In January, Gov. Mitt Romney announced at the State of the State address his plan for a higher education scholarship program. The John and Abigail Adams scholarship is designed to provide free tuition for the top quarter of MCAS scorers in the state to attend Massachusetts public institutions. The program also includes the opportunity for the highest scorers to receive an additional $2,000 toward room, board and fees.

This may seem like a step in the right direction, especially to many who think that Romney has neglected to support the public colleges and universities. However, his proposal has come under strict scrutiny.

According to research done by The Boston Globe, the people most likely to benefit from these scholarships are also the people least likely to need or take advantage of them. Because the program awards the top quarter of scores in the state, and not in each district, the percentage of recipients is much higher in wealthier neighborhoods such as Sharon and Wellesley rather than where the money is really needed.

When asked about this possibility, the governor said that it was “silly” to focus on the students who would not need the scholarship. The focus should be on the students that it does help, regardless of how small that number might be. He is convinced that his design will encourage lower-class students to excel, knowing that they have stiff competition all over the state.

Also, because the program is based on MCAS scores alone and does not take into account grades or class standing, the distribution percentage of the proposed scholarship is even more skewed. While 68 percent of the students in Dover-Sherborn would be eligible for free tuition, not even the predicted valedictorian at Hyde Park High School in Boston would qualify.

Romney claims that his plan is meant to help the middle-class families who are struggling to pay for rising college costs, but it has many design flaws that prevent it from doing just that. For one thing, Romney acknowledges the fact that many of the upper-class students who qualify for the scholarship will most likely reject it to attend private or out-of-state schools. Instead of allowing that discarded money to trickle down to more needy students, Romney compensated by only requesting enough funding from the legislature to cover 40 percent of the scholarships.

Still he sticks by his proposal. And although he says he is open to improvements in the plan, he is determined that the program remain solely based on merit, and not take any other qualifications into account.

“When you’re getting ready to go to medical school or law school,” Romney said, “or you’re thinking about that job, someone says: ‘Oh, boy, you went to a school that gave you a lousy education. We’re going to hire you anyway.’ That’s not how it works.”

It may be a good sign that Gov. Romney is finally paying some attention to the needs of higher education, but the John and Abigail Adams scholarship proposal is not the way to do it. The money appropriated in the budget for this program should be used for a scholarship that will benefit those that really need it.

Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of The Massachusetts Daily Collegian Editorial Board.