House of Representatives

State of Tennessee

 

Contact: Kara Watkins (615) 741-1975

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dear Friends:

Tennessee students can now earn additional money for college under new Academic Competitiveness and Science and Mathematical Access to Retain Talent (SMART) grants. The Academic Competitiveness Grants encourage high school students to take challenging courses by awarding up to $750 to rising college freshmen and up to $1,300 to rising college sophomores who completed a high school curriculum that meets the standards for rigor. College juniors and seniors who major in math, science or a critical foreign language can receive up to an additional $4,000 through the SMART grants.

This is a great program for high school students in Tennessee. These grants will encourage our children to engage in rigorous and demanding courses. By providing college scholarship funds, the Academic Competitiveness program will produce more scientists and mathematicians in Tennessee.

Students may become eligible to apply for these grants by following a challenging pre-college curriculum in high school. The five options for eligibility for the 2006-07 school year for a student from Tennessee are:

Program	Requirements
State Scholars Initiative national requirements.	4 English, 3 Math (including Algebra 2 and Geometry), 3 Lab Sciences, 3 ½ Social Studies, 2 Foreign Language
Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses and test scores	This program requires a minimum of two Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses in high school and a minimum passing score on the exams for those classes.  Students must score 3 or higher on AP exams and 4 or higher on IB exams.
Tennessee University Path Curriculum	4 English, 3 Math (including Algebra 2 and Geometry), 3 Sciences, 3  Social Studies, 2 Foreign Language, 1 Fine Arts
Tennessee Dual Enrollment Program	Students must successfully complete a minimum of six (6) credit-bearing college coursework in core content subjects with at least a 2.75 high school GPA.
A set of courses similar to the State Scholars Initiative	4 English, 3 Math (Algebra 1 and one higher level req.), 3 Sciences (Biology and one higher level req.), 3  Social Studies, 1 Foreign Language

Tennessee has participated in the national State Scholars Initiative since 2002 through the Tennessee Scholars Program, operated by the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Students who complete the Tennessee Scholars course of study meet the academic requirements for these grants.

For both grant programs, students must be eligible for a federal Pell grant, be enrolled full-time and maintain a 3.0 GPA. Students may determine eligibility for Academic Competitiveness or SMART grants online at http://federalstudentaid.ed.gov.