Options for maintaining the AIMS scholarship may include lowering the dollar amount of the award and stiffening the requirements for earning it.
The Arizona Board of Regents’ Academic Affairs Committee met on Monday afternoon to discuss proposed revisions to the scholarship made by presidents and provosts from Arizona’s three universities.
The board, which voted unanimously last month to maintain the scholarship after ASU administration asked to suspend it to counteract budget cuts, won’t vote on the fate of the scholarship or make any official changes until an unknown later date.
The AIMS scholarship, formally known as the Regents High Honors Endorsement Scholarship, covers the cost of tuition at any in-state university for all Arizona high-school graduates who meet the requirements, which include scoring “exceeding” all sections of the AIMS test.
Mark Denke, assistant executive director for Academic and Student Affairs, presented options recommended by the university presidents and provosts that would affect the high-school class of 2011.
The first was to use only the initial scores from the AIMS test to determine eligibility for the scholarship.
Currently, students are able to retake the exams three additional times if they don’t “exceed” each section — math, reading and writing — during the original testing date their sophomore year.
According to data released by the Arizona Department of Education, this could reduce the number of students eligible for the award by 65 percent, Denke said.
The second suggestion was to reduce the size of the scholarship from full tuition to a flat amount of $3,000 per year.
“As a result of these changes, the cost [of the AIMS scholarship] would be reduced to about $4 million from $13 million,” Denke said. “The savings is relatively significant.”
In the 2008-09 academic year, the scholarship cost Arizona’s three universities $13 million, $3 million more than in 2007-08.
“[These cuts] will reduce the impact on the university’s financial aid programs, but still continue to provide support and incentives,” Denke said.
Regent Bob McLendon suggested the committee discuss how the scholarship is tied entirely to the AIMS test, an exam that could potentially be discontinued in the future.
“There may be a time when the AIMS test is no longer given due to high costs and the economy,” he said. “The test is very, very expensive.”
Earning nods of agreement from other members, McLendon said the exam should be used to determine college-readiness, though it currently tests only what students should know at a high-school sophomore level.
Student Regent David Martinez questioned the $3,000 amount, adding that tuition will increase each year while a hard-line dollar scholarship can’t be inflated.
“[Scholarships] aren’t increased to accommodate the rise in tuition,” he said, adding that students are having a more difficult time handling rising tuition costs as each semester passes.
Committee chair Dennis DeConcini said the $3,000 amount must be revisited before a final decision is made.
“Part of the recommendation here was to reduce the costs,” he said. “Coming up with a number that is less is what we need, but we need to know why.”
McLendon said while there isn’t a magic number, it must be high enough that students are motivated to shoot for it.
ABOR first created the award to generate incentive for students to take the AIMS test more than once and improve each time, Denke said.
ABOR Executive Director Joel Sideman argued that requiring students to exceed AIMS the first time would contradict the idea of encouraging them to take the test a second or third time to improve their scores.
While no decision was made, the committee hasn’t set a strict date to revisit the issue, but is continuing the discussion, associate executive director for Academic and Student Affairs Stephanie Jacobson said
No matter what the outcome is, the committee plans to honor 2009 and 2010 high-school graduates if they have already exceeded the AIMS or earned the scholarship.
“Beyond that, it is very much still up in the air,” McLendon said.
DeConcini said the committee must continue to discuss the issue so it can eventually take action.
“The only reason we’re addressing this is because of the financial crisis,” he said. “If we were booming along, it wouldn’t be nearly the issue it is today. We must keep our focus on that as we continue.”
Reach the reporter at tessa.muggeridge@asu.edu.
