Family & Community Students & Families
Awards & Scholarships

College Access Initiatives for Students from Low-Income Families

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Higher Education offer tuition waivers to state colleges and universities to students who demonstrate high academic achievement while in high school. The purpose of this memo is to inform you about several state and federal programs that can be used together to help lower the cost of a college education, particularly for students from low-income families.

I. The Koplik Certificate of Mastery with Distinction and the Adams Scholarships

In 2006 the Board of Education amended regulations that changed the name of the Koplik Certificate of Mastery to the Koplik Certificate of Mastery with Distinction for students in the class of 2009 and beyond. The criteria for earning this certificate were not changed. These criteria are as follows:

• Meeting the initial qualification by scoring in the Advanced and Advanced or the Advanced and Proficient categories on the grade 10 MCAS assessments in mathematics and English language arts;

• Meeting the second qualification by passing two additional standardized tests or passing one standardized test and providing documentation of another high academic achievement. A student may pass either two Advanced Placement (AP) exams with a score of 3 or above, two SAT Subject Tests, or one of each. For SAT Subject Tests, the minimum score required depends upon the subject. Please note that either an academic achievement or a college course in which the student earned a "B" or better can be substituted for one of the two required standardized tests. A listing of qualifying SAT Subject Test scores and examples of qualifying academic achievements may be found at the end of this memo.

Each high school Koplik Certificate coordinator received information regarding students in the class of 2008 who met the initial MCAS score qualification earlier this year. The listing of students in the class of 2009 who initially qualify for the Koplik Certificate of Mastery with Distinction, updated supporting documents, and application materials are now available on DropBox Central for the Koplik Certificate coordinators.

Students may also earn a tuition waiver to state colleges and universities through the Adams Scholarship program. They qualify by scoring in the Advanced and Advanced or the Advanced and Proficient categories on the grade 10 MCAS assessments in mathematics and English language arts and by scoring in the top 25% of the students in the district on these tests. Students are notified if they have won an Adams Scholarship in the fall of their senior year.

II. Advanced Placement Courses and the AP Exam Fee Subsidy Program

Taking AP courses and exams provides students the experience of completing academically challenging college level coursework while in high school. Students who pass the exams may receive college credit or place into higher-level courses when they begin college - either option translates into significant cost savings for the students' families. Please note that the AP Exam Fee Subsidy Program continues to provide financial relief for students whose families meet the income eligibility guidelines by reducing the cost of an AP exam from $85 to $10. Fee subsidies are also available for exams given in the International Baccalaureate Organization program.

III. Federal Financial Aid for College

Students who receive the Koplik Certificate of Mastery with Distinction and who are eligible to receive a Pell grant may receive additional funding through federal Academic Competitiveness (AC) grants in their freshman and sophomore years. If these students major in mathematics, a science, or a critical foreign language, they are eligible for substantial funding in their junior and senior years through the National Science and Math Access to Retain Talent (SMART) grants. Please see http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/NewPrograms.jsp for more information on the AC and SMART grants and other forms of federal financial aid for college.

For any questions you may have regarding the Koplik Certificate of Mastery with Distinction, the AP Fee Subsidy program, or the AC and SMART grants, please contact me at 781.338.6252 or by e-mail at: rsalus@doe.mass.edu.

Thank you for forwarding this message to the Koplik Certificate coordinator in your high school.

IV. Requirements for the Class of 2009 Stanley Koplik Certificate of Mastery With Distinction

Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System
Scores in the Advanced and Advanced or the Advanced and Proficient categories on the grade 10 MCAS assessments in mathematics and English language arts

Advanced Placement tests
Any AP score of 3 or above

Other Academic Achievements

Students may substitute evidence of another academic achievement from their high school years for one passing score on any of the tests listed above with either:

1. College Courses
   An official transcript of a college course taken during high school on which a student received a grade of B or higher; or

2. Competitions, Prizes, Awards, Publications
   A student must win a prize or award in a competition or be selected for an activity or publication, beyond the local school level, based on excellence in achievement in an academic or artistic field. Evidence could be a certificate, award, article or excerpt and title page from a publication, or a letter from a sponsoring organization indicating the level of work the student accomplished.

Below are examples of competitions, prizes, awards, and publications that may be used:
Academic Decathlon Competition
American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME)
American Field Service Scholarship
Massachusetts Art Education Association: Art-All State
Boys State and Girls State
Business Professionals of America (BPA) Skills Development Award
Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) Skills Development Award
English-Speaking Union's National Shakespeare Competition
Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Skills Development Award
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Award
Ford/AAA Automotive Technology Skills Development Award
Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Skills Development Award
Future Farmers of America (FFA) Skills Development Award
Greater Boston Youth Symphony participation
High Schools That Work Award of Educational Achievement
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, Massachusetts and National
International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)
Intel Science Talent Search - semi-finalist or finalist
Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) Competition - state finalist
Junior Achievement Award winners
Latin Certamen Competition - gold or silver medalist
Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MAFLA) Essay Contest
Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MAFLA) Past President's Award
Massachusetts Business Education Association Award for Exemplary Achievement
Massachusetts or National History Day prizes for written papers, audio/visual presentations
Massachusetts Theater Guild competition finalist
Microsoft Certification Programs Computer Science
Massachusetts Music Educators Association: Music All State
National Arts Talent Search
National French Honor Society
National Language Exams - semi-finalist or finalist
National Merit Finalist
Publication in a literary magazine such as "The Concord Review"
Science Competitions, i.e., Science Olympiad individual honor award
Skills USA Skills Development Award
State or International competition of Odyssey of the Mind Future Problem Solvers
Regional Talent Search/Johns Hopkins University State Recognition
Shakespeare Competition - State finalist for outstanding performance
USAMO-USA Mathematical Olympiad
We the People - Competitions of the Center for Civic Education