AB 314

Under current law, the Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB) administers

the Academic Excellence Higher Education Scholarship Program under which

HEAB awards scholarships to certain scholars, designated on the basis of grade

point average (GPA), who enroll, on a full-time basis, in a public or private

institution of higher education in this state. Under the program, an academic

excellence higher education scholarship recipient is exempt from up to $2,250 in

tuition and fees for each academic year that the recipient is enrolled full time,

maintains at least a 3.000 GPA, and makes satisfactory progress toward an associate

or a bachelor's degree or a vocational diploma.

Currently, the scholarships may be awarded to 1) the senior with the highest

GPA from each high school in this state enrolling at least 80 but fewer than 500

pupils; 2) the two seniors with the two highest GPAs from each high school in this

state enrolling at least 500 but fewer than 1,000 pupils; 3) the three seniors with the

three highest GPAs from each high school in this state enrolling at least 1,000 but

fewer than 1,500 pupils; 4) the four seniors with the four highest GPAs from each

high school in this state enrolling at least 1,500 but fewer than 2,000 pupils; 5) the

five seniors with the five highest GPAs from each high school in this state enrolling

at least 2,000 but fewer than 2,500 pupils; and 6) the six seniors with the six highest

GPAs from each high school in this state enrolling 2,500 or more pupils. In addition,

the scholarships may be awarded to the senior with the highest GPA from the school

operated by the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired (WCBVI) and

the school operated by the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and

Hard of Hearing (WESPDHH), and not more than ten scholarships statewide may

be awarded to seniors with the highest GPAs from high schools enrolling fewer than

80 pupils.

This bill increases the amount of an academic excellence higher education

scholarship for a scholarship recipient attending a public institution of higher

education to 50 percent of the tuition and fees at that institution and increases the

amount of such a scholarship for a scholarship recipient attending a private

institution of higher education to 50 percent of the tuition and fees charged a resident

undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The bill also creates a nonrefundable individual income tax credit for a

scholarship recipient who graduates from an institution within the University of

Wisconsin System, a technical college district school, or a private institution of

higher education with a bachelor's degree, an associate degree, or vocational diploma

and who resides and works in this state.

The amount for which an individual may claim a credit, which is defined as an

"eligible amount," is an amount equal to 50 percent of all tuition and fees charged one

full-time student by the institution or school attended by the scholarship recipient

for the years in which the scholarship recipient received an academic excellence