PURPOSE: The competitiveness scholarship program permits the Coordinating Board for Higher Education to provide scholarships for eligible part-time Missouri residents to attend an approved Missouri college or university pursuant to the provisions included in 173.262, RSMo. This rule sets forth qualifications required of student applicants for the scholarships, criteria to be used in selecting scholarship recipients and qualifications which approved colleges or universities must meet.

1. (1) Definitions.

   1. (A) Academic year or period of the scholarship is the period from August 1 of any year through July 31 of the following year.
   2. (B) Applicant is anyone who applies to the coordinating board for a scholarship under the competitiveness scholarship program.
   3. (C) Approved institution shall be any private or public institution located in Missouri that meets the requirements set forth in section 173.205(2) or (3), RSMo.
   4. (D) Competitiveness scholarship assistance or award shall be an amount of money paid by Missouri to a qualified applicant pursuant to the provisions of this rule.
   5. (E) Competitiveness scholarship program or scholarship program shall mean the scholarship program established by section 173.262, RSMo.
   6. (F) Coordinating board or board is the Coordinating Board for Higher Education created by section 173.005, RSMo.
   7. (G) Financial need shall be the difference between the total financial resources available to an applicant and the applicant’s total cost of attendance, including tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies, personal expenses and transportation while attending part-time at an approved institution.
   8. (H) Financial resources shall be the amount of financial assistance (scholarship, grant, work, loan) awarded to the applicant by the approved institution and the amount of the applicant’s expected family contribution as determined by any multiple data entry

2. (MDE) processor approved by the United States Department of Education.

   1. (I) Initial recipient shall be any applicant who meets the eligibility requirements and is awarded and received a competitiveness scholarship for the first time.
   2. (J) Part-time student shall be any undergraduate student who is enrolled less than full-time but at least half-time in a degree program as defined by the approved private or public Missouri institution.
   3. (K) Renewal recipient shall be any applicant who received a competitiveness scholarship as an initial recipient under the competitiveness scholarship program and meets the eligibility requirements under the provisions of this rule and requirements as defined by the approved institution, and is awarded and received a renewable competitiveness scholarship under the competitiveness scholarship program as a second-year, third-year or fourth-year undergraduate student at an approved institution in Missouri.
   4. (L) Resident of Missouri is any person who meets the requirements for resident status for Missouri as set forth by the coordinating board in 6 CSR 10-3.010 the residency rule for higher education.
   5. (M) Satisfactory academic degree progress or satisfactory academic progress shall be determined by the approved institution’s policies as applied to other students at the approved institution receiving assistance under Title IV financial aid programs included in the Higher Education Act of 1965.
   6. (N) Standard admissions policies shall be policies approved and published by the approved institution to admit part-time students and students having a certificate of graduation from high school or the equivalent of that certificate.
   7. (O) Undergraduate student shall be any student who has not obtained a first baccalaureate degree.

3. (2) Student Applicant Qualifications and Responsibilities.

   1. (A) To be eligible for initial or renewed scholarship under the competitiveness scholarship program, an applicant must—

      1. 1. Be a citizen or permanent resident of

the United States;

1. 2. Be a resident of Missouri;
2. 3. Be enrolled or accepted for enroll-

ment as a part-time undergraduate student at an approved institution for the period of the scholarship;

1. 4. Maintain satisfactory academic

progress in a course of study, according to standards determined by the approved institution;

1. 5. Complete an application for scholar-

ship assistance according to the provisions of this rule;

1. 6. Demonstrate financial need;
2. 7. Be eighteen (18) years of age or older

at the time the application is submitted to the coordinating board;

1. 8. Be employed and compensated for

twenty (20) hours or more per week; and

1. 9. Not be employed under the federal

Title IV College Work-Study Program.

1. (B) No award shall be made under section 173.262, RSMo to any applicant who is enrolled or who intends to use the award to enroll in a course of study leading to a degree in theology or divinity.
2. (C) Scholarship assistance shall be allotted for one (1) academic year, but an applicant shall be eligible for renewed assistance until s/he has obtained a baccalaureate degree or completed one hundred fifty (150) semester credit hours.

1. (3) Responsibilities of Approved Institutions.

   1. (A) Approved institutions shall—

      1. 1. Comply with the provisions included

in section 172.205(2) or (3) RSMo;

1. 2. Admit students based on the approved

institution’s standard admissions policies;

1. 3. Submit a copy of the institution’s pol-

icy on satisfactory academic degree progress to the coordinating board;

1. 4. Establish fair and equitable refund

policies covering tuition, fees and, where paid to the school, room and board charges. That refund policy shall be the same policy which is utilized by the approved institution for refunding all federal Title IV financial aid programs included in the Higher Education Act of 1965;

1. 5. Sign the agreement for educational

institution participation in the competitiveness scholarship program as provided by the coordinating board;

1. 6. Systematically organize all student

records (student financial aid, registrar, business office) pertaining to student recipients under the scholarship program to be made readily available for review upon request by the coordinating board;

1. 7. Complete the institution’s section of

the competitiveness scholarship program application to verify the student’s eligibility for the scholarship program and submit it to the coordinating board by the annual deadline published by the coordinating board for the current academic year; and

1. 8. Determine if the student applicant has

demonstrated financial need.

1. (B) When the approved institution receives the competitiveness scholarship program funds for the awards made by the coordinating board, the approved institution must—

   1. 1. Determine if the applicant is enrolled

part-time and is making satisfactory academic progress in a course of study according to standards determined by the approved institution;

1. 2. Determine if the applicant is em-

ployed twenty (20) hours or more per week at the time the award is delivered to the applicant;

1. 3. Deliver the scholarship program

funds to the applicant in the amount awarded to that applicant by the coordinating board and obtain the applicant’s endorsement, retaining the portion of the award which the applicant owes for undergraduate tuition or incidental fees for the current academic year to that particular approved institution;

1. 4. Notify the coordinating board and

return the applicant’s check within thirty (30) days of learning, prior to disbursement, that the applicant to whom an award has been made has not enrolled part-time, has indicated that s/he does not plan to enroll part-time or does not meet the other student eligibility requirements;

1. 5. Be responsible for the repayment of

any competitiveness scholarship funds sent to the approved institution by the coordinating board if the scholarship funds were delivered erroneously; and

1. 6. Determine and calculate the amount

of refunds to the coordinating board based on the refund formula of the approved institution for applicants who withdraw during the institution’s refund period. The coordinating board may refuse to award scholarships to applicants who attend approved institutions which fail to make timely refunds to the coordinating board.

1. (C) Repayment under paragraph (3)(B)5. of this rule shall be necessary when the—

   1. 1. Approved institution delivers funds to

an applicant not eligible under the competitiveness scholarship program;

1. 2. Award was based on erroneous,

improper or misleading information provided by the approved institution to the coordinating board; or

1. 3. Approved institution delivers the

scholarship funds to a person other than the one to whom the coordinating board has directed the funds be delivered.

1. (4) Application and Evaluation.

   1. (A) The coordinating board annually shall prescribe the form of, and the time and method of filing applications for participation in the competitiveness scholarship program.
   2. (B) An application for scholarship assistance under the competitiveness scholarship program shall be made annually by the applicant upon the form prescribed by the coordinating board.
   3. (C) Completed applications must be received by the coordinating board to be approved for scholarship awards.
   4. (D) The deadline for receiving completed competitiveness scholarship applications will be published annually by the coordinating board for each academic year. Completed applications must be received by the coordinating board on or before the published deadline to be considered on time and to have priority consideration. Incomplete applications received by the coordinating board will not be processed.
   5. (E) Completed competitiveness scholarship applications received after the annual deadline published by the coordinating board will be awarded provided program funds are available, based on a review by the coordinating board.

2. (5) Competitiveness Scholarship Program Award Limits and Criteria.

   1. (A) Within the limits of the funds appropriated and made available, the maximum competitiveness scholarship program award amount for each applicant per academic year shall be the least of the actual undergraduate tuition charged at an approved institution where the applicant is enrolled or accepted for part-time enrollment or the amount of tuition charged a Missouri undergraduate resident enrolled part-time in the same class level (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) and in the same academic major of the applicant at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
   2. (B) Financial need shall be used by the approved institution in determining applicant eligibility for awards under the competitiveness scholarship program.
   3. (C) The first year of the competitiveness scholarship program funds shall be awarded only to applicants as initial recipients.
   4. (D) Applicants who qualify as initial recipients under the provisions of this rule in the second and each subsequent year of the program will be awarded based on the availability of program funds.
   5. (E) If sufficient program funds are unavailable to award to initial recipients, the awards will be made based on the earliest date the completed applications are received by the coordinating board until all funds have been expended.
   6. (F) During the second and each subsequent year in which awards are made under the competitiveness scholarship program, the renewal recipients shall have priority in the awarding of program funds. If sufficient program funds are unavailable to award all eligible renewal recipients, priority for program funds shall be awarded based on the earliest date the completed application is received by 6 CSR 10-2

the coordinating board in the following order: fifth-year, fourth-year, third-year and secondyear students as defined by the approved institution.

1. (G) An applicant receiving an award under the competitiveness scholarship program shall have made satisfactory academic progress as defined by the approved institution and meet all other eligibility criteria according to the provisions of this rule to be eligible for a subsequent award under the competitiveness scholarship program.
2. (H) The award amount for any given academic year will be disbursed to the approved institution, equally, according to the number of semesters at the approved institution and awarded for each semester of part-time enrollment.
3. (I) Awards will not be made for periods of enrollment during the summer term(s).
4. (J) An applicant’s approved institution choice may be changed prior to the beginning of the first day of classes and may transfer between approved institutions during the academic year. The deadline for these actions is August 1 for the fall semester and January 1 for the winter or spring semester. Failure to notify the coordinating board by the prescribed dates of this action may result in loss of the award.
5. (K) Award notifications will be sent to applicants by the coordinating board after the awards have been determined. Notification of awards also will be sent to the student financial aid office at the approved institution where the applicant plans to or has enrolled.
6. (L) The applicant’s award will be sent to the approved institution to be endorsed by the applicant in accordance with the requirements of subsection (3)(B) of this rule.
7. (M) Should an applicant withdraw prior to the end of the approved institution’s refund period during the period of the scholarship, then a refund shall be calculated and made to the coordinating board by the approved institution within forty (40) days from the day on which the applicant withdraws. The amount of the refund will be calculated by the approved institution based on the refund formula of that institution.

AUTHORITY: section 173.262, RSMo 1994.* Original rule filed May 24, 1990, effective Nov. 30, 1990. *Original authority: 173.262, RSMo 1988, amended 1992.