State releases stats on scholarship eligibility

Early data indicate at least 2,170 students from the high school graduating class of 2012 qualified for a state-funded merit scholarship.

Gov. Sean Parnell’s office says that’s 30 percent of this year’s total graduating class. It’s not clear yet how many students will accept a scholarship, which must be used for post-secondary education in Alaska.

Parnell has been a champion of the Alaska Performance Scholarship, seeing it as a way to help transform the state’s education system.

A report to lawmakers on the program’s inaugural year showed that as of Jan. 1, the program had awarded about $3 million in aid to more than 900 graduates from the class of 2011. About 1,400 additional students qualified and remained eligible to receive scholarship aid later, provided they meet eligibility requirements.

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