552                              Laws of Maryland                     [Ch. 412

284C. Federal Scholarship Program.

If and when a Federal Scholarship Program shall become available
for the grant of federal funds to scholarship candidates or educa-
tional institutions of this State, such Program shall be administered
by and under the supervision of the State Scholarship Board; and
such Board is hereby empowered and authorized to effectuate the
same and do all things necessary to implement and administer the
same in accordance with provisions of federal legislation pertaining
thereto by regulation or rule of said Board.

284D. General State Scholarship Program.

(a)  In addition to any other scholarships that may be awarded or
provided for under other provisions of this article, there shall be a
program for scholarships under the provisions of this section. Eligible
institutions are those degree-granting institutions of higher education
and junior colleges within this State whose curricula are approved by
the State Department of Education. Eligible students shall be high
school graduates who reside in the State (1) who have not previously
attended a school of college rank, or have been awarded a scholarship
under the provisions of this section and have attended a junior college
for one or two years and elect to transfer to a college or university
to complete a four-year curriculum, (2) who have been recommended
for college by the high school principal or an appropriate official
of the junior college; and (3) whose financial need, and/or the
financial conditions of whose parents or guardian, meets the re-
quirements therefor determined by rules and regulations adopted
and promulgated by the Scholarship Board, which shall be so pre-
pared and applied as to assure that definite financial need shall be
a prerequisite to receiving a scholarship under the provisions of this
section. No person shall be awarded or hold a scholarship under the
provisions of this section if he holds any other scholarship awarded
under the provisions of this article.

(b)  In order to take part in the program, the several institutions
shall cooperate with the Scholarship Board each year in the prepa-
ration of an examination to be administered to each applicant in
that year for a general scholarship. The Board is authorized and em-
powered from time to time to adopt and promulgate reasonable rules
and regulations covering the time and place or places for giving
the examination and also other details not herein specified. The
examination papers shall be graded by the Scholarship Board. In
carrying out its duties under this section the Board may call upon
the State Department of Education for assistance.

(c)  From the examination papers which are graded with a passing
mark in any year, the Scholarship Board shall certify not more than
one hundred and fifty-two applicants for scholarships. In each county
and in each legislative district of Baltimore City a number of scholar-
ships shall be awarded equal to the combined membership from that
county or legislative district in the two Houses of the General
Assembly, and the scholarships thus awarded shall be to those ap-
plicants who received the highest grades in their respective county
or legislative district. If for any reason a recipient of a scholarship
from a county or legislative district shall refuse or for any reason
be unable to accept and use the scholarship on the graded list in the
respective county or legislative district the next qualified applicant
on the graded list in the county or legislative district shall be selected.