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Mr. RIBICOFF. Each State participating in the program would be asked to establish a scholarship commission broadly representative of the high schools and colleges and of the public. This commission would sponsor within the State a competitive program for high school seniors, each of whom would be competing on the basis of ability and need with other seniors from his own State.

Each State commission, in addition to selecting scholarship winners on the basis of scholastic ability and achievement, would be responsible for determining the degree of financial need of each winner. Stipends would range up to a maximum of $1,000, and it is estimated that the average award would amount to about $700.. The total cost of administering the program in each State would be borne by the Federal Government.

Scholarship winners selected under this program would be permitted to use the scholarship grant to help defray educational expenses at the college of their choice and to pursue their own programs of study. The scholarship award would continue for 4 years, leading to a bachelor's degree.

Since tuition fees do not cover the college operating costs, provision has been made to pay an additional sum to the colleges attended by the scholarship students. This "cost of education allowance" of $350 per year would be paid on behalf of the scholarship student by the Federal Government to the college or university.

The proposed plan of scholarships would implement the efforts already begun under the National Defense Education Act to assist the States and high schools in their programs for the early identification and motivation of talented youth through improved counseling services. It would provide for a national talent search, to be conducted on a partnership basis by the Federal Government and the States, to discover, encourage, and assist significant numbers of students of high ability who otherwise might be unable to enter college. It is designed to stimulate and supplement rather than to supplant or discourage additional scholarship assistance by States, corporations, voluntary groups, and other private sources. "Actually, the seriousness and size of the problem of "erosion of talent" warrants vigorous participation by all parts, public and private, of our society in its solution.

CONCLUSION

Enactment of H.R. 5266 would be in accord with the urgent recommendations of the President. It is our earnest and sincere hope that your committee will approve this program of construction assistance and of undergraduate scholarships. The adoption of this program will have significant and far-reaching effects not only in permitting our ablest students to continue their education but also in assisting colleges and universities in providing accommodations for additional thousands of students now moving through our secondary schools. Such a program would be an inspiration to American youth, and an added strength to the great national resource of higher education. It would also constitute a ringing declaration of the American people's devotion to the great purposes of our society.

Mrs. GREEN. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, for that excellent statement.

May I say, also, that I am very glad to have Congressman Pucinski, of Illinois, and Congressman Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, members of the full committee, join us.

Some of our colleagues have introduced legislation. Mrs. Sullivan has a bill which would provide for teachers for the deaf.

Congressmen Multer and Ashley have bills which would provide scholarships with special preference to be given to science and mathematics and some other areas.

Would you have any comment on these particular bills as compared to H.R. 5266?

Mr. RIBICOFF. Well, they are all worthy causes, but we recognize that education is a purpose in itself, and it would be our hope to allow American youth to enter the colleges of their choice and to pursue whatever courses they deem to be to the best interest of their development, and I feel reasonably sure that, taking into account the large number of students involved, they themselves will fall within the professions and the faculties and the purposes that are contained in some of these individual bills. While we do emphasize in the National Science Foundation and other programs certain fields, it seems to me that we should recognize that education is worthy in itself, and allow the student to make up his mind which course he or she would prefer to pursue.

Mrs. GREEN. Would the Department have recommendations later for scholarships for special education? Have you given consideration to that yet?

Mr. RIBICOFF. I would say right now we have not. It would seem to me that many of these purposes are worthy and good purposes. think there is a limit to how much ground and how many fields you can cover at any one time.

Mrs. GREEN. On page 21 of the bill I notice that no one other than high school seniors would be eligible to compete in the scholarship program?

Mr. RIBICOFF. That is correct.

Mrs. GREEN. Some of my colleages have talked to me about possible amendments to allow a student, for instance a junior in college, who suddenly finds that he needs additional money to continue his education, to become eligible.

Mr. RIBICOFF. I personally would be against it on this basis. You have to start somewhere and have a definite objective. To the extent you are opening up this field of scholarships, you are freeing other scholarship money in colleges and universities, and I would say if you had a situation such as the junior you are talking about, he or she could borrow under the NDEA, or I am sure that when you reach your junior year, if you are qualified, there are very few students who can't continue their college education because scholarship programs are available in most colleges. I would say that we shouldn't try to dilute the purpose of this bill.

Mrs. GREEN. Referring to the State plan for administering scholarships, has the Department given consideration to how much the needs test will vary from State to State?

Mr. RIBICOFF. Well, I would say that it is our feeling that the State will make its own determination. There are various other scholarship programs that use a rather highly developed needs test. I would be

pleased to have inserted in the record at this point, Madam Chairman, a statement to show how these needs tests developed, and you will see that many scholarship programs follow a pretty uniform pattern of measuring need, and if you would like I would be pleased to insert such a statement in the record at this point.

Mrs. GREEN. Fine.

(The document follows:)

Program

STATE SCHOLARSHIP COMMISSIONS FINANCIAL NEED ASSESSMENT

CALIFORNIA

The statute governing the California State scholarship programs authorizes stipends from $300 to $900, graduated at $100 intervals, based on the demonstrated financial need of the award winner. Each award is to be used for tuition and/or necessary fees, but in no case is to be in excess of tuition and fee charges for 1 academic year at the institution attended by the award winner.

Procedure

Each semifinalist candidate submits a parent's financial statement (adapted from the form used by the college scholarship service). Information provided includes parental income, assets, real property, extraordinary expenses, dependents, etc. A trained computer, using standardized assessment procedures develops an estimated support contribution from parental income and/or assets, if any. A base figure representing student earnings for the year, plus a contribution from assets, is added to yield a total support figure. This, in turn, when compared with the annual cost of education to the student, yields the amount of "need" and the scholarship stipend.

Net income distribution, first-time winners for 1960–61, California State Scholarship Commission

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The Illinois State scholarship law provides that each award shall be for tuition and fees, not to exceed $600 for the academic year, and shall be based on the demonstrated financial need of the award recipient. It also provides honorary certificates for those applicants whose need is nonexistent, with provision of review during the life of the award, should the need situation change significantly. Procedure

The Illinois State Scholarship Commission uses a system of individual assessment quite similar to that employed in California, except that awards are set at $150 intervals, between the minimum (fees only at a public institution) to the maximum of $600. A unique feature of this system is the specialized program for estimating stipends for children of farmers (owners and tenants) as well as business owners. Often, simple net income figures, after business deductions, do not represent the actual income from which support should be derived.

Illinois 1960-61 monetary winners, distribution by parental income level

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The New Jersey scholarship statute authorizes awards to be used for tuition and fees not to exceed $400 per academic year. While the award must be based on financial need, graduated stipends are not authorized. Further, the stipend is to be determined without regard to the costs of attending an institution of higher education.

Program

Since stipends in this program may not be set according to the conventional pattern, i.e., comparison of support with cost of education, need assessment criteria have been combined with competitive examination scores to provide a two-axis frequency distribution. An index of need is established for each applicant by standardized computation of expected support from parental income. Ranking the lowest parental contribution at the top of the X axis, and the highest test score at the head of the Y axis, sets the neediest, brightest student at the top of the eligibility list, and the wealthiest, less promising student at the bottom. Cutoff scores are established, however, on both axes, below which eligibility ends automatically.

Statute and program

NEW YORK REGENTS SCHOLARSHIPS

Need assessment criteria are actually defined by statutory provision in State scholarship programs. The assessment index is parental net taxable income as reported under the New York State income tax statute. At the level of $1,000 of net taxable income, the maximum stipend of $700 per year is granted. For each increase of $10 in net taxable income, the stipend is reduced by $1 until a floor of a $250 stipend at the $5,500 income level is reached. Above the $5,500 level, every award winner receives a flat $250.

New York State regents scholarship program, 1959-60, distribution of awards by parental income

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Mrs. GREEN. Referring to page 27 of H.R. 5266, on the provision for the $350 cost of education allowance, to the college or university, earlier in the bill there is the provision that if a student wins a scholarship but does not need the money, there would be no actual cash grant. Now when the payment is made to the college or university, it would not receive this $350 for the student who does not receive a cash award? Mr. RIBICOFF. No. If a person doesn't need the money, he or she would not get a scholarship. These scholarships are based first on merit and then on need. The $350 goes with the scholarship only in case the winner is found to have financial need.

Mrs. GREEN. Could I direct your attention to page 19, line 11:

Any person so awarded a scholarship who is determined by the State commission, etc., shall receive an appropriate certificate from the Commissioner.

Mr. RIBICOFF. What we have here is this: Many students, just to show that they are pretty good, will take these examinations and just to show that they have finished well, but if they are not in need, they will receive a certificate but they will not receive any money. If they' don't receive any money, just a certificate, the college that they go to will not receive $350. Let me amplify this: For the sake of competition and the recognition that they have the qualifications, they would take these examinations and would win. Now then, when the State scholarship commission started to examine the needs of winners, they might find that on the basis of need some winners would not qualify for a stipend; that there are other needier students. Therefore in recognition of their own efforts, they would receive a certificate that they did pass the examination and what their standing was, though they didn't have the financial need required to receive a stipend. If the winner does not have the financial need, and thus does not receive a stipend the college which he attends doesn't get $350.

Mrs. GREEN. Then you don't label it as a scholarship?

Mr. RIBICOFF. Certificate of recognition. I think if this were an issue we ought to change the language.

Mrs. GREEN. I wonder. The phrase, "any persons so awarded a scholarship," seems to me to say he has been awarded a scholarship even though he doesn't receive the cash.

Mr. RIBICOFF. A scholarship without stipend. This is an interesting point. In the national merit scholarship competition about onethird of the students who pass those examinations, because they do not need the money, do not receive a scholarship, but from the national merit scholarship award, they do receive a certificate and a minimum cash payment of $100 to $250, depending upon the corporation underwriting the award.

Now if there is any question about this, if this isn't clear, I think we could probably put a clause in there to make this clear.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chairman, not being a member of the subcommittee, I don't know whether I should ask for the floor, but it is a subject which interests me very much, and I am a little concerned that perhaps we are going to set up the rankest form of discrimination if we should exclude students altogether from the privilege of getting this distinction of being a National Federal scholar because they happened to have some financial background. It seems to me that we might try to prevent that kind of discrimination.

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