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Posted on Sat, Jan. 20, 2007

More eligible for tuition help
21st Century Scholars open to more students.

By Ese Isiorho
eisiorho@news-sentinel.com

Students denied the chance to apply for a state-funded scholarship because they had a parent who was not a U.S. citizen, or did not have a Social Security number or was an illegal immigrant are getting some relief.

Students who can attest they did not apply while in the seventh or eighth grade because their parents did not meet the criteria and were 20 years old or younger as of March 2006 can submit a special application to become a 21st Century Scholar.

“We’ve contacted all of the middle and high school counselors and informed them of this,” said Seana Murphy, state director for the 21st Century Scholars program. Though she has not received any inquiries, “it’s not that we haven’t put the word out there,” she said.

The State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana, which administers the scholarship program, was sued in federal court last March after students seeking to become scholars were denied because they had a parent failing to meet one or more of the criteria.

Murphy said the policy “directly impacted” 73 students whose applications were returned. The commission did not admit to any wrongdoing but changed its application form.

The commission put legal announcements in newspapers around the state and contacted the scholarship program’s 14 regional sites.

Joanne Alvarez, IPFW’s 21st Century Scholars regional coordinator, said no students had called her office wanting to submit a special application.

The 21st Century Scholars Program began in 1990 as Indiana’s way of raising the educational aspirations of low and moderate-income families, and aims to ensure all Indiana families can afford a college education for their children.

Income-eligible seventh- and eighth-graders who enroll in the program and fulfill a pledge of good citizenship to the state are guaranteed the cost of four years of college tuition at any participating public college or university in Indiana. If the student attends a private institution, the state will award a comparable amount.

“The initial benefit is the ability to participate in early college benefits,” Murphy said. Those benefits include mentoring, tutoring and financial-aid counseling while in high school. “At the conclusion of a student’s participation, they receive additional tuition assistance.”
To apply

If you were denied the chance to apply for Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars Program because one or both of your parents was not a U.S. citizen, or did not have a Social Security number, or was an illegal immigrant, and would like to do so:

♦Visit http://www.in.gov/ ssaci/programs

♦E-mail 21special@ssaci.in.gov

♦Send the student’s full name, address and the words “Special Enrollment request” to 150 W. Market St., Suite 500, Indianapolis, IN 46202

♦Call 1-317-233-2100 or 1-888-528-4719

♦Contact your high school guidance counselor.

Deadline: March 10