HOPE does not spring eternal. We’re in trouble. Lottery cannot keep up with demand for popular college scholarship.
With the demand for HOPE Scholarships outstripping revenues, should we make it harder to regain HOPE? Why are so few HOPE recipients graduating college?
I am at the Gold Dome attending the four-hour hearing on the financial threats to the beloved HOPE Scholarship program; I will update as testimony occurs. (I think we call this live blogging.)
The HOPE hearing at the Legislature began with a caution by state Sen. Seth Harp that hard choices are ahead as the demand for the scholarship outstrips the funds. He warned against using the shortfall to sling mud as no one is to blame for the imbalance. (Here is a news story advancing today’s hearing.)
Now, David Lee of the Georgia Student Finance Commission is testifying. Many posters here contend that HOPE was created to keep the very top students in Georgia, but Lee did not list as one of the original goals. The three goals were to improve high school performance, increase college participation and increase college completion. He cited the retention of top students as a byproduct of HOPE, but not one of the initial goals.
He is showing lots of charts now that show a clear and troubling trend: Expenditures are exceeding revenues. He said the prior changes to preserve fiscal integrity of the program — including cutting books and fees and creating earlier checkpoints to retain the scholarship — will not be enough. Despite those cuts, he said we are back to double digit upward-bound trendlines in HOPE spending.
Now, the president of the Georgia Lottery is speaking. Margaret R. DeFrancisco says, “Everything we do depends on people buying lottery tickets.” She said the players tell the lottery that they play because of HOPE and pre-k.
DeFrancisco emphasized that all sorts of people play the lottery, likely to stave off the criticism that only poor Georgians play and thus underwrite the college education of more affluent Georgians.
She also said, “This organization was set up separate from state government as a public benefit corporation and an entrepreneurial enterprise.”
She then elaborated on the great success of the lottery, which has outperformed most other state lotteries. I assume this was to fend off complaints about the bonuses that she and her team get. Now, she is showing a chart of the 44 state and DC lotteries, again to highlight the success of her program. DeFrancisco noted that Georgia beat out California in sales, even though that state has four times the population. She is outlining new games, including a music-based one, and her hopes to expand where consumers can buy tickets. (Could be coming to Home Depot and Walmart, where Canada already sells lottery tickets, she said.)
She ended cute, thanking the legislators and then saying, “Remember, today could be the day.” (That is the lottery’s latest slogan.)
Questions from legislators: Will lottery sales improve if economy improves?
Citing the fact that Georgia is likely to come out of the recession slower than other states, DeFrancisco said, “Our trend is to strive for more certainly, but I don’t see astronomical increases.”
How about a sales tax on lottery tickets?
“No other lottery in United States has done that because it will not bode well for our sales or profits,” she said.
Now, Tim Connell, president of Georgia Student Finance Commission, is at the podium with his slides, showing a tiny sliver of the lottery pie that goes to programs other than HOPE or pre-k, including the HOPE Teacher scholarship that has since been been eliminated. But HOPE for students attending private colleges in Georgia — recently raised to $4,000 oer year- is still intact. I think that could be one area lawmakers might eliminate, although the private colleges have a lot of sway with the General Assembly.
To get a sense of that sway, Connell noted that the $4,000 for the private college awards began only as a $500 award. He also noted that policy changes over the years — including letting students regain HOPE once they lost it, which was not permitted initially – have increased the pool of HOPE recipients.
In fact, the entire history of HOPE is an expansion by the Georgia General Assembly, including allowing private college students who lost HOPE due to low grades to also get a “second chance” to regain it as given to public college students. (I think we should reconsider these second chances for regaining HOPE.)
The Legislature also expanded HOPE to homeschooled students and to students from unaccredited high schools. The program used to also cut into HOPE going to low-income students in the amount of Pell Grants they received. That was stopped, which led to a sizable tug on HOPE expenditures.
Connell says that the demand owes also to the increased high school graduation rate, which is sending more kids to college. He is now showing another one of those bleak charts that shows the soaring numbers getting HOPE.
In fiscal year 2011, HOPE is paying out more due to increased tuition at the public colleges and the Legislature’s decision to raise the private college HOPE Scholarship from $3,500 to the current $4,000. In bad economic times, people go back to school, leading to increases in the HOPE Grants, which go to technical school students.
While book allowances have remained flat and the state has frozen fees that HOPE underwrites, there have been pretty significant increases in tuition at the state’s public institutions. From 2000 to 2011, UGA tuition has increased 192 percent, according to Connell.
Now, Connell is giving the really bad news: In 2011, the lottery will be short $243 million.
By 2012, that goes to $317 million dollars.
(Here’s the bottom line if you have kids as young as mine, who are 11. Start saving more money for college.)
Now, questions are coming from legislators: Why are we paying HOPE to kids who lose their scholarships since they are not outstanding students if they blow their grade point averages? (This refers to the original name for HOPE: Helping Outstanding Students Excel, which hardly anyone uses any more. By the way, I just posted on the news that UGA is the nation’s top partying college based on student reports of alcohol and drug use, hours spent studying and Greek life. See any connection to losing HOPE?
Only 46.2 percent of students who had HOPE when they began University System colleges still retain it at the 3o credit hour checkpoint, Connell said. At 90 hours, only 37.4 percent were still eligible.
Why don’t we get the money back from kids who fail?
Connell: Nothing in the program allows state to recoup money on kids who failed college.
Now, state Sen. Nan Orrock is questioning whether we ought to consider the income of HOPE recipients, given the falling revenues.
“If we are spending loads and loads on families whose students were always going to go to college because their families had the income and then we are getting significant failure rates, what are we really doing? If the money is going in the pockets of well-to-do families — we all hear the anecdotes about the families buying condos in Athens or buying their students cars because they are getting HOPE… And what of our students who are at Auburn or at Florida because they can’t compete with the top HOPE scholars?
They are retiring for a lunch break. Testimony resumes at 12:45. See you back here then.
BACK at 12:45 with Dr. Holly A. Robinson, head of Bright from the Start, Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.
Pre-k is often the forgotten part of lottery-funded program, but Robinson is telling legislators the benefits of the universal pre-k program for Georgia’s 4-year-olds that began in 1995. (The program – held in public schools and in private child care centers – is open to all kids, but is voluntary so parents do not have to send their children. In some areas, there are waiting lists for state pre-k)
This year, Georgia pre-k served 82,000 children across the state. Of that number, 55 percent were from poor families. This year, the state added slots for 2,000 additional kids. There are 20 students per class, with two teachers in the room. (One is the lead teacher.) Of eligible 4-year-olds in Georgia, 58 percent are in state pre-k. In 68 counties, 70 percent of eligible children or more are enrolled.
Pre-k helps both children below the poverty line who are at greater risk for school failure and children just above the poverty line who move in and out of poverty. Robinson is now citing the 20087 Tulsa study and the Chicago Longitudinal Study, which has followed the impact of early childhood education on students over 20 years.
There were requests for 13,000 more pre-k slots than the state was funding from providers. Looking at actual waiting lists in 2009-2010, there were 9,381 families on waiting lists at the start of the year. At end of the year, there were sill 7,259 names on waiting lists, suggesting many families never found alternative programs for their 4-year-olds.
The state is now paying each school system $4,226 per pre-k student, which is only an increase of $226 since the program began as a pilot 18 years ago. Not too many relevant questions from lawmakers, reflecting the lack of knowledge of the program. One lawmaker talked a long time about how his son’s day care provider felt her curriculum was stronger than what pre-k offered.
Robinson was the last witness, so the floor is now open to legislators for final comments. One lawmaker suggested that the committee compile suggestions, such as funding HOPE at 70 percent. State Rep. Kathy Ashe said lawmakers should be asking the agency heads for their suggestions on how to cope with the money crunch since they deal with the issues every day.
Another hearing may be held in the fall. “I think we all understand the severity of the situation that we are in now with pre-k and HOPE, so we have great deal of work ahead of us,” said state Rep. Len Walker, chairman of the House Higher Ed Committee.
I am putting my sneakers on to run across downtown to the Atlanta Public Schools meeting where the cheating report will be released. Check back soon for that blog.
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308 comments Add your comment
Dr NO
August 2nd, 2010
10:42 am
The HOPE should be abolished. This money could be spent more productively on road widening and improvement programs.
Dunwoody Mom
August 2nd, 2010
10:53 am
These students still have to have a decent SAT score to actually get into college these days, so I’m not sure what the whining is about with regards to tying to an SAT score.
Dr NO
August 2nd, 2010
10:55 am
Because DunMom…it is fact that some of these teachers will inflate grade averages so the dumber students can go to college thereby wasting millions until getting expelled and enrolling in a tire retread facility.
UGA Student
August 2nd, 2010
11:01 am
hey now, i need that HOPE. i work hard for it and I buy lottery ticketsl. I buy a $5 lottery ticket once a week to help pay for my scholarship, haha. Road widening and improvement programs? Obama pays for that already with the stimulus. How about if I dont earn HOPE, I can’t finish school without massive amounts of debt?
Dr. NO
August 2nd, 2010
11:03 am
Apparently, you own and run the tire retread facility. Why don’t you abandond this facility instead of the HOPE?
UGA Student
August 2nd, 2010
11:05 am
UGA is the only school in georgia with a food science major. so, not really an option
UGA Student
August 2nd, 2010
11:05 am
uga is the only school in georgia with the food science major, so not an option to leave it.
UGA Student
August 2nd, 2010
11:06 am
don’t know how that happened haha
gadem
August 2nd, 2010
11:07 am
students are ill prepared for college…Hope audits should be conducted after every semester to weed out those that are wasting the money. Sometimes those audits are not done for a year or year and a half…
Nurse YES
August 2nd, 2010
11:08 am
Dr. No-you are a Sour A$$ and need to find a life other than button-pushing. Now, take that and hush!
SKB
August 2nd, 2010
11:08 am
Alot of students acutally go to college b/c of the HOPE scholarship, since they can afford it now. We should look toward others source for funding, but what do I know..
Gail
August 2nd, 2010
11:08 am
One of the reasons HOPE funds are at risk is that the University System of GA saw a good thing and ran with it. They raised tuition at a rate much much higher than the rate of inflation to pay for luxuries and things that were not necessarily needed. Look at UGA. When most of your students aren’t paying out of pocket for the tuition, they have no concern when tuition increases at 25% and inflation is nearly non-existent. So the colleges and universities are not really accountable.
EnoughAlready
August 2nd, 2010
11:09 am
Actually Sen. Harp is incorrect, there are people to blame. The income cap should have remained in place; because the working poor can’t afford to continue to purchase lottery tickets in this economy.
The cuts in hope scholarship will only hurt the middle and lower income residence of Georgia; because those making $80,000 or more will still be able to send their children to college without the HOPE Scholarship.
My suggestion is to put the income cap in place permanently and change the law so that it would take an act of Congress to remove the cap; because once the economy recovers, the poor will be able to buy those lottery tickets as they did in the past.
Just Sayin'
August 2nd, 2010
11:11 am
Maybe if we documented the citizenship of all the students and deported the illegals who were getting Hope money, we could afford to put all the law-abiding students through college. Just sayin’.
Larry Major
August 2nd, 2010
11:12 am
Did they mention exactly what areas caused the increased spending (more kids in pre-k, higher per capita costs, etc.)?
Jeff W
August 2nd, 2010
11:12 am
UGA student, you are an embarrassment to your school:
“Road widening and improvement programs? Obama pays for that already”
My (and possibly your) children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great……etc… will be paying for the Obama expenditures.
Dr. Yes
August 2nd, 2010
11:13 am
Helping Our Pupil Excel (HOPE)!!!!
EnoughAlready
August 2nd, 2010
11:14 am
Just Sayin’
August 2nd, 2010
11:11 am
Your math skills are lacking. There aren’t enough illegals registered in school to amount to HOPE being restored entirely or 15% more. You can’t blame illegals for this disaster. Try again!!!
Lynn
August 2nd, 2010
11:14 am
Anybody ever thought of cutting back a little on the lottery payouts? Hundreds of thousands of dollars paid out for $5- $10 worth of tickets? Absurd.
UGA Student
August 2nd, 2010
11:15 am
Jeff, chill, haha. I hate the stimulus, trust me. Im looking forward to all the taxes i’ll be paying once i graduate! which is why HOPE is necessary because after taxes, i wouldn’t make enough to have a family and pay off my student debt
Billybob
August 2nd, 2010
11:15 am
DON’T SPEND more than you TAKE IN!!!!! Problem solved. The accountability lies with the people who are overspending what they ‘don’t have’.
Gail
August 2nd, 2010
11:15 am
Oh and I forgot to add that UGA has added a $3 “Green Fee” and my kids don’t even play golf!! JK
I know what it is for but give me a break. They just keep adding fees and adding fees, What will we get next – a TP fee?
GSCU Parent
August 2nd, 2010
11:15 am
The obvious question that isn’t being asked (but should be) is why is the lottery producing more and more income to the Hope fund but the fund continues to be drained. Three possible explanations:
1. High school students (and college students, by definition, because you have to maintain the high average to keep Hope) are smarter than they were just a few years ago. Judging from some of the responses to this article, I doubt it.
2. Tuition increases are swallowing up a large percentage of the revenue. True, the legislature’s need to balance the budget on the backs of teachers (through furloughs) and college students (through tuition increases, which does affect Hope coffers and “fees” which do not) has no doubt affected the Hope balance, however, not to the extent that we should be in a crisis situation, especially given the lotteries record revenues.
3. Somebody’s getting rich.
My money’s on #3.
UGA Student
August 2nd, 2010
11:15 am
Lynn, they pay out a lot, but they take in WAY more than they pay out. Like 1/4 win, and theer’s only like 2-3 top prizes. If they werent’t profitable, they wouldn’t make them.
Maureen Downey
August 2nd, 2010
11:16 am
@Larry, More kids HOPE qualified. I just updated the blog as the head of the student finance commission is outlining how the Legislature kept expanding the pool for the scholarship.
Alibi Ike
August 2nd, 2010
11:16 am
Funding any aspect of public education with a lottery is a bad idea. Defrancisco should go to the c-store around six o-clock one day and see who is funding the lottery. As a percentage of spending – the poor DO buy the vast majority of tickets.
Michael
August 2nd, 2010
11:18 am
Dr. No: Use of lottery funds is set by Constitution for educational purposes and programs (not transportation) so you are in the know. Art. 1, Sec. 2 Para 8
catlady
August 2nd, 2010
11:18 am
Was Mr. Lee actually AROUND when HOPe was started? ‘Cause he is off-base on his revisionist history!
DeFrancisco wants to save her bonuses. The fact is it is not a private business; it is an arm of the state government. Do you see any other Georgia lotteries run by other private companies? No, the state of Georgia charted it exclusively to do this “job” for the state. The Lottery is probably so successful in getting players because of our LOW LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, and because it is cheap to play and easy (stores on every corner in the lower class neighborhoods sell the darned things!)
I don’t think there is ANY CHANCE they will take the lottery money away from the private colleges. Remember, the private colleges got state money before HOPE (because, the argument goes, they take the overflow of students that the public colleges cannot handle).
The only chance HOPE has is to tie it to SAT scores, but that won’t happen in any meaningful way because it will disproportionately affect black students, and racism will be charged. (Ignore the fact that there are also many poor white students in this state.)
Crooked Officials
August 2nd, 2010
11:19 am
Wai, I thought the lottery was doing so well that the officials paid themselves huge bonuses? Ms. DeFrancisco received almost a 100% bonus on her $280,000 salary. Total bonuses paid out could have financed the education of 200 more students.
http://chronicle.com/article/Bonuses-for-Georgia-Lotterys/40052/
Much like other government employees and agencies (I don’t care if HOPE is a private corporation, it’s run by the government), they need to learn that they exist to serve us and must take their lumps with people employed in private enterprises as well. Until Ms. DeFrancisco’s bonus is zero and she starts cutting staff and salaries like every other business in America then I will turn a deaf ear to this whining.
HOPE Fan
August 2nd, 2010
11:19 am
DrNo…You sound very bitter. Were you one of the expelled students that now works in a tire retread facility? Abolish the HOPE in lieu of road widening and improvement programs? Really? Your post is laughable. I know many fine students who have utilized the HOPE scholarship to go to college and GRADUATE. They have good jobs and they are not a burden on our society. Without the HOPE it is doubtful that they would have been able to go and get their education. Also, where do you get your factual information about teachers inflating “dumber” students averages in order for them to go to college? Back up your statements. GPA’s do not mean a thing if you do not have the placement test scores to even be considered. Teacher’s cannot manipulate SAT & ACT scores. The HOPE scholarship is needed in this state and it is beneficial. Get back to retreading your tires.
Free Market Educator
August 2nd, 2010
11:20 am
Solution: Beef up K-12 education. Pre-k and K should be teaching reading (phonics), handwriting, foreign language, and arithmetic. All children can memorize large quantities of information at this age, and by second grade they should be reading on a fourth grade level as far as DECODING and have MASTERED their addition and subtraction facts as well as carrying and borrowing. By third grade they should master double digit multiplication and long division. At this stage understanding is SECONDARY to high volume memorization mastery. Grammar and usage rules should also be mastered. The goal is to take advantage of the unique biological window of brain development in preK-3rd providing enhanced memorization abilities. As students enter fourth grade, logic and HOTS skills/curriculum are gradually increased. It works because students already have enough facts stored in long-term memory which will guide their abstract thinking skills. This is a tried and true method, sometimes called the Trivium. It works for all children. Even poor “ghetto” children can memorize rap tunes. The skill is innate, we must exploit it for the child’s good. This method naturally excellerates student’s learning. They can master more complex skills earlier with this method. The end result is that many students can now do what is considered college level work in high school. I have seen these results with my own children. This superior high school education coupled with a two year technical degree would more than adequately prepare a large percentage of students for good paying jobs. Four year colleges would no longer have to teach remedial classes and some degrees could be shortened to three years. The bottom line is that Americans need to return to their former work ethic and train their young children. We have sold them short. They are capable of amazing things. Hard work would replace gambling for college money.
James
August 2nd, 2010
11:22 am
HOPE has been very successful at grade inflation.
SKB
August 2nd, 2010
11:22 am
@Just Sayin’
thats rediculous, public education should be free to everyone.
Sign of things to come
August 2nd, 2010
11:23 am
Well from what I understand, the size of the bonuses given out last year could have put several thousand students through college. This program was passed by voters for schools and nothing else. If they spend the money on anything other then schools, then I pull my vote back. I dont buy tickets and I dont like the lottery, however I voted yes because it funded schools. Enough said.
Normal bonuses for employees of 5% with a cap at 1,000. You are paid to do your job by earning a salary and thats it. These 100,000 bonus checks are for the birds and should be illegal. The rest goes to winners of the drawings and the schools. Otherwise get the lottery out of Georgia.
Just Sayin'
August 2nd, 2010
11:24 am
To “EnoughAlready”: thanks for counting all the illegals and doing the math to correct me (laughing my azz off)! Idiot.
T W
August 2nd, 2010
11:24 am
HOPE was originally a need based scholarship but since there was so much extra money floating around they opened it up to everyone. Now the money is short, why not just bring back the net family income cap? Daddy can pay tuition instead of buying Princess a new BMW.
GSCU Parent
August 2nd, 2010
11:24 am
@Maureen, Thank you for that update, but I wonder what the numbers are on how many KEEP the scholarship. You may be surprised at the percentage of kids who were smart in high school, forget how to be students once mom and dad don’t ride the kid regularly. For the record, my kid kept his average up.
Shannon
August 2nd, 2010
11:25 am
Maureen, I hear what you say about wanting to eliminate second chances; however, that strikes right at the heart of the most vulnerable students. I know what I’m talking about as someone who has recently taught freshman at both Georgia State and Clayton State universities. It’s the students who are coming from high schools that insufficiently prepared them who flounder at *first*. Many of these students, after a shocking semester in which they realize that they are *not* prepared, then buckle down and work VERY hard.
I graduated from a pretty good public school and had no trouble keeping up my grades; I would have retained HOPE easily. Arguably, I’ was the kind of student who least needs it.
I do agree with completely eliminating HOPE from private colleges–if only because they are *private* colleges, and we are talking about *public* funds. Frankly, I’d be for HOPE remaining public school only even if it were flush with funds.
Something else that bothers me about HOPE: I teach a humanities 1010 course. Students often take that course in conjunction with something deemed to be difficult, like organic chemistry–and then when they discover that *all* college courses require a significant amount of work, they (again) flounder. I have had many students come up to me toward the end of the semester begging me to change their grade so they can retain HOPE. (By the syllabus, I cannot do that for reasons of fairness). Students have become crazy-HOPE centric. They will take easier classes in which they aren’t interested rather than harder classes that *do* interest them simply because they are terrified of losing their HOPE. This strikes me as a shame.
Just Sayin'
August 2nd, 2010
11:26 am
“SKB”: No, it should not. I am part of the public that pays for education and I refuse to subsidize law breakers. It’s cheaper to send them back than to keep them.
Lynn
August 2nd, 2010
11:26 am
Gail, That’s hillarious! And…my child doesn’t even go to UGA.. but as graduates, nearly every week my husband and I get solication letters from the “Georgia Educational Fund” asking for money to help pay for UGA scholarships! In today’s economy we’re grateful for every penney received from HOPE to pay for his tuition.
Just Sayin'
August 2nd, 2010
11:27 am
And, SKB, the word is spelled r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s.
LamarN
August 2nd, 2010
11:27 am
Gail you hit the nail on the head!
For an incoming Freshman at UGA the tuition is $2,500, student housing is $2,000 (mandatory)and the meal ticket is $1900. Hope only pays for the tuition. Books are no less than $500 per semester and HOPE pays $150 of that. Parking fee $200 for the year…….see where we’re headed?
UGA (and others too) saw a gravy train in the HOPE scholarship and so tuition and fees are out the roof. $7,000.00 for ONE semester.
Color me confused
August 2nd, 2010
11:29 am
Dunwoody Mom
Yes to get into UGA, GT and maybe GSU, you need high SAT scores. Not so much for the rest of GA’s public colleges and universities. There in lies the challenge. Most GA students don’t go to the top tier schools in the state, they go to the others.
Many of which have a less than 50 percent completion rate.
Maureen Downey
August 2nd, 2010
11:30 am
@GSCU: See the update; At 30 hours, only 46.2 percent of HOPE recipients still have it. (I just updated this figure.)
NeverEnough
August 2nd, 2010
11:31 am
Enoughalready…. His statement is valid. There are NO figures that show how many illegals are actually receiving hope just like no one really knows how many illegals are receiving S.S. and Medicare/Peach-care or other state programs like wick.
GSCU Parent… Agreed. #3 is a factor but so are 1 and 2. Not to mention other things that have been added to the lottery funds that was never intended to be a part of it like PreK and afterschool care. Ask any Kindergarden teacher what they think of lottery Pre Ks… Unstructured Chaos where the children are less prepared
CGA
August 2nd, 2010
11:31 am
It seems like the simplest solution would be to raise the standard for obtaining the HOPE scholarship. A student who needs remedial education before even enrolling in regular college classes should not be getting HOPE funds.
Nathan
August 2nd, 2010
11:32 am
Who are we fooling? Have you noticed that anytime there is a budget cut that all other education entities have to tighten belts, furlough teachers, increase class size etc., but the all powerful Board of Regents just increase tuition, ($1000.00/student) there by taking money directly out of HOPE instead of tightening their budget.
Shannon
August 2nd, 2010
11:33 am
CGA–that plan penalizes the students for something that is usually the fault of the students’ high schools. Further, you’re penalizing the most poor and vulnerable students.
Shannon
August 2nd, 2010
11:34 am
Nathan–trust me. At my department at Georgia State, belts have been SERIOUSLY tightening for several years now. Furlough days? Check. Arbitrary commands for departments to get rid of five percent, ten percent of their budgets? Check. Last year, my department actually removed *phones* from professor/instructor offices. Our department’s fall schedule was about two months late because the department head had trouble scheduling enough classes to meet the demand when he was no longer allowed to hire part-time instructors!
HOPE is Good
August 2nd, 2010
11:35 am
@ EnoughAlready — sorry but tying HOPE eligibility to Income level simply isn’t the answer and if you are talking about fairness and equal access — what you advocate is just as discriminatory as any other proposal. You so easily conclude that $80K or more makes college a walk — maybe you should think through that economic analysis a bit more.
I don’t disagree that there could be some minimal sliding scale eligibility similar to a FAFSA calculation where upper income earners would get capped at a certain maximum, but to say my child doesn’t get anything? It defeats the primary purpose of HOPE — making college realistic for all while attempting to retain ALL of Georgia’s best and brightest (regardless of race, color, income, etc.) so our educated work force gets better and better allowing us to attract better industries and jobs.
HOPE is struggling financially — just like everyone/everything else is struggling financially. You put basic remedies in place but don’t throw out the most succesful college scholarship program ever.