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120B.08 EARLY GRADUATION ACHIEVEMENT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

Subdivision 1.Participation.

A student who qualifies for early graduation under section 120B.07, who meets the criteria in subdivision 1a, and who has not participated in the early graduation military service award program under section 120B.09 is eligible to participate in the early graduation achievement scholarship program.

Subd. 1a.Eligible student.

For purposes of this section, an eligible student is a secondary student enrolled in a Minnesota public school who, at the time of graduation, generated Minnesota general education revenue and who graduates prior to the end of the fourth school year after first enrolling in ninth grade.

Subd. 2.Scholarship amounts.

A student who participates in the early graduation achievement scholarship program is eligible for a scholarship of $2,500 if the student graduates one semester or two trimesters early, $5,000 if the student graduates two semesters or three or four trimesters early, or $7,500 if the student graduates three or more semesters or five or more trimesters early. Participation in the optional summer term, extended day sessions, and intersessions of a state-approved learning year program under section 124D.128 are considered a quarter for purposes of computing scholarship amounts.

Subd. 3.Scholarship uses.

An early graduation achievement scholarship may be used at any institution of higher education accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education.

Subd. 4.Application.

A qualifying student may apply to the commissioner of education for an early graduation achievement scholarship. The application must be in the form and manner specified by the commissioner and must be received at the department within two calendar years of the date of graduation. Upon verification of the qualifying student's course completion necessary for graduation, the department must issue the student a certificate showing the student's scholarship amount.

Subd. 5.Enrollment verification.

A student who qualifies under this section and enrolls in an accredited higher education institution must submit a form to the commissioner verifying the student's enrollment in the higher education institution and the tuition charges for that semester. Within 45 days of receipt of a student's enrollment and tuition verification form, the commissioner must issue a scholarship check to the higher education institution in the lesser of the tuition amount for that semester or the maximum amount of the student's early graduation achievement scholarship. A student may continue to submit enrollment verification forms to the commissioner until the student has used the full amount of the student's graduation achievement scholarship or six years from the date of the student's graduation, whichever occurs first. The scholarship cannot be renewed.

Subd. 6.General education money transferred.

The commissioner must transfer the amounts necessary to fund the early graduation achievement scholarships from the general education aid appropriation for that year.

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes