More than a third of students awarded Hathaway Scholarships for the 2006-07 school year lost their right to them after failing to meet certain eligibility requirements, according to statistics gathered by the Wyoming Department of Education.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jim McBride presented the statistics from all seven Wyoming community colleges and the University of Wyoming at a Joint Education Committee meeting on Monday in Casper.

Lawmakers created the scholarship in 2006 to encourage more students to attend college in Wyoming.

Students can earn between $800 and $1,600 a semester for college by making good grades in high school and scoring well on the ACT college entrance exam. The amount of the scholarship depends on the level of academic success in high school. But the scholarship isn't guaranteed if the student's performance slips in college.

Around 36 percent of students who earned Hathaways found themselves without the expected money in the first year of the program.

"Keep in mind this a brand-new program," McBride said. "These are just growing pains."

For a student to keep the scholarship once he or she is enrolled in college, the student must maintain a GPA of 2.25 for the Career and Opportunity level scholarships and a 2.50 for the more prestigious Performance and Honor level scholarships.

Students are also required to enroll for two continuous semesters of classes and take a full-time course load, which is generally 12 or more credit hours.

If a student's GPA falls below 2.25, he or she can restore eligibility for Hathaway money by earning a 2.50 GPA.

McBride said the findings highlight a problem with the Hathaway law: There is currently no way to restore eligibility for those students who fail to meet the semester or credit requirements.

Students losing the scholarship aren't necessarily doing poorly in their classes, McBride said.

For example, a student can be enrolled for 13 credit hours, which meets the full-time requirement. But if four of those 13 credits are for a remedial math class, the student loses eligibility, as Hathaway Scholarships do not cover the cost of remedial coursework.

While McBride said few changes should be made to current Hathaway legislation, he did want to include language for helping students who lost their Hathaway money get back on the path to eligibility.

McBride also wanted to see a stronger process for counseling students awarded Hathaways. Many students and parents are not fully aware of the credit and enrollment requirements that are causing students to lose money, he said.

Joint Education Committee Co-chairman Rep. Del McOmie, R-Lander, said he'd heard complaints from parents expecting Hathaway money to be there, only to find out it wasn't.

Sen. Kit Jennings, R-Casper, agreed a better system of educating students and parents about Hathaway requirements needs to be in place.

"There is a lot of counseling that should be done," he said. "You don't want Mom and Dad to be mad."

But Jennings also expressed concern over the time frame a student should be given to earn back his or her Hathaway, and wondered what financial issues would arise out of re-awarding the scholarship.

"How long do we give them?" he asked.

Students who chose to enroll at out-of-state colleges or enter the military have two years from their high school graduation date to apply for Hathaway Scholarships. McBride said perhaps a similar requirement could be made for students who lose their scholarships.

The highest percentage of students losing the Hathaway were those awarded Career and Opportunity scholarships.

Thirty-four percent of Career scholars failed to meet the credit hours requirement, and 25 percent failed to earn a high enough GPA.

Thirty-two percent of Opportunity scholars did not have the required credit hours, and 34 percent lost eligibility because of a too-low GPA.

Of Performance scholars, 15 percent lost the scholarship because they did not have enough credit hours, and 20 percent lost eligibility because of their GPA.

Around 4 percent of students with an Honors scholarship failed to earn enough credit hours, and 8 percent did not meet the GPA requirement.

The loss of the scholarship does not mean a student has left college, McBride said. It only means that he or she is no longer receiving Hathaway dollars. Still, steps need to be taken so those students don't find themselves short of Hathaway funds.

"We tried to think of everything, and didn't," McBride said.