State grants reward high schoolers for getting diplomas early

While other 16-year-olds were hanging out at the mall and updating their MySpace pages after class, Gilbert student Marie Manning was studying math and science and racking up credits to finish high school ahead of her peers.

Manning's hard work will pay off - literally - when she receives a check from the state under a program rewarding students graduating early from high school.

She and four others were honored Tuesday on the floor of the House of Representatives, standing with a ceremonial $1.8 million check symbolizing money available this year from the state's Early Graduation Scholarship Grant fund.

Under a law that took effect last year, students finishing high school a semester early receive up to $1,000 for their first year of college and up to $500 for the second.

Those graduating at least a year early receive up to $1,250 their first year of college and up to $750 the second.

Manning is a graduate of the South Mountain campus of the Arizona Agribusiness and Equine Center, a charter high school working in conjunction with the Maricopa County Community College District.

She is now headed to Arizona State University Polytechnic in east Mesa to pursue a degree in applied biological sciences.

"This is amazing," Manning said after posing for photos with House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix. "I'm very, very excited."

Rep. Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, who sponsored the legislation that led to the program, said the grants enhance the productivity of Arizona's education system.

"We invest so much money in our work force, so much money in our colleges and universities, so much money in our K-12 system, and yet half of our students are not going on to college," Tobin said.

Tobin said high schools had been reluctant to encourage students to graduate early because losing students would cost them funding.

He said the grant program specifies schools still receive funding for students graduating early, but a portion of that money formerly was used to pay for the grants so there is no burden on taxpayers

For now, the fund is being used only for students graduating a semester early, but it eventually will cover students graduating even earlier.

"The problem is, it is brand, brand-new and a lot of students don't know about it," said April Osborn, executive director of the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education, which administers the grants with money provided by the state Department of Education. "We need to get the word out."

The early scholarship grants are prorated for part-time students, and all recipients must complete their first two years of college within 36 months of their high school graduation.