Effective 28 Aug 2016

173.2505. Scholarship eligibility — amount of scholarship, limitation — fund created. — 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Dual Credit Scholarship Act".

2. To be eligible to receive the dual credit scholarship, a student shall:

(1) Be a United States citizen or permanent resident;

(2) Be a Missouri resident as defined by the coordinating board for higher education pursuant to section 173.005;

(3) Be enrolled in a dual credit program offered by an approved dual credit provider, as defined in section 173.2500;

(4) Have a cumulative high school grade point average of at least two and a half on a four point scale or equivalent; and

(5) Meet one or more of the following indicators of economic need:

(a) Be individually eligible to be enrolled in a federal free or reduced-price lunch program, based on income levels established by the United States Department of Agriculture;

(b) Reside in a foster home, be a ward of the state, or be homeless; or

(c) Receive low-income public assistance, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), or live in federally subsidized public housing.

3. The dual credit scholarship is hereby created to provide financial assistance to high school students enrolling in dual credit courses offered by an approved dual credit provider as defined in section 173.2500. The coordinating board may promulgate rules for the administration of the program including establishing the application, eligibility, and payment procedures. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2016, shall be invalid and void.

4. Subject to appropriation, the dual credit scholarship shall reimburse eligible students for up to fifty percent of the tuition cost paid by the student to enroll in a dual credit course offered by an approved dual credit provider.

5. No student shall receive in excess of five hundred dollars annually for all dual credit courses taken by such student.

6. There is hereby created in the state treasury the "Dual Credit Scholarship Fund", which shall consist of moneys appropriated to the fund by the general assembly and private donations made to the fund. The state treasurer shall be the custodian of the fund and shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be credited to the fund. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080 to the contrary, any moneys remaining in the fund at the end of the biennium shall not revert to the credit of the general revenue fund.

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(L. 2016 S.B. 997)