ACPE outlines $3 million request for Alaska Performance Scholarship; agency details modeling assumptions

Carrie Thomas, acting executive director of the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education, explained the commission's $3,000,000 FY2026 request for the Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS) and walked subcommittee members through the modeling assumptions used to reach that figure.

Thomas said the FY25 spending reflected a large increase tied to legislative changes in HB148 and that the commission used the class-of-2024 experience as part of its projection. Key modeling assumptions she listed included an estimated 8,000 high-school graduates for 2025, an expectation that the class of 2025 would have a 5-percentage-point higher APS eligibility rate than the class of 2024, and an assumption that 25% of eligible students would use the scholarship in the academic year following graduation (fall 2025 and spring 2026). The commission also assumed a modest increase in the proportion of eligible students using APS (from 22% for the 2024 class in the fall-following term) and included a $90,000 contingency.

Thomas broke the $3,000,000 into component estimates shown to the subcommittee: $1,260,000 for additional usage by the class of 2024; $1,150,000 for class of 2025 usage; $400,000 for a "step-up" award provision affecting currently enrolled students; and approximately $90,000 for contingency.

Senators asked for additional documentation on the commission's modeling methodology and to reconcile line items such as one-time advertising increases in prior years. Thomas said she would follow up with the committee office and provide more detail after the hearing.