ARKANSAS — Students waiting to be notified of Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship awards should begin receiving word from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education (ADHE) within a month, according to Dr. Jim Purcell, ADHE director. Numerous calls have been received at the department from students concerned that they have not yet been notified as enrollment deadlines approach.

“We understand the concern of students butwe want them to know that everything is on track for the Fall 2010 term,” said Dr. Purcell. “There are still some administrative requirements that have to be met but as soon as all the i’s are dotted and t’s crossed, our financial aid staff will begin making those notifications.”

After the June 1 deadline, Smith said ADHE will begin evaluating applications from students who are already attending college - termed “currentachievers” - and nontraditional students. The State Legislature has set aside $41.5 million for current achievers and at least $12 million for nontraditional students.

So far ADHE has received almost 33 thousand applications for the Academic Challenge Scholarship. Over 12,500 of those applications have come from graduating seniors and nearly 20 thousand have been submitted by current achievers and nontraditional students.

News, Pages 11 on 04/21/2010