On Feb. 26 the Wyo. State Legislature passed a bill changing requirements to the Hathaway scholarship program. One requirement is that recipients will need to take either an additional two years of foreign language or arts courses.
A 23-7 vote by the Wyo. State Legislature has passed a bill that will be making changes to the Hathaway Scholarship program.
The legislation, House Bill 177, is simply adding to the requirements for those applying in the top tiers of the Hathaway scholarship.
This version of the bill would require students using this scholarship to take either an additional two years of a foreign language or two years of fine arts and performing arts courses. For some majors, career and vocational education courses also could fulfill the new conditions.
The Hathaway Scholarships at the Honors and Performance level already requires two years of a foreign language and four years of math and language arts at the high school level. Students also must also maintain a cumulative grade point average of a 2.5 in order to continue receiving the scholarship.
The program is in its seventh year and has benefited thousands of Wyoming students by helping them pay for tuition and fees at UW and each of the seven community colleges throughout the state.
Currently, students with a 3.5 GPA and 25 on ACT score out of high school can receive up to $1,600 per semester in scholarship money. Students can also receive $1,200 and $800 a semester if they qualify.
While many are in support of the bill, opponents say these requirements could be too much for students.
“There’s not enough time when you make these other requirements,” said Sen. Phil Nicholas, R-Laramie.
Along with Sen. Nicholas, others agree that students who qualify to receive these top tier scholarships might not have as much free time due to their other requirements. According to the bill’s critics, student athletes especially might find their schedules too jam packed for an extra two years of fine art credits.
Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, and other supporters, however, feel that these additional courses in the fine arts would add rigor to the student’s academics.
