NASHVILLE - State Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey has signaled a possible compromise on lottery scholarship retention standards.

The Blountville Republican said Thursday he may agree to let students with a B-minus average keep their grants with a small reduction in the scholarship amount as an incentive to get back to the current B standard.

Lawmakers have been debating whether to lower the cumulative grade point average needed to maintain a lottery scholarship.

Under current rules, a student must be enrolled full time in college, have a GPA of at least 2.75 after their freshman year and a cumulative 3.0 GPA for subsequent years to keep the scholarship.

The governor has said he supports lowering the retention GPA to 2.75.

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