2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 1 - General Provisions › Article 13 - Higher Education Student Financial Aid Programs › 605-A - Scholarships for Academic Excellence.

§  605-a. Scholarships for academic excellence.  1. (a) Beginning with
the  nineteen  hundred  ninety-seven--ninety-eight  academic  year   and
thereafter,  scholarships  for  academic  excellence shall be awarded to
students  completing  their  high  school  programs  for  attendance  in
approved  programs.  The  academic  merit  criteria  for  awarding these
scholarships will be determined by taking  the  weighted  average  of  a
student's score on Regents examinations taken by students prior to their
senior  year  in  all of the following five subject areas: comprehensive
English; global studies; U.S.  history/government;  level  3  math;  and
science,  which shall consist of the weighted average of the combination
of exams taken in chemistry, biology, earth science and  physics.    For
those schools not offering regents examinations in all such five subject
areas,  awards  shall be based on criteria developed by the commissioner
and subject to the approval of the director of the budget.
(b) School allocation. (i) Each high school in the state,  as  defined
in  regulations of the commissioner adopted for such purpose and subject
to the approval of the director of the budget, shall be  allocated:  for
the  nineteen hundred ninety-seven--ninety-eight academic year, a single
scholarship of one  thousand  dollars;  and  for  the  nineteen  hundred
ninety-eight--ninety-nine   academic   year  and  thereafter,  a  single
scholarship of one thousand five hundred dollars which shall be  awarded
to  the  top  scholar of such school as determined by the academic merit
criteria set forth in paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
(ii)   The   remaining   scholarships   for   the   nineteen   hundred
ninety-seven--ninety-eight  academic  year  of one thousand dollars, and
for the nineteen hundred  ninety-eight--ninety-nine  academic  year  and
thereafter,  of  one thousand five hundred dollars shall be allocated to
high schools in the state as defined in regulations of the  commissioner
for  such  purpose  and  subject  to the approval of the director of the
budget, in the same ratio that the number of students  enrolled  in  the
twelfth  grade at such high school in the prior school year bears to the
total number of students who were enrolled in the twelfth grade  in  the
state  during  the  prior school year.  The ratio shall be multiplied by
the number of scholarships available and the  results,  rounded  to  the
nearest  whole  number, shall be the number of scholarships allocated to
the school. Such awards  shall  be  distributed  on  the  basis  of  the
academic   merit  criteria  as  set  forth  in  paragraph  (a)  of  this
subdivision.
(iii) All scholarships of five hundred dollars shall be  allocated  in
the same manner as described in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph.
2.  In  the event that a scholarship awarded is declined by a student,
or for any reason revoked   by the commissioner or  the  president,  its
benefits  shall lapse and there shall be no further payments or awarding
of such scholarship.