The Education Department estimates that 500,000 students will be eligible to receive the new grants, which includes the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) grants for third and fourth-year students.
About 13 percent of the 20,000 students enrolled at Montgomery College in Rockville, Md., are pursuing certificate programs, with many students moving on to associate and bachelor’s degree programs, says Melissa Gregory, the college’s director of financial aid.
“This law was passed so fast that the Department of Education may not have anticipated that some students from rigorous high schools might choose to start their college careers with a certificate program,” she says.
The first grants — up to $750 — will be awarded to freshmen who graduated from high school this year. Second-year college students who graduated high school in 2005 qualify for $1,300 grants.
Pell-eligible students in their third and fourth years of college study can apply for SMART grants of up to $4,000.
In addition to certificate-seeking students, part-time and nontraditional older students would not qualify for the Academic Competitiveness Grants because they are open only to new high school graduates who are attending college full time.
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