SMART Bulletin

Feb. 14, 2024
The USBC Scholarship Management and Account Reporting for Tenpins (SMART) program is making an investment earnings allocation of $7 million to provide additional scholarships for youth bowlers in 2024. The $7 million allocation is consistent with funding provided in 2022 and 2023. This allocation matches the largest investment earnings allocation in SMART history. In addition to the earnings allocation, SMART is allocating an additional $1 million to the SMART Pell Grant Match program.

Read the full press release here.

Oct. 17, 2023
The USBC SMART program has approved policy adjustments for 2024 to give SMART Providers more time to use SMART deposited unassigned funds and allow for additional funding to the SMART Pell Grant Match program.

Read the full press release here.

Sept. 13, 2023
The SMART program is making an additional investment earnings allocation of up to $1 million in 2023 to provide scholarship opportunities for young bowlers in support of the SMART Pell Grant Match.

Read the full press release here.

Feb. 14, 2023
The SMART program is making an investment earnings allocation of $7 million to provide additional scholarships for youth bowlers. The $7 million allocation is the largest investment earnings allocation in SMART history and will be designated as Unassigned funds for Providers to use for scholarships.

In addition to announcing the $7 million allocation for SMART Provider use, the USBC SMART Committee is proposing a series of policy changes designed to increase scholarship benefits for SMART Recipients. No policy changes are final, and all proposals will have a comment period until June 30.

The proposed policy revisions include the portion of future investment gains and expired scholarships to SMART Recipient accounts, adding bonus scholarships for those actively using SMART funds and creation of a new SMART Recipient grant program.

Proposed policy revisions for SMART Providers include requiring Providers use Unassigned funds received from SMART within two years.

Read the full press release here.

FINAL POLICY CHANGES

SPM No. 1
SMART Policy Manual
Chapter Three: Providers
Item 6. Earnings Allocated to Providers

Earning Allocated to Providers and Recipients
SMART invests scholarship funds and some of the income earned from the SMART investment is used to cover administrative costs of the program (salaries, supplies, printing, postage, etc.). Income also may be allocated back to the providers and recipients.

The SMART Oversight Committee may authorize an allocation of funds to providers with a balance of assigned funds over $100, based on the previous calendar year (January-December) and recipients annually from income earned from SMART investments.
An amount equal to the sum returned to providers from expired recipient accounts will be allocated to recipients from the allocation. The remainder of the allocation will be divided 50% to providers and 50% to recipients.
The allocation for providers is based on their balance of assigned funds as a percentage of the total SMART liability at the end of that fiscal year.
Income is defined as the difference between the value of SMART’s Cash/ Investments and the amount of SMART’s Liabilities as identified in the audited financial statements.

SMART Policy Manual
Chapter Four: Recipients
Item 12. Funds Expire (last paragraph)

Funds expire at the end of the fiscal year (December 31) and funds not used by a recipient will be returned to the provider account.

SPM No. 2
SMART Policy Manual
Chapter Four: Recipients
NEW, SMART Recipient Funds Usage

SMART Recipient Funds will be distributed to recipients as follows:

1. 75% to Recipients who use their scholarship funds.
- a. Each recipient who utilizes funds in a given calendar year will receive an additional scholarship distribution. This scholarship will:
  - i. Be equal to the total amount of funds allocated for this payment in that year divided by the number of active recipients.
  - ii. Be added to the recipients account as a new scholarship the following year.
  - iii. Expire into the SMART General Account eight years from high school graduation date or if additional years were added due to military enlistment, eight years plus the military years, with a maximum of eight SMART allocations.
- b. This additional scholarship distribution can be declined by the recipient if it conflicts with eligibility requirements or for any other reason.
2. 25% for Grants - Criteria, including eligibility requirements, will be established by the SMART Oversight Committee.

SPM No. 3
SMART Policy Manual
Chapter Three: Provider
NEW, Expiration of Unassigned Funds

Past and current Unassigned Funds (allocation and recipient expiration) in a provider account received two years earlier or more will expire on February 14 annually.

Expired funds from a provider’s account will be added to the earnings allocation to be disbursed based on the Allocation Policy.

Pepsi Accounts
Expiration of funds in a Pepsi account will be returned to the National Pepsi account for re-allocation back to state Pepsi accounts.

Effective August 1, 2023

SPM No. 4
SMART Policy Manual
Chapter Four: Recipients
NEW, Item 9. Transferable

Scholarship funds are eligible to be transferred provided:
A. Individual transferring the funds is 21 years of age or older
B. Funds are transferred before they expire
C. Funds are transferred to one or more family members. A family member is defined as:

Spouse
Son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, adopted child or a descendant
Siblings or stepsiblings
Brother-in-law, sister-in-law
Aunt, uncle or their spouse
Niece, nephew or their spouse
First cousin or their spouse

D. Family member receiving the funds:

Has at least four (4) years USBC bowling history (does not have to be consecutive)
Agrees to the transfer
Uses the funds within eight years from their high school graduation date, unless additional years were added due to military enlistment. If not, the funds will expire to the SMART General Account for re-allocation.

E. Funds were not received through:

Transfer from a family member
Scholarship given by SMART provided to active recipients.