Lottery scholarship rules may change

A college scholarship that's bankrolled by the state lottery may become merit-based or granted on financial need, New Mexico's Senate majority leader has acknowledged. 

The Albuquerque Journal reports that Sen. Michael Sanchez told a summit organized by University of New Mexico student leaders that his long-held stance that the scholarship should be available to all New Mexican students, regardless of financial need or academic accomplishments, might have to change. 

That's because a Legislative Finance Committee reported in September that the scholarship fund is projected to run out of money in the next fiscal year. Sanchez says making the scholarship needs-based may be something that has to happen. 

But Sanchez, who helped draft the bill creating the program in 1996, said he would oppose making the scholarship merit-based, using himself as an example of a student who didn't perform well in high school but went on to graduate from UNM.

Lottery scholarship rules may change