Utah Competency Testing and possible State Scholarships

So I have been doing some research on competency testing.  With my son academically advanced in math and beyond the much of the common core stuff,  I needed to see what options were out there. Others have wondered if they can bypass certain subjects they already have done and have them account for the "Utah" awarded diploma.  Here is my understanding thus far:  You can!

Granite School District testing center provides the materials also do the correcting of papers there.  The new lady administering the tests is Marie Orton and her number is  385-646-6042.

Email: morton@graniteschools.org

The new location is the Granite Connection High School at  501 East 3900 South, Salt Lake City, 84107.  Room 136.

Hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 11:00am to 5:00pm.  They have just started giving the Secondary Math I, II, and III.  The other subjects they test in are as follows:

Geography for Life
U.S. Government & Citizenship
Earth Systems Science
Biology
Algebra I
Geometry I & II
General Financial Literacy
Fitness for Life
World Languages
(new) Secondary Math I, II, and III

What is not listed there is English 9, English 10, or English 11 required for the diploma but are forthcoming in the future.  Subjects that are coming soon will be Health and Language Arts grades 9, 10, and 11 will replace the English 9, English 10, and English 11.

The best news was that there is no longer a fee!  It used to cost $85 per test!  So that was a nice surprise.

Students may be from outside the Granite district, but must be registered in a school. (The only reason you would do any of this anyways would be because you plan on utilizing the school system to acquire a diploma.)

They must submit a written request, or Student Application for Demonstrated Competency Testing to their school counselor for signatures (school counselor, school administrator, and parent/guardian). This must either be called in to the Testing Center or emailed by the counselor 15 days prior to the time the test is taken.

Each assessment may be taken only once per school year. In order to have it count for that school year, tests must be taken by April.   Students will receive a "P" for demonstrated competency--no letter grades are awarded.  They do count toward the diploma but not in the GPA.  They are responsible for any knowledge they currently have as there are no study guides.  When there are two parts to a test, they must wait after the first part to see if they have passed; if they have not, then they cannot take the second part.  In addition to the application, a picture ID must be brought to the Testing Center 10 minutes prior to test time.  Figure on two hours to complete the test.  Test results are mailed to student and counselor.

For any other questions, please feel free to contact Marie at 385-646-6042.

Now with that finished, CURRENTLY at this time (Feb 4th 2014) any person who tests out of any subject is not eligible for the state scholarships. We are hoping to change this in this next legislative session.

There are three known state  awarded academic scholarships at this point:
1. Centennial (Early graduation)- $1000 one time
http://www.schools.utah.gov/CURR/earlycollege/Scholarships/Centennial.aspx

2. New Century scholarship (based upon associates degree) - $1100 per semester for the last two years of bachelor degree
http://higheredutah.org/newcenturyscholarship/

3. Regent Scholarship ( GPA based and with extra classes)- $1100 per semester for two years.
http://higheredutah.org/regentsscholarship.