Your morning jolt: A low-interest loan program to fill the coming HOPE gap?
This morning at Georgia State University, Gov. Nathan Deal will announce the most sweeping changes to the HOPE scholarship since the inception of the lottery-cash-for-college program.
“Decoupling” amounts granted by the scholarship from tuition increases is certain to be one of his recommendations.
That could leave a critical gap between the cost of college and what a student receives from HOPE.
The difference could be covered in a low- or no-interest loan program likely to be proposed this session, Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers said Monday.
“There has been a lot of discussion of how we create a workable loan program for students,” Rogers said.
One suggestion has been to turn all HOPE awards into loans for first-year college students – “much like the home school students have to do now,” Rogers said at a weekly news conference.
He continued:
“I think that’s a great idea. It may be difficult to put that in place overnight, because that incorporates a lot of students and a lot of loans.
“A second, probably more workable solution at this point in time is a loan to take care of the difference – whether it’s that difference between tuition and the HOPE scholarship, or between [HOPE and] total costs of going to school — books and fees and things like that.
“I think we’ll probably see something along those lines – some sort of loan program. Very low interest – one percent or zero percent. And with that you can do a lot of things. You can encourage students who make above a 3.0 – you can encourage them by having their loans at zero interest percent. If you get a 1.5 maybe we charge you a little more interest.”
***
The pre-kindergarten side of the lottery program is likely to take a big hit in Gov. Nathan Deal’s plans. Advocates plan a noon rally today at the Capitol, to press for inclusion of all 150,000 4-year-olds who are eligible.
***
The Senate this week will take up a bill on zero-based budgeting – after voting earlier this session to override Gov. Sonny Perdue’s veto of a similar bill last year.
To no one’s surprise, Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers also dismissed a House zero-based budgeting bill that advocates a return to a joint budget office for both the House and Senate. The Senate established its independent office after Republicans took control in 2002 – and the House was still in Democratic hands.
“The House budget office does a fantastic job. There’s no doubt about it,” Rogers said. “But so does the Senate budget office. It is worth its weight in gold. We have saved enormous amounts of money by having those two budget offices.”
***
On his first trip home to Atlanta after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, U.S. Rep. John Lewis was greeted with a reception – that doubled as a birthday party. He turned 71 on Monday.
Here’s some wild video of the event posted on Youtube:
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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78 comments Add your comment
TrishaDishaWarEagle
February 22nd, 2011
11:38 am
Not every kids can/should be guaranteed a spot at the flagship universities..maybe you can’t afford 10% at UGA if you are absolute destitute..there is always ga perimeter, kennesaw state, clayton state, albany state, etc. etc..
This is nothing more than a case of “I want my cake, And I want you to pay for it , too!’
GaBlue
February 22nd, 2011
11:39 am
S,
Thank you for sharing your example. I’d like to add to that, that I think those touting, “Just get a LOAN like I did!” are not looking at the big picture. The culture of debt that Americans have embraced in the past several decades has not served us well. Banks are still failing left and right, and millions are never able to pay back government-backed student loans. Starting one’s adult life in debt may be unavoidable for some, but starting out *deeply* in debt is simply not healthy for the debtor OR our financial system. Educated people earn more, contribute more, and pay more in taxes to support everything from roads and schools to water systems and the military industrial complex (via unending wars) that some people are so terribly fond of. The big picture should matter to us all, and if debt is not the answer, then it’s not the answer for bright, capable young students either.
Self_Made
February 22nd, 2011
11:39 am
I worked an attended school full time (both). I’m doing the same now in grad school. I’m not saying that’s what everyone has to do, but there are PLENTY of ways to supplement a scholarship. Work-study and traditional student loans? Tending bar? Washing dishes? Personally, I think it’s generational…kids these days don’t expect to work until AFTER they graduate college…and it’s their (middle class, non-ghetto)parents who instill this in them.
RGB
February 22nd, 2011
11:42 am
TrishaDishaWarEagle:
You hit the nail on the head regarding the extortion attempt by the earlier poster.
Give me a college education…and an Escalade….and……or else. And it’ll all be YOUR fault!
You people with an entitlement mentality should try to understand that an increasingly large number of taxpayers will not agree to your shakedown tactics. There is no right to a college education–never has been.
One more thing: Why has college tuition soared in recent years? HOPE, of course. With HOPE being decoupled from the tuition amount, the cost of a college education will likely become more affordable [relative to what would be the case in the absence of tuition decoupling]. Now, college administrators will have to manage their costs more carefully.
It’s called the invisible hand of the free market—another concept that puts fear in the heart of liberals wherever they lurk.
Southside Shawty
February 22nd, 2011
11:49 am
This is nothing more than class welfare for the rich. But no repubs will complain about this form of wealth redistribution. All of that “why should I have to pay for someone else” crap goes out the window when they’re the benefactor. Should’ve reverted back to income caps so more kids can qualify for HOPE. Thats where the money that funds it comes from anyway, using republican logic.
GaBlue
February 22nd, 2011
11:49 am
RGB,
Thank you for bringing that college Escalade program to my attention! I was unaware that such riches would be available to my children at your expense. Silly me, I have them working part time and busting their behinds in school.
Thanks also for explaining how HOPE is the sole cause of soaring college costs. (I was also unaware that people were being forced to buy lottery tickets in a “shakedown.” Good info!) Who knew that our program here in Georgia would drive up costs in all the other states? Here I was thinking the rest of the country ignored us as much as possible. My, how powerful we are!! Thanks again.
RGB
February 22nd, 2011
11:50 am
“I’d like to add to that, that I think those touting, “Just get a LOAN like I did!” are not looking at the big picture. ”
The fact is that [I]somebody has to pay[/I] for a college education. You’re suggesting that people who are losing their homes and who’ve lost their jobs should pay for the tuition so that new graduates “won’t start life*deeply* in debt” and so that they can “earn more, contribute more, and pay more”.
If “debt isn’t the answer” for these “bright, capable young students” then it sure isn’t the answer for someone on the verge of economic extinction.
Nobody owes anybody a college education. Your “nice to have” isn’t in the Georgia State Constitution.
Oh, and nice shot at the “military industrial complex” ["unending wars", you know]. Gosh, I’ll bet if we just disbanded the military so we were defenseless then we could buy everyone a college education…..and an Escalade….with all that “extra money”.
Bye, I mean peace out.
RGB
February 22nd, 2011
11:51 am
It was my pleasure. Really.
GaBlue
February 22nd, 2011
11:57 am
RGB imagines (or hallucinates): “You’re suggesting that people who are losing their homes and who’ve lost their jobs should pay for the tuition so that new graduates “won’t start life*deeply* in debt””
Excuse me. At no time did I ever suggest any such thing. Do you also hear voices of people that no one else can see? Perhaps it’s time for a visit to your doctor? Good luck with that.
DannyX
February 22nd, 2011
11:58 am
“Give me a college education…and an Escalade….and……or else.”
Which somehow beats….
Give me a college education…and a Big Suburban House….and……or else.
Give me a college education…and an another cash out re-finance….and……or else.
Give me a college education…and another maxed out credit card….and……or else.
In the little Republican fantasy poor undeserving blacks are driving their Escalades, talking on their phones, the cause of the Georgia bank failure epidemic.
Here’s a little secret, it’s the spoiled I want this bigger white Republican suburbanite who has driven most of the financial problems in Georgia.
Get off the phone.
BASE
February 22nd, 2011
11:59 am
Chip is an idiot!What does he plan to do for pre-K, pick winners and losers.
RGB
February 22nd, 2011
12:09 pm
“Here’s a little secret, it’s the spoiled I want this bigger white Republican suburbanite who has driven most of the financial problems in Georgia.”
Reading that sentence for the third time, your secret is still safe.
Sorry you’re resentful towards/jealous of white people. We’re the same color inside.
findog
February 22nd, 2011
12:18 pm
Did Rogers go to school at all?
A 1.5 GPA is failing, you cannot get a degree, or even out of High School with that number, but he wants to loan these people money?
Is he a Georgia Bank President or something?
HL
February 22nd, 2011
12:19 pm
If the lottery can no longer afford to pay the bills then modifications needed to be made. Maybe the GA congress can consider something less harmful by funding the first two years of community colleges if you have a 3.0 average. That would allow students to work part time and possibly live at home while preparing to go to a four year colleges. Studies have shown that corporations relocate to states with educated work forces.
hahahaha…Sorry that would be considered class warfare.
backwards is the new forwards
February 22nd, 2011
12:37 pm
I didn’t realize that HOPE was just for poor black kids. It actually has a million times more white kids on the books. But the people who will mostly be affected are the poor.
I’m actually happy all you minivan driving suburbanites with your ignorant kids are having your scholarships taken away. Just keep them in the suburbs making babies earning minimum wage. That’s the only way you can keep them voting republican, make more ignorant babies.
Freedom lover
February 22nd, 2011
12:43 pm
Yes, more low interest loans, as if the presence of government guaranteed low interest college loans hasn’t caused enough problems already.
Lets look at basic economics for a moment. I will try to keep it simple since most everyone gets their economics education from the liars in the media and the government.
You are considering the purchase of a high cost item. You are not being forced to buy, but everyone says that the only way you will succeed in life is if you do. You have several options including not purchasing. The cost of the item is very high – say $5000.
If only 10% of the people who came to purchase the item could not afford it at $5000, either the seller would have to lower the price or no sale. If the government gave away $5000 checks to spend only on this item, everyone could afford the cost and nobody whould have to lower their price. In fact, if everyone could afford $5000, why not charge $8000 since the first $5000 is “free?”
Now what happens when the government says that they can only give $3000 checks? In a normal situation the businesses would respond by lowering their prices to maximize the number of folks who could afford to buy their item. Without this, they would lose sales.
But the government cannot allow prices to drop – that is evil “deflation.” So what do they do? They create a low interest loan program so that everyone can still afford to pay the grossly inflated prices and spread their payment misery over many years. Since they are printing money out of thin air rather than paying savers a respectable interest rate, they can keep interest rates extremely low thus making the payments even lower than they should be. This makes the prices not seem so bad and makes government look like a hero once again.
And americans buy this crap by the bucket load, time and time again. Low interest rate loans have destroyed america. People get suckered into thinking they are good things, but they encourage malinvestment, do not accurately reflect the level of savings required for future spending to sustain investments, and a whole host of other problems. Since most people are Keynesians, they don’t know this. Since most economists are Keynesians, our country will continue down the same failed path.
findog
February 22nd, 2011
1:12 pm
RGB,
The Escalade driving crowd are those who have the means to send their children to flag ship schools but want the lottery to pay for tuition; which is not what the people of the great state of Georgia voted for in creating HOPE.
Why tinker with GPA’s; when if you made the schools guarantee that a student who attends for four full years [no remedial] they have to give them the degree instead of holding them over for a fifth year to get the classes offered only once a year that conflict with each other because the faculty all like to teach the 11am period?
Here’s something Chip, how about you tell the Board of Reagent’s what we will pay for our scholarship students and have them learn to teach within the limits of the lottery revenue?
Why $4k for kids in private colleges, if the intent was to keep the cream in the state system?
deegee
February 22nd, 2011
1:47 pm
In other words, FreedomLover,
“Lets look at basic economics for a moment. I will try to keep it simple since I get my economics education from Neal Boortz.”
Moonlightgraham
February 22nd, 2011
2:29 pm
FreedomLover, “Since most economists are Keynesians, our country will continue down the same failed path.”
Well, if truth be told, the path we’ve been traveling for the past 30 years began under your demi-god Reagan and is called supply side or trickle down economics. What that policy has done is shift the wealth of this country to the top 1/10th of 1%. They have seen their incomes grow by 33% over the last 30 years while middle-class incomes have remained static, gone nowhere, zilch, nada, nothing. That’s why the middle class sought to finance their upward mobility with debt as they had no income growth. That, in and of itself, is not a bad thing as long as the asset being borrowed against (i.e., the house) kept appreciating. Well, we know how that last chapter turned out and now every one is casting about for the cause and the criminals. The income disparity is getting to extremes in the country and yet, the corporate-controlled media has middle class fighting against middle class. I mean, did everyone forget the top 1% just got an extension of the Bush tax cuts for another two years that will cost us billions and yet now the budget woes are all the fault of public empoyees and their measly $19K annual pensions? Good grief, where has the ability for critical thinking gone in this country?
Tired of BS
February 22nd, 2011
2:52 pm
Why not tie the GAP to course study as well. No way can you tell me a biomedical engineering degree should be graded on the same scale as a degree in physical education. Emory and Georgia Tech have much more difficult courses that could lead to grades going below a 3.0, yet they consistently turn out the best and the brightest.
Tired of BS
February 22nd, 2011
2:53 pm
Correction**************GPA
S
February 22nd, 2011
3:39 pm
I don’t see why not.. Those who do a phys ed degree are taking Physics, Chem, Physiology, Biochem, some of the same tough courses Biomed degree folks are taking. I’m a Physiology/Chem major and I had a lot of phys ed majors in my classes. And if you do an advanced degree in kinesiology it’s even more-so don’t knock the phys ed folks…
MissGrier1
February 22nd, 2011
4:16 pm
I am not understanding why this is not a need-based scholarship. A family of 4 with a household income of more than $125,000 should not be eligible for HOPE. The individuals who actually play the lottery most times do not fall into that bracket. Also, 4.5 hour preK???? So you mean I now have to pay for 4 hours of daycare….wow, thanks for the help.
Nancy
February 22nd, 2011
5:53 pm
If we stopped paying for the kids of millionaires to go to college on HOPE, HOPE could probably continue as is. My dad worked in a factory and put me through a major southern university, out of state and would not let me apply for scholarships. It was a matter of pride that he put his only child through college. College is a lot more expensive now and the true middle class and the working class are having a seriously difficult time funding their kids education. BTW, people making $250K are much more than middle class and ought to be paying for college for their kids and proud to do it.
Tired of BS
February 23rd, 2011
9:43 am
Yeah let it be need based. The student needs to have a legit 3.7 in honors or AP classes, the student needs a 1300 + on the SAT, and the student needs to maintain a 3.5 while in school. No remedial courses will be paid for.
Michael
February 23rd, 2011
2:50 pm
76th!!!!
Friendly Bob Adams
February 23rd, 2011
6:14 pm
“The difference could be covered in a low- or no-interest loan program…”
Loan = Gift
Well the HOPE belt tightening austerity program lasted all of about 72 hours. Now we’ll have another entitlement and once again the taxpayers will be on the hook. Just watch – like most student loans the repayment default rate will skyrocket and they’ll be forgiven or just written off.
MS
February 24th, 2011
4:58 pm
I had to attend a more expensive private school rather than Georgia State because Georgia State removed the majority of their evening classes due to budget cuts making it impossible to work full time and go to school. Decreasing the HOPE for those who attend private institutions is frustrating, in my case it means I will take longer to complete my education as I will have to take one less class. I would of much rather attended a state institution.
Doesn’t this increase the amount of money HOPE would pay out to students like me in the long run as it will take us longer to complete our educations? That doesn’t make sense. I maintain a 4.0 GPA in college, these new proposals for HOPE are frustrating to say the least.