March 11, 2005
March 11, 2005
LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said the State of Michigan will award up to $500 in additional funds to Michigan MERIT Award recipients graduating from high school in 2005 and 2006 who also passed the middle school MERIT exams in 7th and 8th grade.
Granholm made the announcement after learning a contractor working on behalf of the State had sent reports to parents of students who passed the tests, the first of whom will be graduating high school this June.
“Since students were notified they qualified for this scholarship, they will receive the scholarship – period,” Granholm said. “While I initially believed that no letter awarding the scholarship had been sent by the Engler Administration, I learned yesterday that, in fact, a contractor to the State had sent certificates to families whose children passed the test. Therefore, we will fund these scholarships.”
Specifically, reports were sent to students in the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 school years. The contractor’s work for the State ended in 2002.
Granholm has proposed that students graduating high school in 2007 and beyond benefit from a New MERIT Scholarship that will offer more scholarship money to students who pursue their education after high school. The New MERIT Scholarship will guarantee students a minimum of $4,000 in state and federal scholarships and grants if they complete two years of postsecondary education, including coursework at a four-year college or university, community college, or certification program.
Granholm earlier proposed eliminating the additional funds based on the middle school component of the MERIT award as part of spending reductions needed to close a $770 million deficit in the 2006 budget year that begins October 1.
