The Arkansas Higher Education Department has notified 10,000 high school students that they have been awarded Academic Challenge Scholarships. The deadline for students to apply for the award is June 1.
Students qualifying for the scholarships this year will notice that the awards are lower than in past years. For the past two years, university students got $4,500 per year and community college students got $2,250.
Legislators had to change to a more affordable formula for the lottery-funded scholarships and wanted to reward students who maintained their eligibility. This year's awards begin at $2,000 for freshmen and increase by $1,000 per year, topping out at $5,000 for seniors.