded to eligible students by the Committee.

F. Scholarships may be renewed, upon request, annually if the recipient:

1. Maintains Virginia domicile and residency;

2. Evidences satisfactory academic achievement and progress toward programcompletion; and

3. Maintains continuous enrollment in an approved education program untilgraduation or program completion, in accordance with the provisions of thissection and § 30-231.1.

For scholarship renewal purposes, the Committee may extend the period inwhich satisfactory academic achievement shall be demonstrated for no morethan two semesters or the equivalent thereof.

G. For the purpose of this chapter, "eligible student" means a personcurrently domiciled and residing in the Commonwealth, who resided in ajurisdiction in Virginia between 1954 and 1964 in which the public schoolswere closed to avoid desegregation, and who (i) was unable during such yearsto (a) begin, continue, or complete his education in the public schools ofthe Commonwealth, (b) ineligible to attend a private academy or foundation,whether in state or out of state, established to circumvent desegregation, or(c) pursue postsecondary education opportunities or training because of theinability to obtain a high school diploma; or (ii) was required to relocatewithin or outside of the Commonwealth to begin, continue, or complete hispublic education during such years because public schools were closed toavoid desegregation.

(2005, cc. 753, 834; 2006, c. 518; 2009, c. 444; 2010, c. 579.)