The John and Abigail Adams and Stanley Koplik

Award Programs
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Higher Education offer tuition reductions/waivers to state colleges and universities to students who demonstrate high academic achievement while in high school. Information on each is below.

A few new points for the Class of 2013:

• For the Adams Scholarship only (not the Koplik), winners need not begin using the scholarship in the fall following their graduation from high school.  They can use it for any 8 semesters within 6 years after high school graduation.  This makes it possible for Adams winners to take a gap year, to step out for a year, or to transfer to a U Mass campus after a year or so at another college.
• This Adams Scholarship change is retroactive to the classes before 2012.  That is, if they were an Adams winner and they are still within the 6 years after high school graduation, they are eligible for the Adams tuition waiver. 
• Koplik winners will still need to enroll in college in the fall directly following graduation from high school and have 8 consecutive semesters of tuition waiver if they continue to meet the stated conditions.  (The DESE did not directly alert the Koplik/Adams administrators or counselors in the high schools.  They did post it on their site.)

• Students may take the grade 10 MCAS tests * a second time in grade 11 in an attempt to meet the eligibility requirements for the Koplik certificate.  (*STE re-take added per Commissioner’s Update 12/22/11)

• Parents and students can check the guidelines for the Adams and the Koplik on the MCAS website, under the "Other Resources" link

John/Abigail Adams Scholarship (Adams Info Site)

Students may also earn a tuition waiver to state colleges and universities through the Adams Scholarship program. They qualify by scoring in the Advanced and Advanced or the Advanced and Proficient categories on the grade 10 MCAS assessments in mathematics and English language arts and by scoring in the top 25% of the students in the district on these tests. Students are notified if they have won an Adams Scholarship in the fall of their senior year.

I. Initial Requirements

To initially qualify, a student must score, at a minimum, Advanced on one Grade 10 MCAS assessment (either in Mathematics, English Language Arts, or Science) and either Advanced or Proficient on the other two. Students are not allowed to take grade 10 MCAS tests a second time. The Adams scholarship is based on first time grade 10 MCAS tests only.

II. Two Additional Standardized Tests Are Required   Students have the choice of one of the following options: 

1. two Advanced Placement exams with scores of “3” or better, or two SAT Subject Tests (subjects and minimum required scores listed below), or one SAT Subject Test and one Advanced Placement exam, or
2. one SAT Subject Test or one Advanced Placement exam and one **Other Academic Achievement.

**Please see below for a list of examples of what constitutes an Other Academic Achievement. 

III. Other Academic Achievements

Students may substitute evidence of another academic achievement from their high school years for one passing score on any of the tests listed above.  

a. College Courses

A student must receive a grade of B or higher on a college course taken during high school. Documentation is an official transcript from a college or university. 

b. Competitions, Prizes, Awards, Publications

A student must win a prize or award in a competition or be selected for an activity or publication, beyond the local school level, based on excellence in achievement in an academic or artistic field.  Evidence could be a certificate, award, article or excerpt and title page from a publication, or a letter from a sponsoring organization indicating the level of work the student accomplished.

Link to the Koplik Application

**Below are examples of competitions, prizes, awards, and publications that may be used to substitute for one of the two required exams. Please note that this is not intended to be an exclusive list.

Academic Decathlon Competition
American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME)
American Field Service Scholarship
Massachusetts Art Education Association: Art-All State
Boys State and Girls State
Business Professionals of America (BPA) Skills Development Award

Destination Imagination----either Massachusetts or National Recognition
Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) Skills Development Award
English-Speaking Union's National Shakespeare Competition
Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Skills Development Award

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Award

Ford/AAA Automotive Technology Skills Development Award

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Skills Development Award
Future Farmers of America (FFA) Skills Development Award

Greater Boston Youth Symphony participation

High Schools That Work Award of Educational Achievement

Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, Massachusetts and National
International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)Intel Science Talent Search – semi-finalist or finalist
Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) Competition – state finalist
Junior Achievement Award winners
Latin Certamen Competition – gold or silver medallist
Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MAFLA) Essay Contest
Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MAFLA) Past President's Award Massachusetts Business Education Association Award for Exemplary Achievement
Massachusetts or National History Day prizes for written papers, audio/visual presentations
Massachusetts Theater Guild competition finalist
Microsoft Certification Programs Computer Science
Massachusetts Music Educators Association: Music All State
National Arts Talent Search
National French Honor Society
National Language Exams – semi-finalist or finalist
National Merit Finalist
Publication in a literary magazine such as “The Concord Review”

Science Competitions, i.e., Science Olympiad individual honor award
Skills USA Skills Development Award

Regional Talent Search/Johns Hopkins University State Recognition
Shakespeare Competition – State finalist for outstanding performance
USAMO-USA Mathematical Olympiad
We the People – Competitions of the Center for Civic Education