Larkin Recommends Awarding All Scholarship Funding

Senator Bill Larkin (R-C, Cornwall-on-Hudson) today announced the Senate has passed a bill (S.428) that would ensure that every scholarship for academic excellence is distributed to students attending New York State schools.

Current law authorizes 8,000 scholarships for academic excellence annually. The top scholar of each public or private high school in the state is eligible for scholarships for academic excellence and the remaining balance of the awards are distributed to students using a weighted average of scores from certain Regents examinations.

As one of the sponsors of the legislation, Senator Larkin explained, "Unfortunately, if a student declines the scholarship or it is revoked for some reason, the scholarship goes unused. Instead of letting these funds just sit in the state budget, this legislation would award the scholarship to the next most qualified student. It would reward a great number of deserving young people and encourage them to keep striving for academic success."

The bill has been passed by the Senate every year since 2001. It remains in the Higher Education Committee in the Assembly.