Deal Signs HOPE Reform into Law

Joined by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed the much debated HOPE reform legislation into law on March 15.

The new HOPE program will provide full tuition for students who graduate high school with a 3.7 grade point average and a SAT score of 1200 or an ACT score of 26. Students with a 3.0 GPA will receive a reduced amount that is tied to lottery revenues. For fall of 2011, the award will be 90 percent.

“With today’s signing, we have closed a $300 million shortfall in the next year, we have pulled HOPE and Georgia Pre-K from the brink of bankruptcy and we have preserved our state’s elite status for having the most generous benefit programs in the nation,” said Deal in a released statement. “Georgians are blessed to have legislative leaders who put aside politics to craft a new law of generational importance.”