Texas Armed Services Scholarship Program
During the 81st Legislative Session, we passed House Bill 3452 which created the Texas Armed Services Scholarship Program. This legislation authorizes the governor and the lieutenant governor to each appoint two students, and each state senator and state representative to appoint one student to receive a conditional scholarship. The scholarship aims to encourage students to participate in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) programs at Texas colleges by offering a scholarship of up to $10,000 for the first year. Depending on available funding, students may receive up to four years of scholarship awards.
This legislation came through the House Defense and Veterans’ Affairs Committee where I supported the program, but it initially only applied to Texas’ public colleges and universities. However, I worked closely with the author of the bill and other members, and I added on an amendment so that private colleges and universities with ROTC programs, such as Baylor University, would be included. Overall, there is a combined total of 32 public and private universities that will participate in the program.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will distribute the first round of scholarships in time for the fall 2010 semester, with an appointment deadline of March 12, 2010.
In order to be considered, a student must meet two of the following academic criteria:
· is on track to graduate high school with the Distinguished Achievement Program or the International Baccalaureate Program;
· has a current high school GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale;
· achieve a college readiness score on the SAT (1590) or ACT (23);
· and is currently ranked in the top one-third of the prospective high school graduating class.
Additionally, once a student is selected, he or she must complete four years of ROTC training, graduate within five years of registering for college, have a four year commitment to the Texas Army or Air Force National Guard or contract to serve as a commissioned officer in any branch of the United States Armed Services. Should a student not meet the necessary requirements, the scholarship money will convert to loans which must be repaid.
The deadline for this scholarship program is less than six weeks away, so please make sure that any interested students apply in a timely matter. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is currently establishing an official application and formal nomination packet, but in the meantime you may contact your legislator for more details.
If you know a student interested in applying for this scholarship or would like to be nominated, please feel free to contact my district office at (214) 370-8305 or my capitol office at (512) 463-0244. Please free to email me as well at District107.Vaught@house.state.tx.us, and be sure to include your name and full address. I look forward to hearing from you.
