Written by Sarah Kyle<\/p>\n
Following the induction of the state lottery in Arkansas, a new scholarship of $5,000 per year has been made available to Arkansas college students.<\/p>\n
The Arkansas Challenge Scholarship, also called the lottery scholarship, was recently made available by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education with varying requirements for traditional, current and non-traditional students.<\/p>\n
However, overarching requirements for all categories are that recipients must be an Arkansas resident for at least one year, must be a U.S. citizen, must complete the Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and must not have a previous undergraduate degree.<\/p>\n
Traditional students, defined as students entering a university this fall, are required to graduate from an Arkansas public school after Dec. 31, 2009, and must successfully complete the Smart Core curriculum and earn either a 2.5 GPA or a 19 on the ACT (900 on the SAT). Traditional students may also graduate from a private or home school and earn at least a 19 on the ACT.<\/p>\n
Current students are defined as students who have entered postsecondary education before the upcoming school year. Current students are required to have been continuously enrolled as full-time students and obtain a cumulative GPA of 2.5.<\/p>\n
Non-traditional students are allowed to enroll either part-time or full-time, and must have graduated from an Arkansas public school with a GPA of 2.5 or an ACT score of 19 (900 on the SAT), or from a private or home school \u2014 or earn a GED \u2014 with an ACT score of 19.<\/p>\n
Non-traditional students must have completed at least 12 semester hours of college credit with a 2.5 college GPA.<\/p>\n
Scholarship recipients are required to complete 15 hours each semester until graduation.<\/p>\n