Students may need higher grades for need-based aid

As part of the 21st Century Scholars program, Benjamin Martin promised to keep a clean legal record and maintain a 2.0 GPA.

In exchange he would receive scholarship money that would cover any tuition not paid by state grants or expected family contributions.

Now, Martin is preparing to graduate from IU-Purdue University Indianapolis. He said he could not have done it without the program.

“My family wouldn’t have been able to afford college,” Martin said. “I probably would have dropped out if I didn’t have the guarantee of a higher education.”

But Martin did not drop out. Instead, he graduated from high school with a 2.4 GPA.

Yet under a new proposal being discussed in the Indiana General Assembly, Martin would not have qualified for financial assistance from this program.

Senate Bill 577, if passed, will tighten eligibility requirements. The principal change in the program would increase the required GPA from 2.0 to 2.5. This requirement would take effect for any middle school student joining after this school year.

Martin said he is concerned that the higher GPA might intimidate some prospective scholars from pursuing a higher education.

Sarah Franklin, guidance counselor at Bloomington High School North, said the higher GPA requirements would help students in the long run.

“It will help students be successful in college,” Franklin said. “If you provide a student with expectations and support, they will try harder to reach those expectations.”

Committee Chairman Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said the requirements would help give the money to students who deserve it and better predict student performance.

The SSACI estimated that enrollment in the program has increased by 44 percent during the past four years. To cover the costs, the program has been forced to borrow from other funds within the financial aid budget.

To prevent further deficits, state legislatures are looking for additional ways to decrease the program costs.

Another bill introduced to the Senate would require 21st Century Scholars to be reassessed for financial need during their senior year of high school. 

Currently, the expected family contribution from when the student first signs up in middle school is used to determine the amount of aid.

Franklin said she understands the logic behind reassessing financial need but does not entirely support the change.

“These students sign a contract in the sixth grade, and I think that contract works both ways,” Franklin said. “Legally, they’ve made that commitment to provide financial aid, and I think they should be required to provide some support.”