To: The Arkansas State House, The Arkansas State Senate, and Governor Asa Hutchinson

Retain Our Best and Brightest

Stop the proposed cuts in funding for the Arkansas Governor's Distinguished Scholars Program. Retain our state’s best and brightest students.

Why is this important?

The Arkansas Governor’s Distinguished Scholars Program grants some of the top high school students in Arkansas awards that result in full scholarships to almost every college in the state. This makes it more appealing for our best and brightest students to stay in Arkansas. Due to cuts in program funding, the Arkansas Department of Higher Education may only be able to award around 100 scholarships for the upcoming year which is down from around 300 in previous years. The State Government should be retaining our state’s top high school students, rather than surprising them in the last quarter of their senior year with cuts in funding to crucial scholarships. Hard working high school students across Arkansas have relied on the availability of this scholarship. These proposed cuts in funding communicate that years of hard work may not pay-off. It should be our priority to show our top students, the next generation of leaders in this state, that Arkansas is still a land of opportunity.