Our Opinion: New law puts A+ Scholarship Program on equal footing

State legislation enacted last year to expand the A+ Scholarship Program is already starting to benefit local students.

The state program allows students to earn scholarships to cover the cost of tuition and fees at any public two-year community college or technical school in Missouri, as well as some private schools. To be eligible, students have to meet academic, conduct, and tutoring/mentoring requirements.

Students also have to graduate from designated A+ high schools. Until this year, that was limited to public high schools.

Last year, then-Gov. Jay Nixon signed legislation that expanded the program to include private/parochial schools, effective this year.

Helias Catholic High School and Calvary Lutheran High School quickly jumped on the bandwagon, going through the process to be two of the first wave of non-public high schools to get state designation in the program.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for anyone to be able to attend college regardless of (what) their financial (need) is," said Jan Heislen, a Helias teacher, in a Tuesday News Tribune story.

The Missouri Catholic Conference has pushed for the program's inclusion of non-public schools, which was overdue. Our local delegation of lawmakers also supported the effort.

The original bill to establish the A+ Scholarship Program was sponsored by Sen. Jeannie Riddle, R-Fulton. Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, and Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, were among key supporters of the program's expansion.

At Calvary, about a quarter of the 39 seniors have expressed interest in the program. At Helias, 31 seniors are signed up.

Both schools were doing many of the things needed to qualify for the program even before the program was available to them. The program requires students to complete at least 50 hours of unpaid service work in mentoring or tutoring of other students, and both schools already emphasize serving their fellow man in different regards.

The A+ Scholarship Program gives students an opportunity to go to college, regardless of their financial situation. Now, this expansion will afford that same benefit to Helias and Calvary students, too.