Schools

Deal Pitches Plan to Save HOPE

Legislation would stabilize struggling program.

Earlier today, Gov. Nathan Deal, along with Republican and Democratic legislative leaders, unveiled his plan to preserve the HOPE scholarship and pre-k programs during a speech at Georgia State University.

“Facing bankruptcy of the lottery program in 2013, I worked closely with members of the General Assembly to save Georgia’s prized jewel, the HOPE scholarship, for the next generation of Georgians,” Deal said in a released statement. “With this plan we are going to maintain one of the most generous scholarship programs the United States has ever seen or will ever see. Even in the tough economic times we are facing, HOPE is going to endure, it’s going to thrive.”

Under the new legislation, Georgia’s highest achieving students will receive full tuition coverage. The program, named the Zell Miller Scholarship program in honor of the governor who created HOPE, will be available to students with a 3.7 GPA and a 1200 SAT or 26 ACT score. Students attending a public college or university within Georgia will receive full tuition while those choosing to attend a private institution will receive the full private HOPE award.

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Deal said the program “will serve as a reward to Georgia’s best and brightest students and will encourage them to remain in Georgia.”

While all three lottery funded programs -- Pre-K, HOPE Scholarship and HOPE Grant – have been protected, several changes are in store.

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Beginning in the fall of 2011, Georgia public college and university HOPE scholars with a 3.0 GPA will receive 90 percent of the fiscal year 2011 standard tuition rate. Book and other school fees will no longer be funded. Funding for remedial classes will also be eliminated and eligible hours will be capped at 127. Future HOPE recipients will be required to “take a certain number of high school rigorous courses.”

The state pre-k program will continue to receive one-third of all lottery funded expenditures, but will be modified so that four-year-olds will now attend for only four hours a day as opposed to the previous six-and-a-half-hour day.

“By removing rest time and creating new efficiencies, we can minimize the decrease in instructional time and bring our program more in line with other states and many private preschools,” Deal said. “We are taking the appropriate steps today to strengthen the HOPE balance sheet, ensuring that future Georgians are afforded the same great opportunities as today’s college and university students. Make no mistake, even after these needed reforms are implemented, Georgia’s invaluable HOPE will endure and continue to set Georgia apart.”

Other aspects of the legislation include:

Pre-K

  1. Five thousand slots will be added to address the pre-k waiting list in the state. Currently there are around 9,000 on the waiting list in Georgia.
  2. Transportation funds will be increased.
  3. Extended day funds will be increased by 4.5 million, tripling the amount currently paid for these slots for at-risk students.

HOPE Grant

  1. Students will be required to earn a 3.0 GPA by the first HOPE check point, once enrolled in technical college courses.
  2. Students who already possess a postsecondary degree will be ineligible to receive the HOPE Grant.
  3. A firm cap of 95 quarter hours or 63 semester hours will be established for all students.

The Georgia Lottery Corporation

  1. Bonuses awarded to Georgia Lottery Corporation employees will be limited to no more than 25 percent of their base compensation and conditions bonuses on an increase in net proceeds from the prior year transferred to the Lottery for Education Account.
  2. The commission paid to lottery retailers will be lowered from an average of 7 percent to not more than 5 percent on gross sales.

Need-Based Aid

  1. HOPE Scholarship funds will be paid in full without taking Pell eligibility into account.  Pell-eligible students will then be able to use these federal funds to cover the costs of college-going expenses beyond tuition costs.
  2. Twenty million dollars will be appropriated to the one percent loan program and Georgia Student Finance Commission will work to raise private matching funds for $10 million of this investment.  These student loans can also be forgiven altogether if loan recipients become certified and teach in a public K-12 school in the STEM field.  Each year of service in the classroom will forgive one year of the student loan. 


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