Should HOPE pay only 75 percent of college tuition?
The lottery cannot keep up with the costs of HOPE and pre-k. Something has to give, but what?
I attended the General Assembly committee hearing this summer on revamping HOPE, which is running out of money despite what some posters here insist. With rising tuition and improved college attendance, the Georgia Lottery — which funds both HOPE and pre-k — cannot keep up with demand.
Many bad ideas were floated at the hearing. One was reducing the amount of HOPE to cover 75 or 80 percent of the tuition tab. My argument against that measure is that HOPE succeeded because it was so straightfoward — attain a B average in high school, maintain a B average in college and the taxpayers of Georgia will pay your full tuition at a public college.
Start diluting that brilliant concept — thank you Zell Miller for the simplicity of the idea — and HOPE gets murky.
I would prefer that we raise the bar on keeping HOPE, no more losing it and regaining it. We eliminate the smaller HOPE funds that go to students attending private colleges in Georgia. (I know it would hurt; I had a child at Emory for a while, but I think parents who send their kids to private college expect to live on rice and beans.)
We ought to get rid of all second chances and preserve the simplicity of the merit scholarship: To keep HOPE in college, keep your B average. Only 46.2 percent of students who had HOPE when they began University System colleges still retain it at the 30 credit-hour checkpoint; one year for most students. At 90 credit hours, or about three years, only 37.4 percent are still eligible.
I heard an interview with state Rep. Len Walker, R-Loganville, this week where he reiterated that HOPE may only be able to cover a portion of tuition in the future. I hope that proposal does not prevail. What do you think?
I think my 11-year-old twins will see a greatly reduced HOPE, and I better redouble my efforts to save for their college educations. You may see me waiting tables at IHOP on weekends. That’s how I got through college and grad school. And it’s where I developed my deep affection for silver dollar pancakes.
–By Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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167 comments Add your comment
TEE TRIPLET
December 10th, 2010
4:58 pm
I spend a lot of dollars in the lottery. Right now I’m broke (LOL) and everybody else. It is called hard-time and if it doesn’t get better, you will definately see a decrease in lottery spending. A lot of children benefit from this program and their parents don’t spend a dime
What we need now is the CASINO?
Boca Baby
December 10th, 2010
5:04 pm
I attended a private college and received no state funds for the education. And I and my family of four did eat a lot of rice and beans, thank you. And I graduated without incurring a college loan debt. It was hard but was achieved. After that I sent all my children to private Christian schools without any funding from the state or federal level all the while paying taxes that funded public education without being a beneficiary of those schools. Again, more beans and rice. Your suggestion that HOPE funds be eliminated for private colleges assumes that there is no need for those attending. Nothing could be further from the truth. Some choices come with costs associated. Two National Merit Scholars later and I say that it was worth every penny I spent. And sometimes pennies were all that I had left.
TheWad
December 10th, 2010
5:05 pm
By including a means based calculation the next generation is being taught to institutionalize class envy. Nobody deserves Hope scholarship money because they didn`t earn it. So punishing somebody because their family has achieved is nothing more than a socialist trap. Let the students learn now that we all have to pay to play and their game starts right after high school. If they worked for the future in HS then they are prepared take the next challenge. If they didn`t work in HS then the work world awaits and they are welcomed into adulthood. The reimbursement plan is he most sensical idea for keeping students focused on the end goal. Have the ability to earn it back once but after that you go whatever other route you can make for yourself. Nobody has a “right” to higher education and by that time students need to start learning the real world doesn`t work the way the government has the last few years.
Private schools have as much reason to be included as any other school. Some of the best and brightest will come from there and they will be the ones to lead and generate the next economic boom in the US. Or we can keep disproportionately throwing good money after bad with excess funding to those who do not have college minds or work ethics and watch our economy and society continue to sink into the sunset of previous success. Citizens of this country deserve an equal chance, but not unequal access to unearned monies.
Reality
December 10th, 2010
5:08 pm
Maureen — you should have been saving and planning for college for your twins anyway, regardless of whether HOPE comes through for them or not. Expecting the Nanny State to take care of you or your kids future is how the rest of us get stuck with paying for everyone else’s ride. Then, we who made sacrifices to save and stay within our means and take care of ourselves, become the subject of public scorn when we get angry for not wanting the government to take away our earnings and savings and give it to those who blew it. Sure, some folks undergo hardships and some can’t help it. I would glady (and do) give to those where I know it is truly needed and deserved. But the government clearly is not the answer and at some point, we’ve got to quit throwing money into that black hole.
Rich
December 10th, 2010
5:12 pm
Include the SAT to determine if Hope will pay for a large university (UGA, TECH, GA Southern) or a smaller local school (West GA, Gwinnett, etc). This will reduce costs (Gwinnett costs less that UGA) and enable more students to be successful.
Bigmac
December 10th, 2010
5:15 pm
Why is no one questioning what the schools are charging? They increase tuition each year and the Hope just pays them. There is no market force to keep tuition down. Stop paying the full tuition and the customers ( students) will reduce the cost by seeking the lowest cost provider. Without price competition there is no end to the cost increase of education. Hope will continue to fail under the current system.
Rich
December 10th, 2010
5:19 pm
Why doesn’t Georgia have a prepaid program? It is a great idea.
Lee
December 10th, 2010
5:30 pm
@Sk8ing Momma “Lee — You’re out of touch with the masses. Making HOPE a reimbursement program puts college out of reach for most. The majority of HOPE recipients have no means for paying for college up front.”
I disagree. There are a multitude of grants and loans available for the low income student. All they have to do is go by the Financial Aid office and fill out the paperwork. The thing is, they will only have to do it for the first semester or two. After that, if they keep their grades up, HOPE would reimburse them and they could keep rolling that money forward until graduation. At the most, they might incur a small amount of interest – but since some subsidized loans do not incur interest until after graduation, even that is not a factor.
Just a Thought
December 10th, 2010
5:32 pm
The HOPE scholarship has some unintended consequences at the high school level:
1) Parents are so caught up in getting HOPE that they allow their very gifted and capable children to take less rigorous courses in high school just to save the GPA (i.e. a regular level class rather than AP). Never mind that the more rigorous courses actually help better prepare students to actually keep the HOPE scholarship once they get in college.
2) It makes students and parents obsessed with grades and less concerned about actual learning. I can’t tell you how many times I have had parents and students on my back about getting a higher grade so they can keep their GPA up to get HOPE. Parents put pressure on schools which in turn leads to grade inflation if your administration is not gutsy enough to back the teachers.
For these reasons alone I am all for seeing HOPE revamped in such a way that it is not solely determined by high school GPA. Let the students have to earn it the first year in college. If they do, the loan is forgiven. If not, try again next year. Every year you maintain your 3.0, your loan is forgiven. It adds some accountability, decreases grade insanity in the high schools, and saves money.
Gerald
December 10th, 2010
5:38 pm
TheWad:
.
You are being inconsistent and impractical, because your ideology is only concerned with the best interests of you and people like you. Evidence of this: you are being a demagogue. No one is saying that HOPE should be need-based ENTIRELY. Instead, they are talking about limiting its recipients to needy people who meet the same qualifications that the program requires now. So, if you are low-income and receiving HOPE, your status would not change. It is only upper income people who can well-afford to provide for their own children’s college education that would change. And that is what you call “socialism”, “class warfare” and “handouts”? Also, you speak of hard work and sacrifice. The problem is that you want that for everybody else BUT yourself. Wealthy people can – and should – sacrifice their standard of living, plan ahead, and save/invest their own money for college. You can even do it TAX FREE and TAX DEDUCTIBLE, and an upper income person can save more than enough required to go to either a public or a private school. But no, instead of demanding that your upper income friends and neighbors work hard and sacrifice and plan ahead, you want a handout.
Because that is what HOPE is, a handout. It is just that you have come to the conclusion that “people like you” are more deserving of handouts than “those freeloading people over there.” It’s not true. Giving handouts to rich people doesn’t help this country, this society any better than giving handouts to poor people. You talk about the way that this country has been run since Obama has been elected? Excuse me, but what about the gigantic mess that George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff etc. created? Giving all those handouts to Halliburton, Blackwater, oil companies etc. … can you name the great things that it did for our economy, country and society?
People like you are the main example why either A) the lottery must be ended or B) the money shouldn’t be used to subsidize high income people for something that they can easily afford themselves. High income people shouldn’t even get tax-subsidized K-12, let alone free tuition at UGA (or reduced tuition at Emory).
APS Parent
December 10th, 2010
5:39 pm
The legislature in the state of Georgia has no regard for education, which means we will remain behind. I hate to see the students held hostage by the unfair cuts to both K12 and public college funds, crazy salaries for professors who teach via the internet more than in class, and, book fees (Fundad is right). The $150 for books through Hope should be changed and applied to tuition. I think the following should apply to receive HOPE
1. Reinstate the income cap.
2. Make it a forgivable loan with the completion of a degree program from a 4 year, 2year or technical college.
3. Have a SAT/ACT minimum applied along with the B average.
4. Do not pay for any remedial classes. My daughter attends a USG institute and during her first year earned extra money by proofing or writing papers for seniors to graduate.
5. Do not give HOPE or limit the amount to students who have other scholarships, PELL, or other funding.
6. CAP the salaries of the administrators at the Lottery and at GA Student Finance along with college presidents, school superintendents, and others. Most of these people are pocketing money that could keep programs running that would benefit ALL students.
Susie Thompson
December 10th, 2010
5:48 pm
Limit HOPE to 4 years. Nowadays, colleges encourage students to take less than a full load “so they won’t lose HOPE”,but really, it encourages them to take longer to graduate and gives the colleges more tuition money. Years ago most people graduated in 4 years, today the average is closer to 6. Why, are kids today stupider than 20 years ago? No, because the colleges encourage it. Just limit it to 4 years, to encourage people to take a full load like everyone used to do.
Phil
December 10th, 2010
6:00 pm
This is for all you Pre-K bashers! I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that this class time in Pre-K is definetely not “glorified babysitting”. I have been in the public school system in Pre-K for 10 years as a certified Georgia teacher. I work 40 hours a week, at the very least 6-10 hours over my weekend on my 7 pg “required” pre-k lesson plans covering social and emotional domain, language and literacy domain, mathematic domain, science, social studies, arts, and physical development everyday. I also have to assess 55 Professional State Contents in 140 folders, showing evidence that each child has covered every standard. That is just the beginning of my “glorified babysitting” job. So maybe when they get to our GA kindergarten they are prepared to begin reading the many sight words and books that OUR state says they needs to be reading and we won’t be failing as we are doing now taking the SAT. Of course, you all can’t be wise enough to see that we are trying to improve these scores as the years pass because you think we are “glorified babysitters” so until you are sitting in a classroom of Pre-K’s. Stop cutting our money and put your comment somewhere where you know more about what you are intelligent enough to talk about!
Jean
December 10th, 2010
6:13 pm
Keep HOPE for college tuition. Eliminate free ‘day care’, which is disguised as pre-K. Or make the pre-K need based. Many people with good incomes are using this as free day care for their children.
Keep your hands off HOPE. This is the number one reason why Georgia has had success at making their colleges more prestigious. Keep the best students in the state.
jpod
December 10th, 2010
6:17 pm
I think students at private school should not lose their HOPE. I recently graduated from a private college in May 2010. I was also a HOPE recipient. My parents could not afford to send me to private or public college. With loans and HOPE I was able to meet my tuition each year. I lived at home, worked at school and never received a refund check throughout my collegiate career. Without HOPE I would not have been able to attain my undergraduate degree nor enter medical school in August. Just because students attend private college does not mean that they or their parents can afford all the tuition. I believe their is another way to keep 100% of HOPE.
jpod
December 10th, 2010
6:19 pm
Correction: I believe there is another way to keep 100% of HOPE.
Tamika
December 10th, 2010
6:19 pm
One long term issue is that the budgets of the public colleges are rising all out of proportion to the resources available to fund them. Higher education budgets must be brought under control or we will be giving HOPE to only to the single top high school graduate in the state. There is a problem nationally in the cost of a collge education that must be addressed.
d
December 10th, 2010
6:20 pm
Frankly, I think we need to look at the grading scale used in Georgia. When I was in high school in Gwinnett, you had to have a 92 to earn an A and an 83 to earn a B….. but that put Gwinnett students at a disadvantage and shortly after I graduated (but before either of my sisters did) they lowered it to a 90 for an A and an 80 for a B….. I have a student attending her first year in Georgia after having lived in North Carolina and she said that she had to have a 94 for an A and 85 for a B….. That would help a lot to start with, and secondly, people have to realize that a C means satisfactory – it’s not bad….. Students get mad at me when I don’t give them clear directions to earn more than a C other than I expect them to do more than average work. I have very few As and Bs in my senior-level class, and quite a few Cs.
Shirley Nelson
December 10th, 2010
6:22 pm
I have been in GA all of my life. I am one of the ones that voted for the lottery and the way it was passed was that it would be for EDUCATION..So why are the schools putting teachers on furloughs, and children missing days from school because of budget shortfalls. What is happening to the money that the lottery is raising…I’m not to old to know that they are taking in a GREAT DEAL more money than when it first started. The people of GA need to look at the GA Lotterys’ budget to see where the money is going.
This money was to be earmarked for Education only and not other projects for the State. We need to ask questions before we start taking away the Hope and the kindergartens
Cindy
December 10th, 2010
6:34 pm
I have a Mercer undergrad and a UGA Masters. The only difference HOPE made in my tuition bill was the summer classes I took at one of the public 2 year schools. I had a Mercer scholarship that paid tuition costs that were not covered by HOPE, but I didnt see any of the $ back to me as the student. $3,000 a year is a drop in the bucket on $22K tuition bill. Take it away from the private schools.
Making HOPE income based will require setting up the systems to monitor it and increase administrative costs. Its supposed to give all kids equal opportunity, regardless of what their parents do, did, or did not do. Just because the parents make $100K doesnt always mean they are willing to help the child.
If there are still fund shortages after eliminating private school eligibility, raise the GPA requirement. Its suppose to Help Outstanding Pupils Excel, not barely above average ones who might have inflated grades anyway. Making the first year a forgivable loan is a fantastic idea, and one that should discourage the large pool of “try it and see what happens” students.
HOPE isnt an irrelevant program as there are large numbers of students who see it as an incentitive to go to college when they might not otherwise go. Tuition at most of the public schools is a pretty cheap investment for the more educated workforce and higer wages and tax dollars generated over the long term. The “brain drain” has stopped because of HOPE. Take it away, and the most talented students will go where the better offers are.
susan
December 10th, 2010
6:35 pm
I think we need to cut from the lower level first. PRE K is being used by middle and upper class parents who would send their kids to preschool or day care….. anyway….. they are generally educated parents and dont offer a leg up to their children by sending them. The state is paying for their day care . Cut that back by imposing a $50,000-$75,000 income limit. 2. Increase the Residential requirement. Many families from out of state are sending their kids to live with relatives in Georgia to get this benefit. We should impose tight requirements as colleges do for instate tuition. 3. Remove the private school benefit period. If you can afford it go, if not i dont want to pay for it. 4. Lock tuition rates when entered. The constant rises just take more and more HOPE. Lets do this first before we start saying 75%.
Suzanne
December 10th, 2010
6:38 pm
My friend had a suggestion that I thought was an excellent one- cut out pre-k funds for those families that can afford to pay for private preschool. I have to believe that providing college tuition for qualified students has a much greater impact on our students and our state than providing the funds for pre-k does. I have to believe that most parents would happily give up pre-k dollars in exchange for college tuition dollars. I know that the cost for college tuition is much greater than the cost of pre-k tuition, but it could certainly help to cover the cuts that are impending. I have a senior and a junior who are both well qualified for the HOPE scholarship. One went to pre-k, and one went to private preschool. I can honestly tell you that the pre-k child was no more prepared for elementary school than the preschool child was.
A Wolf
December 10th, 2010
6:59 pm
Hey, If Governor-elect Deal cuts K-12 spending as promised, grades will drop and demand for Hope funds will diminish. What a brilliant solution to two nagging problems – budget shortfalls and Hope funds. Who needs smart, well-educated kids anyway? Problems solved.
Nancy
December 10th, 2010
7:12 pm
First step is to eliminate all bonuses for lottery workers. Bonus money should be put into HOPE. It is at least a place to start. Many private sector jobs have no bonus structure. These government employees do not deserve bonuses, especially when lottery revenues are down. Teachers are taking furloughs…how about furloughing each lottery employee for five days in 2011 and put those funds into HOPE. Every little bit helps, while the program is considered for major changes.
oldtimer
December 10th, 2010
7:13 pm
Maybe colleges and univercities could cut costs to make them more affordable. Some colleges could require instructors to teach another class or two. cut fees, parking fees, etc to make things more cost effective.
Senior Adult
December 10th, 2010
8:02 pm
I help fund Hope and Pre-K by buying lottery tickets. This past month, I am proud to say that I purchased none. At one time, you could buy scratch off tickets and at least win something. Fellow senior adults and I discuss our winnings and find a similar pattern that few people are winning. The last month that I purchased $100 worth of $5 Falcon lottery tickets, I did not win a $1. It is obvious that the winners are the employees of the Lottery corporation. Maybe if you got back a few dollars now and then more people would play. I am now donating to colleges directly rather than buying worthless lottery tickets. At least I can get credit on my income taxes and help a few students .
d
December 10th, 2010
8:03 pm
My friend teaches kindergarten and she will be the first to tell you which students have had Pre-K and which haven’t, even without looking at their records. Pre-K is a quite a bit more than a daycare. I think the solution needs to go back to what HOPE stands for – Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally. Standards need to be tightened up for the students in high school and they (and their parents) need to understand that an “A” and a “B” do mean exceeds expectations. I have children tell me too often that they need a certain grade. I remind them that they have to earn it. This should be easier in DeKalb County now that we have been given explicit instructions that we must give three opportunities now to make up any zeroes. On the plus side, once we document the three opportunities, the zero stands.
Dr. Craig Spinks /Augusta
December 10th, 2010
8:36 pm
@d, keep up your great work!
zinc
December 10th, 2010
8:38 pm
The problem is that none of the politicians have the fortitude to make the difficult decisions. They have options. They are just afraid of their next election cycle if they tinker with HOPE.
There are some low hanging fruit programs:
–Eliminate HOPE Private. Sorry, but if you choose a college that costs $30k a year then you should expect to pay for it. There is $35 million in that program.
–Eliminate book and fee payments. Yes, they are a nice added bonus but a student needs to have some skin in the game.
–Eliminate the remaining HOPE programs that cater to specific groups (military, teachers, etc). If HOPE was an endless supply of money, then yes it would be nice to have some outcome oriented scholarships. It just isn’t the case anymore.
From there you MUST revise the way HOPE is administered
1. Make it reimbursable. A student/family pays the first semester. If s/he holds a 3.0, they get their money back. If not, sorry. That should be motivation enough to stay on top of your studies.
2. Eliminate the regaining of HOPE. Drop below a 3.0 and you lose it. It really is the simple. There is no need to give people a second chance. They understood the terms of the scholarship from the beginning.
3. HOPE should NOT pay for ANY remedial hours (I suspect we will hear more of this). If you need remediation for math, then HOPE doesn’t pay for it. A 3.0 student shouldn’t need remediation but sadly they do.
4. Politicians MUST stand up to the Board of Regents and their absurd tuition and fee hikes. Funny how USG squeal each time the budget cuts are made but then they find millions to expand. I would love for the AJC to do a story on how and where they make cuts the last few years. They didn’t make cuts…they raised tuition and put the burden on the backs of students….which subsequently drained HOPE.
nita
December 10th, 2010
8:52 pm
I think that if once you lose hope you can’t get it back for two years. I also think that those who apply for hope and aid and never start class should be jailed until they pay the money the fraudulently received is paid back. If they work, their pay should be garnished. Too many people abuse the system and we have too many idiots over the system that can’t seem to run the appropriate reports to see who is abusing he system. I also think hope should only be available to those who earn a 3.0 average. Give the kids a reason to work to keep their grades up. Once hope is received, you must maintain a 3.0 average to keep it.
the prof
December 11th, 2010
8:03 am
Gerald, quite obviously, you know nothing about any institution of higher learning in this state other than GT and UGA. Some programs at smaller state schools rival or surpass comparable programs at “research” schools.
dcb
December 11th, 2010
9:06 am
Easy fix – just make the eligibility rules more stringent and add the college admissions testing scores into the equation. Then insist that colleges follow the GPA requirement to continue receiving the funds for those in the program – NO exceptions. I remember well the program was sold to the public that it was an attempt to keep the most talented Georgia high school students in the state post-secondary schools – no financial need strings attached. And second, that because SAT and ACT scores were supposedly racially and demographically bias, a 3.0 high school GPA would be the only qualifying academic eligibility requirement. If either the income from the state lottery, or the numbers of students qualifying aren’t going to make the numbers work, then find ways to increase the income or simply make the standards for qualifying more stringent and then stick to them. But for goodness sake, let’s not start to quibble about how much each student is going to receive. Seems to me that begs the question of the purpose of the program in the first place – to mention the promises that were given to the public at the time.
Ironwood
December 11th, 2010
9:22 am
I agree with GATech. Make those who are eligible maintain at least a 3.5 GPA to be eligible.
Douglasville
December 11th, 2010
9:27 am
Pay for what comes out of the indviduals pocket, College. Not preschool, not any other publis school service, but what would be the hardest on the individual.
Betsy
December 11th, 2010
9:31 am
I was part of the first class of HOPE (graduated high school in 93). It was HUGE for me, and I was able to graduate from MCG with just a smidge of debt (less than $3000). Back then, there was an income cap. It was great for families like mine–we made too much for Pell grants, but not enough to even begin to pay for college. I’m very appreciative of that.
Perhaps we should bring back a cap on family income? In 1994, the cap was $100,000/year. Even if we raised that to $200,000 today, that would still allow the middle class to qualify for HOPE, and it might help cut some of the costs to the program.
wae
December 11th, 2010
9:35 am
Why not reduce the amount that is PAID OUT on winnings, people would continue to play the lottery, and there would be more for education.
Mom on HS senior
December 11th, 2010
10:05 am
I have one child, a HS senior at a private school. We have sacrificed for years to pay for this as the public schools are just not very good. We have saved some money for college but not enough for four years. My husband lost his job this fall and I will lose mine next summer. We are in our late 50s so job prospects are not good. Do NOT make HOPE means based. It should continue to be merit based. Poorer students already have so many other scholarships/grants that they can easily go to college if they wish. Believe me, after all the college visits we have made the last few months, this is obvious to us. Grade inflation is rampant – minimum SAT/ACT scores need to be implemented to get a true idea of how well the student will really do in college. Do away with pre-K. I agree this is free babysitting with no proven record of the benefits. Let students at the private colleges keep their small HOPE reimbursements. Believe it or not, this DOES make a difference for parents like us. Give students a second chance to get their HOPE back.
Really Amazed
December 11th, 2010
10:06 am
One C under HOPE with all other grades being A”s amd B’s shouldn’t make you lose the HOPE scholarship. It is averaged together. B average!
Jay
December 11th, 2010
10:27 am
Enter your comments here
Grumpy
December 11th, 2010
10:28 am
Raise the requirement to 3.2 at a minimum. No private school reimbursement. No reimbursement for remedial courses. How the heck can you qualify for the scholarship yet not be fully proficient to attend college in the first place? Whoever said “analyze what schools are sending the most remedial students” is correct too. That data should be collected and scrutinized to see why this is happening.
Grumpy
December 11th, 2010
10:31 am
Minimum SAT/ACT scores are a horrible idea. I know plenty of brilliant folks who excelled in college, but tanked that standardized test.
Means testing is also a horrible idea. There is a ton of free money out there for the poor to attend college already.
Once you means test it, it just becomes another welfare program.
Grumpy
December 11th, 2010
10:33 am
I also agree that you should eliminate paying for books/supplies. A lot of us had these crazy things called “part time jobs” as students to pay for that stuff. What a concept!
This is Mrs. Norman Maine
December 11th, 2010
10:33 am
Keep HOPE alive:
1. End tuition assistance for private colleges.
2. Tier the reimbursement based on grades:
4.0 GPA =100% paid
3.0 GPA =80% paid
3. No assistance after 4 years.
4. End book stipend.
5. No fee assistance.
6. Students should be allowed to get HOPE back if they improve their GPA.
Jay
December 11th, 2010
10:36 am
First of all I think that the hope is just what it is. Hope scholarship. Everyone seems to point to higher gpa as a good reason to use hope in this manner. There are extenuating situations for a lot of our strudents. I think maybe since there is a money problem pertaining to the cost and continuation of the scholarship some sort of parental earning should be looked into I willing to say the people that participate in the playing of the lotto are either middle class or poor. Rich folks don’t play the lottery!
So why should they benefit from it. I thought that when this hope first started that there was a income cut off which it should be. Let the people that can afford to do it pay for their childs education. If they prove to not be able to afford it than hope may be a good avenue.
BCB
December 11th, 2010
11:12 am
I believe that Georgia must revamp and reorganize the HOPE scholarship program. It is 2010, and we must stop “holding the hands” of our college students. Yes, we want to invest in our young citizens, however to what expense of our own? Our education system is full of programs that promote sub-standard performance. Should we add the SAT/ ACT requirement to the scholarship program? Yes. Should this program be based upon needs? No. There is no reason that a child in a poor economic environment be given preference over a child whose parents are wealthy. We must prepare or college students here in Georgia for the global working force. No one in the international business community will care about a person’s economic status, they want to know that the individual will produce results. It is time for Georgia and America to gain the pride we once had after World War II with the Baby Boomer’s.
Ole Guy
December 11th, 2010
11:14 am
So what’s wrong with reducing the HOPE coverage from 100% to 70-80%? Just as Social Security is not intended to fund a life style previously known, why should the HOPE be a totaly free ride? Also, given that current hs scholastic achievement has, in the past 20 or so years, been watered down to the point of absurdity, we see many HOPE recipients obliged to take remedials. This certainly does not bode well for the true meaning of 3.0 gpa at the high school level.
HOPE recipients SHOULD exhibit a reasonable level of sustained academic performance, at the college level, for a period of time, say 2 semesters, prior to receiving, retroactively, HOPE funds. To simply hand the kid HOPE proceeds, solely on the strength of a hs record, is nothing short of foolish.
Inasmuch as high schools are notoriously known for watered-down academics, the people responsible for making determinations, as to who receives these funds, should be made to understand, in absolutely the strongest terms, that their methodologies are extremely flawed.
CKM
December 11th, 2010
12:03 pm
The subsidy to private schools should cease. The state should at least consider making the scholarship sensitive to ability to pay: a percentage of tuition for those above a certain income threshold; 100% for those below it. This would allow the funds to go that much further in helping more students.
Instructor
December 11th, 2010
12:31 pm
I don’t think it is so much the HOPE scholarship as it is the HOPE grant. Visit a technical college in the state and you will find plenty of “professional students” sucking up the grant money all for a chance to hang out with friends and breathe the air of those who are truly trying to find a career. There needs to be a limit and grade restrictions on the grant as well. Fail a class? Oh well, just take it again, HOPE will pay. I know it pays my salary – but these loafers are taking my time away from those who are really interested in school and its benefits.
Private colleges aren't the problem
December 11th, 2010
1:00 pm
Maureen – and others that believe private college students shouldn’t get a portion of HOPE just don’t get it and apparently just don’t care to admit it. Talk to enrollment management folks or financial people at State colleges and universities – they will tell you straight up eliminating private college students getting a small HOPE stipend so some will go there would cripple them financially and/or leave thousands of deserving georgia high school grads at home – there simply isn’t enough space and the bigger universities MUST have a percentage of true tuition paying students or they won’t survive without raising tuition for in-staters(taxing HOPE further) or cutting staff/faculty even further. This isn’t about taking “the excess” — how’d you like your son or daughter to be termed “excess” and told they have to go to a local community college because there aren’t enough spots at UGA and they are $2200 per semester short (including the money they earn at IHOP – most private college kids work too you understand) to attend Mercer? Emory? (Insert private college name here)
They only get half the amount – and give almost dollar for dollar budget relief to the bigger state schools. It would help if people actually take the time to know what they are talking about rather than just spout off what they think sounds right — seems like this blog is full of people who should be politicians.
The primary problem with HOPE is grade inflation and scoial promotion. Teaching my college class I can assure you of two things:
1. A large percentage are simply not prepared for college and display incredibly poor grammar, spelling, writing and comprehension skills;
2. They are used to begging for/expecting grade inflation/spoon feeding and getting what they want in some high schools – they are in no way ashamed to whine and complain about getting a grade they deserve (if I had $1.00 for every time a student whines – but I’ll lose HOPE….. well you should have actually worked a little harder)
Their are simply students (of all sizes, shapes, colors, races and ethnicities) who were not well-served in high school by being told they were prepared as a means to pad gradution rates.
George
December 11th, 2010
1:28 pm
HOPE is now seen as an entitlement by most students/parents, and woe be unto the high school teacher who gives a grade (albeit deserved) that puts HOPE in jeopardy. There is even pressure put upon college faculty to inflate grades for the sake of keeping HOPE. I don’t think Zell could have envisioned what HOPE has become. It should never have been made available to those who send their kids to private schools, or for those above a certain income level despite where their children attend school. In many ways, HOPE has diluted Georgia’s secondary schools.