Anchorage Daily News

Gov. Sean Parnell is proposing the state pay the entire Alaska college or job training tuition for every high school student who graduates with a A average and takes four years of math, science and language arts. Students who graduate with a B could get 75 percent of their tuition covered under the plan.

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Gov. Sean Parnell

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Even C-plus students would get half their tuition paid for by the state under what the new governor wants to call the Governor's Performance Scholarship. Parnell described it as an incentive and a way to improve the work force.

"No matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter what your personal circumstances, you can get a college education or you can get the job training you need to be a vital part of our work force," Parnell said in a speech Tuesday at West High School in Anchorage, where he announced the plan.

Parnell would need the state Legislature to agree to spend the money before any scholarships could go out. Senate Majority Leader Johnny Ellis, who has pushed for the creation of such a scholarship program in recent years, said he'd be interested in making it based on financial need, not just grades.

Parnell is proposing to pay for it by carving out $400 million of the state's $8 billion Constitutional Budget Reserve Fund savings account as its own separate endowment, saying interest and investment profits from that would be used to pay for the scholarships. State Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux said it's not clear how much the program would cost the state each year but he figures $20 million could be available annually for covering the costs of the scholarship program.

The scholarship could be used at the University of Alaska as well as any other certified post-secondary and job-training institution such as trade and vocational schools in Alaska. It wouldn't help with any costs for Alaska students who decide to go to school out of state, and students would have to plan ahead and make sure they take the required courses.

TAKING MORE MATH

Students could qualify for the scholarship only if they take four years of math, language arts and science classes in high school, as well as three years of social studies classes.

The Anchorage School District already requires that much language and social studies coursework to graduate, said district spokeswoman Heidi Embley.

"It looks like the only difference is an additional year of science and an additional year and a half of math," Embley said.

East Anchorage High School career counselor Vonnie Gaither said the math requirement would be the biggest issue in qualifying. Most students don't even take three years of math, she said, stopping before they take algebra 2. "Most of them will stop at geometry because they've passed the graduation requirement, which kills us, I mean it kills the kids wanting to go onto postsecondary education."

There's also the question of whether some rural students might have trouble getting enough courses, although state Education Department spokesman Eric Fry said there are statewide correspondence schools that can fill the course gaps.

"One advantage to a performance scholarship program is that it spurs high schools to be more rigorous," he said.

The proposed new program would be in addition to the existing UA Scholars Program, in which the University of Alaska offers a scholarship that totals up to $11,000 over eight semesters for the top 10 percent of students in each qualifying high school class. That can be used for books, fees, room and board, and other costs in addition to tuition, which is $4,230 for a resident taking 30 credits of lower-division courses in a year at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

SHOULD NEED BE A FACTOR?

Sitka Republican Sen. Bert Stedman said he's interested in taking a serious look at creating the new program, although he wants to see how it fits with the other state spending requests that Parnell will roll out over the next three months.

"The more Alaska residents that can handle the technical jobs that are currently in place and are coming, the better off the state is to keep our kids home," said Stedman, co-chair of the committee in the state Senate that writes the budget.

Senate Majority Leader Ellis, an Anchorage Democrat, said he's been trying to get Parnell on board with creating a scholarship program and is excited to now discover the Republican governor's interest. Getting the Legislature to carve out that much money will be a challenge but Ellis thinks it has a chance.

"There's opportunity for us to work together. And now that he's elevated it and is calling it the governor's scholarship plan, that's absolutely fine with me," he said. "If you don't care who gets the credit in politics you can accomplish some amazing things."

Ellis and Fairbanks Democratic Rep. David Guttenberg have bills that seek to create a scholarship program for students already in postsecondary school who can show financial need as well as a grade point average of at least 2.5.

Ellis said the cost could be less if the scholarships were based on need as well as merit, and the money wouldn't be going to people who don't have any need for public help.

Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call him at 257-4344.

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