§ 18-304. Amount of Award

   (a) In general. --

   (1) Except as provided in § 18-307 of this subtitle, the Office shall determine the amount of each Delegate Howard P. Rawlings Educational Excellence Award based on the financial need of the applicant.

   (2) In determining the amount of financial need, the Office shall consider regional cost-of-living differences.

   (3) In determining the percent of financial need used to calculate an award for a community college student receiving a Delegate Howard P. Rawlings Educational Excellence Award, the Commission shall use the following percentages:

      (i) For fiscal year 2007, not less than 55%; and

      (ii) For fiscal year 2008 and each fiscal year thereafter, not less than 60%.

(b) Amount; Guaranteed Access Grant. --

   (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a Delegate Howard P. Rawlings Educational Excellence Award may be awarded in $ 100 increments and the award for a single year may not be less than $ 400 or more than $ 3,000.

   (2) (i) All applicants who fulfill the requirements established in § 18-303(a) and (b) of this subtitle shall receive a Guaranteed Access Grant.

      (ii) The amount of a Guaranteed Access Grant shall be equal to 100 percent of the student's financial need as determined by the Office, not to exceed the equivalent annual expenses of a full-time resident undergraduate at the 4-year public institution of higher education within the University System of Maryland, other than the University of Maryland University College and University of Maryland, Baltimore, with the highest annual expenses for a full-time resident undergraduate.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 77A, § 57; 1978, ch. 22, § 2; 1984, ch. 87; 1987, ch. 244; 1988, ch. 246, § 2; 1991, ch. 462, § 3; 1996, ch. 10, § 16; 1997, ch. 114, § 1; 1999, ch. 694; 2002, ch. 19, § 9; ch. 314, § 1; chs. 315, 429; 2006, ch. 496; 2007, ch. 491, § 2.