Legislators Want HOPE Grant to Cover Tuition Costs
Martha Dalton/WABE News
Some Georgia lawmakers want to make changes to the state’s lottery-funded HOPE grant program. Rep. Stacey Evans (D-Smyrna) and Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) have pre-filed a bill that increases the amount of tuition the grant covers.
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The HOPE grant is available to students at Georgia’s technical colleges. Evans introduced a bill during the last legislative session that dropped the Grade Point Average required for students to keep the grant from a 3.0 to a 2.0. That bill gained bi-partisan support and was backed by Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. It passed the General Assembly and is now in effect.
This bill increases the amount of the grant to cover a student’s full tuition. Evans estimates the grant currently covers about 75% of tuition for most technical college students.
Lottery proceeds have had a hard time keeping pace in recent years with demand for Georgia’s HOPE program, which also provides scholarships for students at four-year colleges. Officials increased HOPE scholarship requirements to keep the program viable.
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