Wisconsin's Department of Public Instruction announced it would rename its Minority Pre-College Scholarship Program and allow non-minority students to apply for scholarships beginning in 2005, according to a report in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
According to the Chronicle, the change was made in conjunction with the federal Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, after the office began investigating the program because of a complaint received in 2001.
Under the agreement, the program will remove any references to or criteria regarding race or ethnicity. Instead, the program, now called the DPI Pre-College Scholarship Program, will use need-based criteria similar to criteria used to determine eligibility for free or reduced price school lunches.
Now in its 19th year, the program provides money for about 4,000 minority students in grades 6-12 to attend college preparatory programs at colleges throughout Wisconsin. According to the Chronicle, the program costs about $1.1 million per year.
Although the complaint was lodged in 2001, the 2003 Supreme Court rulings involving the University of Michigan's affirmative action policy led Wisconsin officials to seek a negotiated agreement with the Office of Civil Rights rather than challenge their investigation, according to the Chronicle.
--Compiled by Christopher Jones
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