Rupp: Providing Scholarships for Early High School Graduates

Education is and always has been at the top of my priority list. I believe with an educated population, our state will have a bright future for generations to come. However, the rising costs of higher education is deterring students from enrolling in college, while educating K-12 students is become an increasingly expensive venture. To help address these issues, I have proposed Senate Bill 130, which if passed, would create the “Early High School Graduation Scholarship Program.”

This bill would create a scholarship program for high school students who graduate early. If a high school student can graduate in three years, then the amount of dollars taxpayers would have spent on their fourth year of high school will be provided to the student as a scholarship for their first year of college. This benefits both the students and the state by making college more affordable for talented, young people in Missouri, and encourages students to reach their highest potential at institutions that best serve their needs.

With the scholarship offered through this legislation, I believe more high school students will be able to attend college, which would make these young adults more competitive in an increasingly educated workforce. As parents, we want our children to have the best education and future possible, and we dream of the day when we can watch them accept their diploma. We live in a great country where our children can grow up to be whatever they would like to be, and with a good education, this American Dream can be achieved for our students in Missouri.

I also introduced this legislation to provide opportunities of higher learning to students in Missouri, and to encourage students from dropping out of school. I believe the answer to a better economy and better quality of life for citizens of Missouri is education. Through the opportunities that this legislation provides, we will see our state’s economic viability increase and greater social prosperity for us all.

It is my pleasure to carry out these responsibilities for the citizens of Missouri. My job is to serve you, and as our session progresses, I will keep you up to date with all my legislative matters and happenings.

As always, if you have any questions regarding this issue or any other matter within state government, please visit my website at www.senate.mo.gov/rupp. Here, you can also subscribe to my RSS feed on the main page of my website; it will keep you up to date on all my columns, press releases, and multimedia postings. Please feel free to e-mail me or call my office toll-free at (866) 271-2844.