§ 602. Duties of the commissioner. 1. Selection and certification of
academic performance award recipients. (a) The commissioner shall select
the qualified recipients of academic performance awards, from among
candidates who meet and exceed the minimum eligibility requirements, in
order of merit on the basis of such combination of test scores, academic
records, and personal qualifications as the commissioner deems
appropriate. If awards are allocated on the basis of geographic or
political units in the state, and if for any reason there is an
insufficient number of qualified applicants in any unit, the remaining
number of awards in such unit shall be allocated to the best qualified
applicants in the entire state. No person shall be eligible to receive
an academic performance award under this article who fails to achieve
the minimum standard of test scores, academic record, or, in the
judgment of the commissioner, personal qualifications necessary to
demonstrate promise of successful completion of the program for which
the award is made; (b) The commissioner shall certify to the president
those students eligible to receive academic performance awards.

2. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations defining the
following terms by which the president can determine a student's
eligibility for student aid and loan programs: (a) full-time study or
attendance; (b) part-time study or attendance; (c) full-time and
part-time accelerated study beyond the regular program of study for the
academic year; (d) permissible use of general and academic performance
awards; (e) matriculation; and (f) loss of good academic standing.

3. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations by which the
president shall determine whether a student has entered an approved
program during the academic year prior to the normal effective date of
the student's award.

4. If any person because of administrative error or inadvertency
should fail to receive an academic performance award which he would
otherwise be entitled to receive, the commissioner may certify such
person to the president as eligible to receive such award without regard
to the total number of such awards authorized under this article, and
payments shall be made thereon out of moneys available in the same
manner as other academic performance awards are paid.