The United States Bowling Congress Scholarship Management and Account Reporting for Tenpins (SMART) program announced a policy change to provide new bonus scholarships in the fall to active SMART recipients.
Under the policy, when SMART deposited unassigned funds in provider accounts are not used by their expiration date, those funds will be distributed equally to active recipients in that state. SMART defines an active recipient as one who used funds in the preceding calendar year.
SMART Providers receive SMART deposited unassigned scholarship funds annually. If the provider chooses not to assign those funds to a recipient within two years, they expire. The first expiration of SMART deposited unassigned funds took place July 31, 2024. Under this new policy, the expiring funds will be assigned to active recipients throughout the providers’ state.
The intent of this policy change is to quickly move expiring SMART deposited unassigned funds to recipients for use and keep the funds within the same geographic area. The amount of the new fall bonus scholarship will vary by state depending on the amount of expiring provider funds and number of active recipients within the state.
Earlier this year, USBC announced an investment earnings allocation of $7 million to provide additional scholarships for youth bowlers in 2024. The $7 million allocation was consistent with funding provided in 2022 and 2023 and matched the largest investment earnings allocation in SMART history.
In addition to the earnings allocation, SMART also allocated an additional $1 million to the SMART Pell Grant Match program.
Active SMART recipients will see the new bonus scholarships posted in their accounts this month.
For more information on SMART, visit BOWL.com/SMART.
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