Students Entitled to Merit Awards

(a)There are established annual merit awards for high school students in the graduating classes of public and private high schools licensed to do business on Guam, now or hereafter established. The students entitled to these awards shall be the students having the highest scholastic standing in the graduating COL6/24/2021 CH. 28 STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION classes of each such public and non-public high school on Guam. The awards shall be determined as follows:

(1)One

(1)for every fifty

(50)graduates or a fraction thereof of a school’s graduating class. If as a result of the equal scholastic standing of two

(2)or more graduates, there is a tie for the awards granted pursuant to this Chapter, the graduates’ respective school shall provide a mechanism to break the tie. Awardees are entitled to four

(4)years of education at the University of Guam.

(2)All awards shall be subject to the following limitations: A recipient must be:

(A)a United States citizen, a permanent resident alien, or a non-immigrant alien admitted into Guam under the Compacts of Free Association between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, who has completed a minimum of three

(3)but no more than four

(4)academic years, and meets all academic credit requirements for graduation during attendance in a public, non-public, or DODEA high school on Guam; and

(B)a resident of Guam for a continuous period of not less than five

(5)years immediately preceding June 15th of the year the award is to be given.

(3)To be eligible for a merit award, a student must have achieved a cumulative high school grade point average of not less than 3.0 or its equivalent at the time of graduation.

(b)If any student is ineligible for an award because of failure to meet the requirements contained in Subsection

(a)of this Section; or if any eligible student chooses not to accept an award when first offered such award, the award shall be granted to the eligible student with the next highest scholastic rank, or in the case of a tie, the student that was eliminated by the tie- COL6/24/2021 CH. 28 STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION breaker. If an eligible student declines to accept an award when first offered, the student may not accept the award after it has been granted to another student. The recipient of a merit award must notify the Board within thirty

(30)days that the award is accepted. Failure to notify the Board within thirty

(30)days will forfeit the award, and it shall be offered to the next alternate.

(c)A ward recipients must agree that the recipient will work on Guam for a period of one

(1)year for each academic year the award was received within six ( 6) months following the completion or termination of the course of study for which the award was granted; provided, that if the recipient continues as a full-time student at a graduate or professional school, such recipient may defer work on Guam until such additional studies are completed.

(d)A wards granted on or subsequent to the effective date of this Section shall be cancelled if a recipient:

(1)fails to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or its equivalent, except that a recipient may be allowed one

(1)academic term to regain the required grade point average without cancellation of the award; or

(2)fails to meet the academic and/or other requirements governing full-time students at the University of Guam, except that a recipient shall be allowed one

(1)academic term to regain full-time status before cancellation of recipient’s award.