State Sen. Carter: Reinstitute cap on HOPE and base it on available lottery funds each year
State Sen. Jason Carter is sponsoring legislation to restore an income cap for HOPE that would be predicated on available lottery funds.
Jason Carter, D-Atlanta, is the state senator from the 42nd District, representing DeKalb. Carter is sponsoring legislation to restore an income cap on HOPE recipients, although his cap is higher than the one that Gov. Zell Miller put in place when he created HOPE.
In 1993, HOPE was limited to students from families earning less than $66,000 a year. The cap was raised to $100,000 in 1994. A year later, flush with lottery revenues, the state eliminated any cap on HOPE.
However, with the lottery failing to keep pace with the rising costs of HOPE, there is now discussion of restoring an income cap. I asked Sen. Carter to write an op-ed piece for the Monday AJC about his legislation. Here is a preview for blog readers:
By state Sen. Jason Carter
Last year, Governor Nathan Deal made his reform of the lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship programs his only “signature” legislation.
Today, based on his administration’s own reports, it is clear that his reform has failed.
First, the governor’s budget calls for the HOPE programs to pay out more that they take in — again.
In fact, the plan not only dips into the lottery reserves, but it spends HOPE’s “rainy-day” money until it cannot spend any more. Thus, despite the “reform” HOPE is still not living within its means.
In addition, the current plan fails the hard-working, high-achieving students who depend on HOPE, and the plan ultimately harms our state’s economy.
According to the Georgia Student Finance Commission, by 2016 — in just four years — HOPE will pay for less than half the cost of college. And, HOPE will continue to vanish over time. By the time my children are in college, HOPE will be an afterthought in the scheme of college costs.
Every year there will be more high-achieving students who cannot afford college. We need well-educated students to drive our economy, and any HOPE plan that reduces the number of students who can afford college can only be called a failure.
The administration’s badly miscalculated Zell Miller Scholars program makes the situation worse. Right now, more than 80 percent of the Miller recipients go to Georgia’s two most expensive colleges. And because it provides full tuition, the Miller program will get more expensive as tuition rises. The cost of the Miller program will balloon, while HOPE is vanishing.
We can do better. Senate Democrats filed legislation that will truly preserve HOPE for the future. Put simply, rather than destroy HOPE for everyone, we would restore the full HOPE scholarship for the maximum number of students every year. In addition to the current academic requirements, we would reinstitute HOPE’s original income cap. The cap will be set as high as possible each year based on lottery revenues, so that we maximize the number of students who get a full scholarship.
This year, if the cap is set at a family income of $140,000, then about 94 percent of Georgia families would be eligible for full HOPE. In many communities this would protect virtually all current HOPE scholars.
Our plan also reforms the Miller Scholarship to provide it to the top 3 percent of every high school, regardless of income. The best and brightest from every Georgia community would get a full scholarship, and the Miller Scholars would be spread throughout the University System, making it a truly statewide program.
This plan is more fiscally responsible. With a $140,000 cap, HOPE would run a surplus this year, instead of depleting the reserves. And in 2016, when the Governor’s plan pays less than half the cost of college, this plan could still provide the full scholarship for students whose families make less than $140,000. Unlike last year’s plan, the scholarship would serve its purpose and be financially sound.
I and others stand willing to discuss new and better ideas. But if we allow the failed HOPE reforms to stand, we risk the future of our children, our economy and we diminish HOPE for everyone.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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199 comments Add your comment
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
9:45 am
@ Traci
2 problems
1-we gotta do something now, and due to how bastardized this whole situtation is its gonna hit somebody hard
2-your idea is great, but has one fatal flaw. decent leadership at
the state level
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
9:55 am
@ South Ga admin
UGA remains the elephant in the room. since most of the legistlators went there, and live a very unhealthy proxy life via the football team,
they’re not gonna do anything which might even be percieved as disadvantagous to UGA.
and since most kids in this state grew up thinking it is the only place to go, UGA gets a disproportionate amount of everything.
not knocking UGA itself, its an overall great school – and its not their fault most of the elected officials in this state would kiss Ugga
square on the mouth if they could.
but its not the only fish in our sea, and any long term effective change requires people come to grips with that.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
9:58 am
I’d not stop HOPE for remedial classes – consider APS, DCSS, and Clayton’s self immolation – since so many kids were pooped on by the
very people charged with helping them
but I would limit it to 2 year and tech schools only.
Scott
January 29th, 2012
9:59 am
Perhaps Mr. Carter and his colleagues should take a look at the institutions of higher learning and what has happened over the last ten years. Tuition and fees at the University of Georgia have increased by 156% over the past ten years for residents of the state and by 89% over the past five years alone. Tuition and fees were $3418 for the 2001-2002 school year and are $9472 for the current school year.
It is clear to see that as the esteemed leaders of our General Assembly cut budgets to the University System, those cuts were passed on to the taxpayers of Georgia. No reform to HOPE will allow it to keep pace with the greed of these institutions of higher learning.
em
January 29th, 2012
10:02 am
Part of the problem with HOPE running out of dollars is that not all grades are created equal. Some schools grade on a 4.0 or 5.0 scale and some schools grade on a numerical/percentage scale. Grading probably needs to be more transparent and uniform. Also, It is my understanding that any course taken in the core area counts toward HOPE. For example, at the high school where I teach, students are offered sociology and psychology as social studies electives; both are relatively easy “A’s” and count toward HOPE. In addition to making HOPE a reimbursement program as suggested by Lee, tie HOPE to EOCT scores. Grant HOPE to only those students who pass the EOCT with at least an 80 and make at least 3.0 in the EOCT course.
Regular Joe
January 29th, 2012
10:13 am
The Hope is running out of money folks. Things have to change.
Some of the same people who are say it’s dumb for folks to just depend on Social Security to retire, are some of the same people dumb enough to depend on “HOPE” to pay for children’s whole tuition.
The Hope is a helpful program, but it’s shaky. It depends on gambling revenue. You trust that?
The income cap – I don’t think we should do it, unless it’s a real high number, like $500,000 or above. You could punish folks with lot’s of children. We need to encourage folks to have the chilins.
The program has to benefit the whole state, not just metro Atlanta – As someone mentioned take the top 5% of each school and give them a full tuition Hope. If your kid can’t make 5% at the current school, move to another if you need the money that bad.
3.0 average – The rest of the college Hope funding is set aside for children with a 3.0 average. That could be 75%, 60%, 30% of tuition or whatever is available that year. The payment is only made after Suzy or Billy complete the first year of college, with a 3.0 or above average. They don’t keep the grades up they get nothing that year, but if they get the grades up, they can get the money the following year.
The first year, unless you are one of the 5%, you or your kid pay everything initially. If they keep the grades up, you’ll get a percentage back at the end of the school year.
Save for your children’s education, it may be a good idea for them to have a part time job and spend less too. Be happy to get some lottery money, but don’t depend on it.
Steve
January 29th, 2012
10:14 am
What’s evident from this blog are two things I think we can ALL agree on. First, moving forward the program should be treated as a loan default system. If a student does not meet the requirements in his/her freshman year, then the scholarship reverts to a loan. A lot of kids already take out loans already, so this concept should not be foreign. Secondly, and more importantly, the legislators need to STOP changing the rules year to year. I have one son in college now and one to enter shortly. I think I could live with almost anything they come up with, but the changing rules year in and year out make it very stressful for all concerned. Possibly each graduating class could be grandfathered in for their four years of college, and if the rules change again, the next class at least will know what their particular rules are.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
10:22 am
@ scott
costs at state schools have shot past Pluto, but not necessarily for the reasons people think.
based on first hand observations at my little corner of the USG:
1-first and formost, costs went up due to HOPE. since the State pays and the consumer feels the effects last, schools had no incentive to keep costs down.
2-the current crop of USG presidents are engaged in the most disgusting “Mine’s Bigger” contest I’ve ever seen in multiple
decades in higher education. instead of working hard to
provide the best possible education within their means, these
bozos are empire building
classic case: Georgia Perimters Atlanta Center for Civic Engagement and Service Learning. built at an estimated cost of $1,000,000 at a time when furloughs were going on and against the wishes of the students.
can you say resume booster? I knew you could.
3-out of control technology acquisition. laptops everywhere, smart classrooms everywhere, no effort at all to get value for dollar out
of anything considered sexy.
4-sports. why the hell does Ga. State and Ga. Gwinnett have football teams? more, why does any two year school have ANY sports teams?
5-pomp and circumstance run amok. Ga. State having graduation at the dome? THE DOME? for that matter any school having graduation off site.
massive manditory gatherings for Presidents to strut and preen about how wonderful they are.
and all these self serving MLK events? King woulda much preferred all the time and money spent on showing the world how much we can – ready now – actually being used to do something like staff a soup kitchen.
at the end of the day it all comes down to out of control egos.
em
January 29th, 2012
10:24 am
That should have read “..at least a 3.0 in the EOCT courses.”
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
10:27 am
just so everyone’s clear.
do not kid yourself about the purpose of higher education in Georgia.
it is NOT to educate the next generation.
it is about self promotion. of the state, of the Presidents, of the
sports teams, of individuals.
any actual education of students is a accidental byproduct. and not
necessarily a desired one.
College Dad
January 29th, 2012
10:28 am
@”Just wondering” or is it “wandering” through life. I assure that we have saved for college from week one for our childrens college education. But, don’t make it about that. The issue is about the kids who work hard and deserve a shot at the Hope. Lower and higher income families with hard working and high scoring students both deserve access to the Hope. The income bar will drive some of our brightest students to attend out of state schools on academic scholarships. If that’s the case, so be it. The Dems will be the cause. The simple answer would be to hike the price of a lotto ticket to $1.25 per ticket. Studies show that if someone currently pays $1.00, they certainly would pay $1.25. It’s unfortunate to see so many uneducated and ill prepared parents. I wish the best for all of our students.
catlady
January 29th, 2012
10:36 am
I’m afraid the calls to make it a retroactive loan program would be hard to put in place. How can you legally provide a scholarship and it becomes a loan–you have to have a loan document signed, and, most importantly, contracts based on coersion are not enforceable.
Also, moving HOPE eligibility even MORE to the college level means even more dropping of classes, which leads students to take longer to graduate, which means longer students are being supported by us taxpayers (to the tune of thousands of dollars per semester per student.) We need to have programs in place to SPEED students graduating–to motivate them to get the degree and get out (not to water down the degree).
I graduated from undergrad in less than 3 years in 1973. At that time there were NO AP credits available. You could “challenge” a course by CLEP, which I never did. So how did I finish in 3 years? I took overloads (frequently 6 courses a term) and went in the summer. I took one term off from Sept. 1970-August 1973, graduated with a 3.69. We should have more kids do that!
My own two college grads did it in 4 years. No “extra” terms. They were in private colleges and had to get done! We should have more “carrots” or even some “sticks” to make this the norm! These kids on the 5-6 year plan are costing us far too much!
Our legislators need to look at the big picture, instead of all thse piecemeal approaches that they come up with without talking to researchers here who have a fundamental understanding of how this all fits together! Woulda, coulda, shoulda, I guess.
So sorry to disappoint you
January 29th, 2012
11:01 am
Entitlement program
The kind of government program that provides individuals with personal financial benefits (or sometimes special government-provided goods or services) to which an indefinite (but usually rather large) number of potential beneficiaries have a legal right (enforceable in court, if necessary) whenever they meet eligibility conditions that are specified by the standing law that authorizes the program.
I mostly agree with Gerald that the Hope is an entitlement program and it’s the worst kind. It takes from the poor and gives to the not so poor. As you can see from the definition above having or not having means testing has nothing to do with being classified as an entitlement program.
So you “high horse conservatives” need to dismount and come to the realization that you too want entitlement programs when they benefit you. You are no different from the poor and unfortunate when it comes to these programs except you don’t NEED them.
We are fortunate to be above the cap proposed by the Senator and I have no problem with the cap. My kids (6,9) will be able to attend the college of their choice (if they have the grades) because I am planning for it now while they are young. I have 529 plans for both and have been contributing to them since their birth. I don’t spend more than I make, I live in a modest home, I drive a car that is 11 yrs old and my wife’s car is 6 years old.
These are all choices we made because we value our children’s education more than “THINGS”. If you make more than $140k a year you should be able to pay for your childrens college expenses.
BTW- Although I’m over the proposed cap I make less than $175k/yr. Just in case you made the assumption that I was “rich”.
flipper
January 29th, 2012
11:07 am
Kids of parents who make over $140,000 are kids of job creators. Kids of job creators often become job creators themselves. Maybe they only comprise 6% of the population… but they probably employ 75% or more of the population.
Turn HOPE from a merit program to an entitlement program and watch the job creators move elsewhere. The colleges here in GA just don’t have enough cache to keep people with means around unless they offer a carrot. Take away the carrot and UGA loses reputation and Georgia loses jobs.
Jason Carter is as dumb as his dad.
South Ga Administrator
January 29th, 2012
11:44 am
@College Dad…I hadn’t thought of it until I read his comments, but why not increase the lottery ticket cost….haven’t they stayed the same price since 1992? Would dividing up mega lottery wins draw more interest? As in 2007’s $390 million where one person wins, instead draw 195 numbers, give each $2 million, they pay their taxes and are left a little over a million…195 millionaires. Just looking out of the box.
Dr NO / Mr Sunshine
January 29th, 2012
12:03 pm
Yet again we hear from the tired ole Carter family. The rotten apple doesnt fall far from the tree.
William Casey
January 29th, 2012
12:14 pm
SOUTH GA ADMINISTRATOR’s post above is on the right track. I’ll add that making the first year of HOPE a loan/reimbursement program would help. If a student “makes the grade,” it’s a grant; if not it’s a loan. This might also give pause to the parents of kids who slide into college because they have nothing else to do. Those guys aren’t “scholars.”
flipper
January 29th, 2012
12:41 pm
Interesting… Looking at Jason Carter’s district, I’d venture to say that a very large part of his constituency (the ones that have money to donate to his campaigns) make more than $140,000. He must be trying to not get re-elected.
South Ga Administrator
January 29th, 2012
12:47 pm
@William Casey…I put my two cents in at 9:43 today on reimbursements. However, your twist to convert from a HOPE grant to a student loan is a great great (2 greats) idea. Somebody get Senator Carter on the phone.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
1:12 pm
to all the parents of rising college students, from
someone who’s been in the system a very long time.
1-two year schools are amazing. some basic Fresh/Soph classes for
relative pennies on the dollar. UGA and Tech wil still be there.
2-there is just as much fun -often times more- to be had at smaller
schools
3-beyond the very few, the most benefits from the name schools come from grad school.
4-freshmen are more likely to get in trouble (academic, personal, sexual) at a big school than a small one.
5-the costs of higher ed are not gonna stop rising anytime soon.
GA parent/teacher
January 29th, 2012
1:29 pm
Many people forget that colleges are actually getting by on less total money now than they did 10 years ago. The General Assembly gives less money to the University System of Georgia every year. To make up for less money from the General Assembly, the University System of Georgia raises tuition.
Consider also that for many years the General Assembly treated the Hope Scholarship Fund like it was an unlimited source of money for pet projects.
Shannon
January 29th, 2012
1:33 pm
Maureen, is there ANY way you can do a blog on the decreasing funding by the state legislature for our public colleges? People keep complaining about the tuition rising, but it’s because the funding keeps dropping thanks to our Republican “no more taxes on anything no matter what” legislature! Why isn’t anybody making this connection?!
Shannon
January 29th, 2012
1:33 pm
Thank you, GA parent/teacher!
Shannon
January 29th, 2012
1:39 pm
@catlady: I teach mostly freshman at Georgia State, and I don’t see the partying kids glibly withdrawing from classes. What I do see are the overextended kids–the ones who are trying to work at least one full-time job in addition to going to class and who therefore feel like they shouldn’t have to do homework for more than an hour or two a week.
People don’t like to hear this, but when you’re in school, school is a job. It should be your primary job! This “working your way through school” implies that you really just need a piece of paper to get a better job and are doing your time until you get it. Not so; you need to be thinking… making those connections between disciplines… talking to others who are studying as well… expanding the mind, growing the brain, slowly gaining awareness of what it means to be an educated citizen.
The world will be better off if people in school focus on school and don’t spend the time trying to figure out how to convince their professor that it isn’t their fault they absolutely couldn’t be in class for the test because Olive Garden changed their shift at the last minute or they have a big project due at their job.
Lee
January 29th, 2012
2:15 pm
@Shannon, re: “People don’t like to hear this, but when you’re in school, school is a job. It should be your primary job! This “working your way through school” implies that you really just need a piece of paper to get a better job and are doing your time until you get it.”
Sorry, but you need to climb down from the academia ivory tower and walk around the “real world” for awhile. I was a nontraditional student for both my undergrad and MBA degrees. My first priorities were my family and my job. Students who work full time jobs and go to school don’t do it because it is a great way to pass the day – there is a reason.
And yes, most of us go to school because we see it as the pathway to a better job, which translates into higher pay so that we can provide for our families in a better way.
I returned to school for my MBA after about 12 years in corporate. My impression was that most professors didn’t have a clue about how businesses actually work. All they knew was what they read about in a book.
Prof
January 29th, 2012
2:31 pm
@ Shannon. 1:39 pm. I agree completely with your comment that “school should be the primary job” of the college student, but would add that in college (though perhaps not the high schools these freshmen attended) the student is expected to study about 1-2 hours a night PER CLASS in addition to going to the classes. If the student doesn’t have time to do the assigned reading, then he or she shouldn’t be taking the course. Learning involves a lot more than being spoon-fed the material in class lectures.
@Lee. Maybe you need to climb outside your work-cubicle for awhile. There really is more to education than rules for corporate businesses.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
2:41 pm
@ Shannon
you’d not see Ga. State students partying to excess- you teach at Ga. State. unless there has been a massive demographic change in the last 5 years the average State student is a bit older and working.
there’s a reason the greeks have rooms, not houses.
faculty don’t like to hear this, but most students have to work to afford the cost of their education. especially at State.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
2:45 pm
@ Shannon
in what universe do college students not have to work anymore?
perhaps instead of pontificating about college being a full time
job, you might wish to spend some energy on making a more workable
courseload for your students.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
2:47 pm
@ Shannon
if you don’t feel you’re taxed enough, please feel free to surrender
your income et al to the state.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
2:52 pm
@ Ga techer/parent
much truth in what you say, but one thing is missing.
while the idiots downtown give us less and less each year,
what we’re given is squandered on pet projects by the
idiots who run higher ed.
until the USG starts putting real and worthwhile guidelines
and restrictions on how colleges spend their monies, nothing
is gonna change.
if you give the current crop of idiot presidents 100 million additional each, they’d plow it right into the resume builder of the hour – not into classroom considerations
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
2:58 pm
kinda funny how some faculty seem to have issues with the idea of working students going for a degree so they can get a better job.
most ignorant thing I’ve seen in some time.
why the hell else do some of you think people go to school
in the first place? to keep Shannon and such employed?
to get skills to improve their lives. ie, better jobs.
God above, no wonder the idiots downtown don’t take us
seriously
Prof
January 29th, 2012
3:02 pm
@ bootney farnsworth, 2:41. Yes, there HAS been a “massive demographic change in the last 5 years” at Ga. State (along with many other significant changes). As of Spring 2012, the average undergraduate age is 24 and the average Freshman age is 19. Stop pontificating as if everything stopped 5 years ago when you looked last.
@….2:45. Sometimes students have to work while in college. Then they shouldn’t be taking a full time course-load…if they still expect to get good grades. The burden is on the student to learn, not the teacher to accommodate by making the class easier.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
3:03 pm
here’s a newsflash for far too many:
we exist for the students. the students don’t exist for us.
if modern times require us to find different ways to teach
working students, we adapt.
we don’t make snarky comments about their jobs and belittle
them for doing what they have to do to keep body and soul
together.
but I suppose snark does give them an education of a sort.
lets them know what faculty really think of them.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
3:10 pm
@ prof,
actually, last time I was on campus was about 18 months ago.
sorry, things haven’t changed that much. nice try, however.
ask your students about how many can afford to go full time.
most can’t.
newsflash – if you don’t work with the students to deal with
where they are in life, they eventually vote with their feet
and you find yourself looking for meaningful work elsewhere.
the burden of the faculty is to work with students to educate
them. that doesn’t mean the class is easier.
bootney farnsworth
January 29th, 2012
3:12 pm
I do agree that working students should have realistic expectations
about what they can expect both in workload and grades.
the same way faculty should have realistic expectations on what
working students can realistically achieve.
catlady
January 29th, 2012
3:32 pm
Shannon, I agree. I think there is the attitude that “what I want” is all-important. I was fortunate–I did not have to work during my undergrad career, so I took overloads instead, and finished in less than 3 years (no such thing as AP then). As a single adult mother with 3 small kids, I was full-time student in my master’s and PhD programs, but was fortunate to get very nice grad research assistantships that allowed me to be involved in career-building opportunities on campus–no flipping burgers. We lived very simply for that 7 years. Some times things were very tough for us. It was a sacrifice worth it, however.
I DO think that working students have to cut back on their studies, if they can’t seriously cut back their work hours. College is all about hard work, consuming much time outside of class. It is not up to the college to cut back its expectations. How colleges CAN help is to provide classes during varying times of day or varying days. It is then up to the student to fit themselves and the requirements for college-level work together.
Soccermom
January 29th, 2012
3:52 pm
@Gerald
. I also went to a “jr” college for two years, lived at home all 4.5 years, and had a part-time job. Luckily, I didn’t need really high undergrad grades to qualify for a graduate position (or medical school or law school) because, while my grades were acceptable, paying the bills did lower the grades somewhat. I only took out a small loan my last semester of undergrad.
You are wrong. It is possible for low income students to get through college with only the programs you mentioned. I did it. I used Pell and SIG. I had a few small scholarships the first year – our guidance office was useless
HOPE isn’t an entitlement program in the true sense of the word. HOPE is not tax funded. Noone is required to pay the lottery. Anyone who is unable to afford to play and still does play is simply paying their “stupid tax”.
If I understand the history of HOPE, there was an intention to keep the brightest students in Georgia for college so they would stay after college. I believe it is also intended to provide the educational equivalent of “gap insurance”, helping the middle class student who is not eligible for Pell and other grants designated for lower income students and whose family income is not sufficient to simply pay out of pocket. My family is in this last category and I assure you it is not a “LIE” as you state. We are scraping to pay the tuition, fees, and living expenses not covered by HOPE without taking out student loans. My child aspires to go to medical school and needs the highest grades he can achieve so I have asked him not to work during the semester and I don’t want him to have undergrad loans heaped on top of the massive debt he will have from medical school.
For those of you who simply say “get a job” to these kids in a snarky tone of voice, has it occurred to you that many of the jobs that kids worked in our day are sought and held by adults in our horrid economy (like construction and lawn-care)? And many employers, when you tell them you are a college student at an out-of-town school, simply won’t hire you because they want a long-term employee even if they are less capable than you are.
Dr NO / Mr Sunshine
January 29th, 2012
4:06 pm
Here’s an idea. You want a college degree? Get a part-time job to pay fot it because you probably are gonna flunk out.
Dr NO / Mr Sunshine
January 29th, 2012
4:09 pm
Lets be realistic. Most have no business going to college. They are as out of place at college as a fish out of water.
Prof
January 29th, 2012
5:08 pm
@bootney farnsworth, 3:03 pm: “if modern times require us to find different ways to teach working students, we adapt.
we don’t make snarky comments about their jobs and belittle them for doing what they have to do to keep body and soul together.”
Sorry, no matter what your rhetoric, I still think that a college student should complete the work in a class just like everyone else, and not receive special consideration for working (or being a mother/father of small children…the list of excuses can go on and on). Everyone in the class should play by the same rules, and completing all of the assigned work is the first one.
The “snarky comment” seemed directed at students who think they shouldn’t have to do all of the classwork, instead of taking a lighter course load.
I’m answering this at length because I’ve heard this sorry student excuse for not doing as much work as assigned for over 25 years, in 3 different states. Basic advice: DON’T TAKE A FULL COURSE LOAD AND WORK FULL TIME! (Unless you want to take at least 6 years to graduate, with a C+ or lower average.)
GA parent/teacher
January 29th, 2012
5:35 pm
Some of you on this blog are calling HOPE an entitlement program. Well I can’t think of anyone more entitled to receiving the HOPE scholarship than my three kids. They all worked hard in school and made good grades. They all took the AP and Honors classes in high school to be prepared for college. They all scored high on the SAT. They all graduated from college. They all are working now and paying taxes in Georgia. And yes, they all have student loans that they pay on every month because HOPE didn’t cover all their college expenses.
I am grateful that the HOPE scholarship has provided my children and thousands of other deserving students the opportunity to go to college. I can remember Senator Frank Eldridge, Jr. talking with a group of students in the senate chambers at the capital building telling them that the HOPE scholarship would be around for them whenever they went to college. The members of the General Assembly need to use some common sense as they look at revisions that will insure that this wonderful program is around to benefit all students who deserve the opportunity to go to college here in Georgia.
Prof
January 29th, 2012
5:37 pm
@ bootney farnsworth, 3:10 pm: ” actually, last time I was on campus was about 18 months ago.
sorry, things haven’t changed that much.”
Actually, you prove my point. Shannon was writing about the freshmen she teaches, and I gave the Spring 2012 figures taken from GSU’s own website–they’re abt. the usual age for freshmen, 19. But you’re generalizing from walking around campus when you saw a mixture of all the students, including graduate students. How do you know you were seeing freshmen?
Gail
January 29th, 2012
5:46 pm
In case anyone is interested, google “HOPE recipient Income demographics.” It should return one item. Download the PDF and go to page 16 of the file ( it is page 12 of the document.) This shows the FY 2010 breakdown of family income for HOPE scholars by college. This study was done before the Zell Miller scholarship but it gives you an idea of the family incomes of all HOPE scholars.
Geezer
January 29th, 2012
6:04 pm
The income cap should absolutely be restored. Under the current system, you have the lowest-income group in the state (who are the folks who actually buy most lottery tickets, scratch-offs, etc.) subsidizing the highest income group, who can afford to send their kids to college and will regardless. Many may see a sense of justice in that, since the higher-income folks already support a basket full of government programs for low income types; however, society as a whole can benefit from helping deserving, but financially strapped kids get an education.
Another thing that would be a huge help to HOPE: Stop letting the Board of Regents use it as a piggy bank. Tuition is increasing much faster than the rate of inflation, and yet colleges and universities do not seem inclined to take steps to get it under control. Need more money? No problem! Raise tuition, and HOPE will automatically increase to help the kids take care of it!
Hillbilly D
January 29th, 2012
9:12 pm
Saw some interesting things while reading through the report mentioned in Gail’s 5:46 post.
By County, the highest percentage of HOPE recipients in the county, with household income over $200,000:
Fulton 12%
Fayette 9%
Forsyth 8%
Cobb 7%
Oconee 7%
Clarke 6%
Columbia 6%
DeKalb 6%
Gwinnett 6%
Highest percentage of Hope recipients with household income over $200,000 by school
Emory 18%
UGA 18%
GA Tech 17%
Oglethorpe 11%
Savannah College of Art & Design 11%
Agnes Scott 10%
Berry 10%
GA State College & University 10%
Mercer 10%
Medical College of GA 9%
HS Public Teacher
January 29th, 2012
9:56 pm
I think that the core question that needs to be answered is….
Should HOPE be geared towards merit (go to students with high scores), or should HOPE be geared towards need (go to students from economically disadvantaged households)?
Once this question is answered, then the rest can fall into place.
Truth in Moderation
January 29th, 2012
11:19 pm
Limiting Hope to the top 3% in a school might have some problems. GSMST is the top SAT scoring public school (charter) in the state. Last year’s grads scored an AVERAGE of 1920+. This is 200 points higher than the next top scoring school. Because it is a charter, the school draws students from many clusters in Gwinnett. I could see students who weren’t in the top 3% by 11th grade transferring to their home cluster high school for their senior year so they could easily land in the top 3% of that school.
Dr. Craig Spinks/Georgians for Educational Excellence
January 30th, 2012
2:06 am
Has any competent, disinterested, out-of-state entity scrutinized the efficacy of the income cap-free HOPE in increasing the proportion of HOPE-financed graduates who elect to remain in GA following their graduations?
Jeeva
January 30th, 2012
2:41 am
Thank you,your information is very useful .JEEVA
ScienceTeacher671
January 30th, 2012
6:20 am
I got my M.Ed. using the Teacher HOPE scholarship, before they ran out of money for that. Basically, it was structured as a loan, but if one taught for 2-3 years (can’t remember which) in Georgia after completing the degree, the loan was forgiven. The undergrad HOPE could certainly be structured similarly, so that if one didn’t make the grades, one was required to pay back the loan.
But I still think the first change that needs to be made is to require the Georgia Lottery Corporation to remit a fixed percentage of the proceeds, and tell them if they can’t do it, the state will find another company to run the lottery.
The purpose of the lottery is to fund education, not to provide bonuses for GLC officials.