Missouri again suspends testing requirement for A+ students
Apr. 17—A testing requirement that had been suspended for 2020 high school graduates to qualify for the A+ Scholarship has also been suspended for 2021 seniors, the Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development recently announced.
The state's initial guidance in March of last year waived end-of-course exam requirements for 2020 seniors because of school shutdowns at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The waiver has been extended so that 2021 seniors also will not be required to meet either the Algebra I end-of-course requirement or its GPA/ACT alternative to qualify for the A+ Scholarship.
"The pandemic has already presented many challenges for students," said Zora Mulligan, the state's commissioner of higher education, in a statement. "We want to continue helping students succeed beyond high school and believe current circumstances warrant suspending the end-of-course requirement for another academic year."
Other factors that necessitated the waiver extension, state officials said, include:
—The delay of the release of some exam scores until the summer, which would leave some seniors without timely information about their eligibility for the scholarship.
—The continued disruption in the availability of ACT testing sites, making it difficult for students who did not meet the primary requirement to meet the alternative.
—The continuation of remote learning in some schools due to the pandemic.
State education officials had previously announced COVID-19-related accommodations for high school students pursuing eligibility for the A+ Scholarship. Those accommodations included clarification regarding satisfying the 95% attendance requirement for remote learning students, a reduction in the number of hours a student must complete in order to meet the tutoring and mentoring requirement and guidance for midyear high school graduates whose graduation was delayed due to the pandemic.
The A+ Scholarship program provides scholarship funds to eligible graduates of participating high schools who attend a participating community college or vocational/technical school. More than 10,000 students use the A+ Scholarship in Missouri each academic year.
