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The latest proposal to save the Lottery Scholarship aims to make requirements for keeping the scholarship stricter.
House Bill 309, “Lottery Scholarship Solvency Program,” sponsored by Rep. James P. White (R-Albuquerque) is scheduled to be heard in the House Education Committee on Friday. The bill is another attempt to prevent the Lottery Scholarship from running out of money in July. This one proposes to do so by increasing the number of credit hours required and decreasing the number of semesters for which the scholarship is awarded.
For students attending four-year institutions, the bill would change the time period undergraduate students can receive the scholarship from the current eight semesters to seven semesters. It would raise the minimum number of required credits from 12 to 15.
These new guidelines would apply to students who have received five semesters or fewer of the scholarship as of fall 2013.
Chris Sadler, a UNM astrophysics student, had the scholarship for his first three semesters but said he lost it for his fourth semester because his GPA dropped 0.5 points below the 2.5 limit.
If he regains his scholarship and if the bill passes, he will be subject to the bill’s seven-semester limit.
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” Sadler said. “It might make students try to cram more classes in each semester, and take more than they could handle to finish before then.”
Sadler said he is also concerned about the proposed 15-credit requirement, because he works part time at the SUB.
“It’s already difficult to take 12 credits and work,” Sadler said. “Many students do this, and it would be even harder for students who work full time to take 15 credits.”
Colton Grossheim is a UNM pre-med student who has received the scholarship for four semesters, and thus would also be affected by the new policies in the bill if it passes. Grossheim plans to attend medical school after graduating from UNM, and said one semester without the scholarship could make paying for medical school more difficult.
But he said he understands the reasoning behind the proposals.
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“They only have so much money they can give out to people,” Grossheim said. “Unfortunately, you have to find ways around that and you have to have restrictions.”
In other House news, today the House Appropriations and Finance Committee will hear seven UNM-related bills. These include HB 80, which aims to expand UNM’s Dental Science program; HB 213, which looks to expand the UNM program that recruits minority students for science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors; and HB 244, which seeks to create a program to link UNM’s space engineering research with the efforts of local small businesses in the space industry and government space research efforts.
