ASMSU officials recently released revisions to their tax-hike scholarship proposal - an issue that is up for decision in Wednesday's student government elections.
ASMSU members voted about two months ago to increase undergraduate ASMSU taxes by $3 per semester to fund a scholarship. If the tax passes in the election, undergraduates will pay $16.75 per semester to ASMSU.
The tax revision, which was passed by ASMSU's Steering Committee, allows for $55,000 more per year to be distributed as scholarships to undergraduates.
In total, $100,000 would be given to eligible students, if the tax passes in the election.
The $3 proposed tax is estimated to produce $233,000. The rest of the money will be placed into an endowed account to generate interest to fund future scholarships.
ASMSU's Steering Committee made the change to give more money back to more students sooner, said Dan Weber, Academic Assembly chairperson.
"We felt the earlier plan shortchanged the people who would pay the tax," he said. "So, we're looking to give more back while maintaining a sizable endowed (account) to continue funding scholarships after the tax goes away."
Officials also decided the terms of eligibility for the scholarships. Weber said scholarships will be in two forms - a $100 book scholarship and a tuition scholarship of about a $1,000.
College of Social Science Representative Roger Ludy, who advocated to increase the scholarship's size, said he's in favor of providing more scholarships sooner.
"We're talking about 10 times the number of scholarships from the earlier proposed allocations to the current," he said. "It puts a large amount of scholarship money into students' hands, while also saving a large amount for the endowment."
But the policy also allows for the scholarships to decrease throughout the years. Each year that passes, the scholarship allocations will decrease by at least $5,000.
This will allow ASMSU to fund scholarships for the next 20 years.
Both scholarships will be awarded to students selected by the Office of Financial Aid on the basis of financial need.
The book scholarship will be distributed in the form of a gift certificate, and the tuition scholarship will be open to all undergraduate students who pay an ASMSU tax.
Applicants for the tuition scholarship also will have to write an essay, have community service experience, which can include extra-curricular activities or volunteerism, and be evaluated on the basis of total loan debt by class standing.
"This is a great opportunity for students to assist other students," Ludy said.
For a complete list of ASMSU's candidates, see Wednesday's edition of The State News.
