A new scholarship proposed by Gov. Mitt Romney could help Massachusetts students who score among the top 25 percent of students in the state on the mandatory Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test, but some advocates are questioning whether the program is the best way to help needy students.
The John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program, which Romney introduced in his budget for the 2005 fiscal year, would give high-scoring students four years of free tuition at any public college or university in Massachusetts. Additionally, students who score in the state’s top 10 percent on the MCAS will receive an annual bonus of $2,000 to help cover other costs.
“Families all across the commonwealth are struggling to pay to send their children to college,” Romney said in a press release last month. “The new Adams scholarship will make the dream of obtaining a college education a reality for thousands of Bay State students and keep our most talented students right here in Massachusetts.”
But Massachusetts Teachers Association spokesman Jerry Spindel said his organization is against the scholarship being linked only to MCAS scores rather than giving aid based on need.
“We are very much in favor of scholarships for students, but basing them on MCAS scores is not a good use of this money,” Spindel said. “Of course it will help some, but the idea should be, ‘Who will it help the most?'”
Spindel said studies of MCAS scores demonstrate that students who perform well on the test usually do not need financial aid.
“It has been proven that students in the wealthier communities score better and these students don’t need this kind of assistance,” Spindel said.
The program will cost an estimated $12 million in 2005 – a figure which will rise to $50 million when the program is fully running in its fourth year, according to Romney’s press release. In order to receive the full tuition, students must maintain a 3.0 grade point average and complete their college studies in four years or less. Those students receiving the $2,000 bonus will be required to keep a 3.3 grade point average.
Massachusetts Board of Education spokeswoman Kimberly Beck said the board, which oversees state and community colleges and the University of Massachusetts, agreed with the governor’s proposal and added that it would give an incentive for kids to perform well.
“It acknowledges students who perform at a high level and do well on the MCAS,” Beck said. “It would give kids the initiative to do well and provide assistance to kids who lack college funding.”
But Richard Stutman, president of the Boston Teachers’ Union, is pushing for the Legislature to reject Romney’s proposal because he says the scholarship focuses on the level of performance in the state as a whole instead of focusing on performance in individual schools.
“Not one kid in Boston, with the exception of those attending Boston Latin or Boston Latin Academy, would receive this scholarship,” Stutman said. “It is giving a bonus to kids that is not spread out fairly or evenly.”
Some Boston University students agreed that the scholarship would not help many high school students looking at colleges.
“If you’re smart enough to be performing at such a high level to begin with, it is most likely that you aren’t going to be looking at the public state schools anyway,” said College of Arts and Sciences freshman and Massachusetts resident Tina Ng. “The majority of people in the top 25 percent probably wouldn’t use the scholarship anyway.”
CAS senior and Massachusetts native Meagan DaSilva agreed with Ng and added that it would not have changed how she chose a college.
“It wouldn’t have affected my decision at all,” DaSilva said. “Massachusetts had much better private schools and none of the public schools in the state compare to BU.”
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