Arkansas Future Grant

Arkansas Future (ArFuture) is the newest state grant program. The purpose of this grant is to increase the education and skills of Arkansas’s workforce in an affordable manner. The grant applies to students enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) or regional high-demand areas of study. The grant will cover tuition and fees for qualifying certificate and Associate degree programs at Arkansas’ public institutions for eligible students. The grant is available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Requirements

An Applicant must:

• Have either graduated from an Arkansas public school, private school, home school or received high school equivalency diploma approved by the Department of Career Education; or
• Verify that he or she has resided within the state for the three (3) years immediately preceding application and has either:
• Graduated from an out-of-state high school, private school, home school, or received a high school equivalency diploma approved by another state.
• Be enrolled part-time or full-time at an approved institution of higher education in a program of study that leads to an associate degree or a certification in a STEM or regional high-demand field.
• Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Basic Eligibility Criteria

An applicant must:

• Have either graduated from an Arkansas public school, private school, home school or received high school equivalency diploma approved by the Department of Career Education; OR verify that they have resided within the state for the three (3) years immediately preceding application and has either:
  • Graduated from an out-of-state high school, private school, home school, or received a high school equivalency diploma approved by another state
• Be enrolled part-time or full-time at an approved institution of higher education in a program of study that leads to an associate degree or a certification in a STEM or regional high-demand field
• Be enrolled part-time or full-time at an approved institution of higher education in a program of study that leads to an associate degree or a certification in a STEM or regional high-demand field

Continuing Eligibility Criteria

• A student may continue to be eligible until the student has:
  • Received an associate degree;
  • Received funding from the ArFuture Grant for 5 semesters;
  • Failed to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) as determined by their institution of higher education; or
  • Failed to complete mentoring or community service requirements

Award Amounts

An Arkansas Future Grant shall be in an amount equal to the tuition, fees, and other charges incurred by an eligible student less the amount received from state-supported scholarships, federal student financial assistance, and private scholarships.

If the approved institution of higher education in which the student is enrolled is a four-year institution of higher education, the total amount of tuition, fees, and other charges shall be calculated as the average cost of tuition, fees, and other charges at approved two-year institutions of higher education.