Bottom line: HOPE will pay less and be more complicated.
I think simple is better, but the financial crisis means that the HOPE Scholarship will pay less toward a student’s college tuition and possibly involve low-cost loans to make up the difference.
It will no longer be the straightforward promise of a B average earning Georgia high school students free tuition at public colleges and universities.
In a few minutes, Gov. Nathan Deal will unveil his program to save the program, which is a victim of its own success and rising college costs The lottery can longer keep pace with the tab for HOPE and pre-k, and cuts have to be made.
Rather than HOPE paying all tuition cost, Deal is expected to offer a plan for a fixed amount of money per student, with the families making up the rest.
Stay tuned. Will post shortly with the details. In the meantime, if you are the parent of a high school student, walk right on by that Starbucks. You will need that $4.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
67 comments Add your comment
the end is nigh
February 22nd, 2011
7:47 pm
Fellow Georgians,
What we are witnessing is the beginning of the end for the HOPE program. That’s what you get when you vote in a crook like nathan “shady” deal for guvnah. That’s not all. In a few months the citizens of georgia will be marching on the capitol ala wisconsin.
3.7 GPA
February 22nd, 2011
7:55 pm
3.7 GPA to get a hope scholarship? Are you serious? What a joke. This is another way for the people running Georgia to keep minorities down—African-Americans will not be able to get a scholarship with these rules and will stop going to college. It never changes in this racist city. I may move back up north soon.
TeachMom
February 22nd, 2011
7:58 pm
I think this is reasonable minus the new loans. The state shouldn’t bear the total cost. It just doesn’t make fiscal sense. Remedial classes should never have been covered in the first place. Make them take out traditional “old school” loans or work during school. It didn’t kill me and it won’t kill them.
Steveo
February 22nd, 2011
8:02 pm
I haven’t read through all the comments but I haven’t seen anyone mention that a huge part of the problem, probably the biggest part, is that costs for college tuition and education have grown far faster than a health care system that is supposedly in crisis. The bigger financial crisis didn’t have anything to do with this mess. Record revenues from the lottery even in the middle of the meltdown. HOPE is a great program but free money from the government certainly contributes to an education bubble, just like Fannie and Freddie did to the mortgage problem. Colleges have no incentive to watch costs if no one really pays the bill out of their own pocket. They actually have an incentive to build more buildings and attract as many students as possible.
I think this is a pretty fair and reasonable proposal from Deal. But I would have liked to see the universities take a haircut too. Potential students, lottery employees and retailers selling tickets are in this proposal but not the universities that are most of the cause of the problem.
JJ
February 22nd, 2011
8:23 pm
Well they need to change the name because there is no HOPE. Maybe they need to call it the NOPE program.
Steveo
February 22nd, 2011
8:38 pm
And to 3.7 GPA, who exactly is the racist when you are the one suggesting blacks can’t earn 3.7 GPAs? I think 3.5 would be more appropriate but this proposal still covers 90% of tuition for 3.0 earners. I damn well wish that deal was available when I went to college a few years before HOPE was started.
Ron Hyatt
February 22nd, 2011
8:40 pm
If you want the edumachation, work 70 hours a week and carry a full load like I did, you liberal cry babies.
Jimmuh Carter
February 22nd, 2011
8:41 pm
Liberal myth that everyone needs to go to college. The only reason everyone needs to go to college is so they can be indoctrinated.
ShokWayve
February 22nd, 2011
9:03 pm
I am amazed at how no one seems to want to talk about implementing the income cap. Why are we paying for rich kids to go to school? An income cap (let’s say $400,000 family income) would save so much money for HOPE. However, to ensure that we can pay for rich children to go to school, we must all take a hit.
Terry
February 22nd, 2011
9:22 pm
ShokWayve, I agree with you on the cap, thats the reason the Hopes in trouble now, that and Pre K. I say drop the Pre K its nothing but a baby sitter, and why is the lottery paying for a baby sitter? Don’t tell me it helps the children get ready for school, my children started school in kinder garden, and finish top 20 in their class with honors. Hope stands for (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally), how do they decide who gets in Pre K? Is there a GPA for Pre K? Can you lose your Pre K? Does Pre K help you get a Job?
Erin
February 22nd, 2011
10:00 pm
There are a few Georgia Tech snobs on here! Your school really isn’t better or more difficult than quite a few others in Georgia.
On another note, students with a 3.0 still get NINETY PERCENT of tuition covered. That’s a helluva lot.
Some quick Internet research shows me that full-time tuition at UGA this semester is about $2,400. A student with a 3.0 still only pays $240, plus books and fees. If college isn’t worth that much to you, maybe you shouldn’t go.
The HOPE scholarship is still a bargain, and a 3.0 in high school was too low a benchmark to begin with, IMO.
Bottom line: HOPE will pay less and be more complicated. | Get … | FIND BEST EDUCATION INFORMATION
February 23rd, 2011
3:01 am
[...] View original post here: Bottom line: HOPE will pay less and be more complicated. | Get … [...]
Tech Student
February 23rd, 2011
10:57 am
@Erin
Full time tuition is not $2400, it’s $3535 per semester.
And while you may think these people are “Georgia Tech snobs,” it is much harder at GT than some other state schools, not all, but definitely some. To be on the Dean’s List at Tech you only need to earn a 3.0, and to graduate with honors you only need to earn a 3.15. I think that alone shows the difficultly of the school.
Tech Student
February 23rd, 2011
11:11 am
Pre-K is much more than a babysitter. The pre-K teachers have full teaching degrees and help prepare children for school. These teachers teach foundational topics to young children and help identify learning disabilities very early that may be overlooked in a K-12 setting. Don’t bash pre-K. It helps thousands of children get a jump start on education. I’m not saying it isn’t important for the parents to educate their children as well, but for parents working full-time, pre-K is a wonderful option to allow them to get a jump start on their children’s education both academically and socially.
pre-k teacher
February 23rd, 2011
8:52 pm
As a pre-k teacher and a current college student I am really taken back by some of the comments posted. I am more than a babysitter. You have to have a 4 year degree to teacher pre-k. You can’t just walk in off the street and say “hey maybe I’d like to teacher now.” We have a curriculum that we have to cover. It is very regulated by Bright From The Start. We are constantly being evaluated and checked up on. Now as a current college student I agree with the GPA proposal. I maitain a 4.0 and it’s a lot of work. I have other students in my classes that are just going to school because they can for free and they don’t put a whole lot of effort into their education. I thing if you are being given a scholarship you should have to earn it. As for the comment about this proposal being racist I hardly know what to say. That is implying that only white people can study hard and maintain good grades. That in itself is racist.
Sophomore
February 24th, 2011
5:52 pm
@blackbird13
im so very extremly sorry that i dont use all the correct punctuation and edit a stupid post on ajc (i have too much studying to do) that is simply MY OPINION. i know that my one post isnt going to change anything im just venting. this is going to effect high school students like myself so who gives a FLIP about the adult perspective! and im sure the 4000+ students at my school will gladly take my side over yours.
compromise
February 24th, 2011
5:57 pm
instead of applying this change now, why doesn’t the government wait until the class of 2015 this way they know the requirements throughout all of high school instead of making it near impossible for current students in high school now to get that 3.7. or why not make it 3.4 or 3.5 going from a 3.0 to a 3.7 is a huge jump.