At the Capitol, the Arkansas General Assembly ended its fiscal session during the first week in March. The budget recommendation was for higher education institutions to return to their pre-January budget levels, which means an increase of approximately $1.2 million in state funding to UCA for the fiscal year 2011 budget year from its current level.
This is still not to the level originally budgeted from the 2009 legislative session, but the budget forecasters recommend the increase and are projecting actual growth in Arkansas’ revenue picture.
The legislature also set the lottery scholarship levels at $2,500 per year at the two-year college level and $5,000 per year at the four-year university level. High School students must either score a 19 on the ACT test or have a 2.5 grade point average. Current college students can also qualify for this scholarship if they meet certain criteria and maintain a 2.5 grade point average as well.