Washington – In a rare venture into curriculum, the Bush administration Tuesday declared which high school programs are “rigorous” enough to qualify students for college aid.
The designation is important because only college freshmen and sophomores who complete a rigorous high school course of study can receive certain new grants approved by Congress.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, under pressure to get the program running in every state by the fall, announced a range of ways for students to be eligible for grants over the next two years. The Education Department website is www.ed.gov.
She deferred for now to programs that states themselves already consider rigorous, either based on the nature of the coursework or the sheer number of courses that students must take.
In future years, the criteria will get tougher to better reflect what colleges demand of students, Spellings said in a letter to governors and state school officers.
The grants are open only to students who already qualify for low-income Pell Grants. Some students may be shut out simply because their schools don’t have sufficient offerings.
Students will qualify if any of the following applies:
They have an advanced or honors high school diploma, as offered in at least 19 states.
They completed the courses of the State Scholars Initiative, a congressionally backed program. It requires students to take four years of English, three years of math, three years of lab science, 3 1/2 years of social studies, and two years of a language other than English. Fourteen states have the program, and eight more are starting soon.
They finished a set of courses “similar” to the State Scholars curriculum.
They took at least two Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses and passed the tests in both subjects.
States also can submit their own idea of what a rigorous course of study means, for review by Spellings. Those are due June 1.
Starting this fall, grants of $750 will be available for college freshmen and $1,300 for sophomores. Juniors and seniors can receive up to $4,000 a year.
