All Articles Tagged "hope scholarship"
Georgia Students Pile on Classes While There's Still HOPE
(AJC) — Corey Boone was planning to graduate from Georgia Tech in December, but that was before state lawmakers revamped the HOPE scholarship. Beginning in August, the scholarship will provide less money to all but the highest-performing students. The change means Boone would need a loan to pay for fall semester. Instead, he’s taking a full load of classes this summer, while HOPE still covers all tuition, so he can graduate early and most importantly, without any debt. Across the state, some students, such as Boone, are rushing to get as many credits as they can during the final days of full HOPE. While final numbers won’t be in for months, colleges are seeing a modest uptick in summer school enrollment. As of last week, Georgia Southern University reported a summer enrollment increase of more than 5 percent, and Southern Polytechnic State University is up by more than 4 percent. Georgia Tech is up by about 1.5 percent, and Kennesaw State University reported a 1 percent increase.
Exposing The Myth of Whites, Minorities and Scholarships
By Charlotte Young
Keep saving for Ashley and Derrick’s college fund because it’s the most important thing you can do for them. Although white Americans may complain that it’s hard for them to receive scholarship funding, they still take the majority of money available. According to an interview between NPR’s Michel Martin and Mark Kantrowitz, author of the book, “Secrets to Winning a Scholarship” and publisher of Fastweb.com, the free scholarship matching service, whites receive 72% of scholarship awards while minority students only receive 28%.
Kantrowitz details some of the myths of scholarship hunting and additional tips and facts during his discussion with Martin. First things first: the competition is stiff for receiving grants all around. Kantrowitz reports that “less than 3/10ths of a percent of undergraduate students pursuing bachelor’s degrees have won enough money to cover their complete tuition.” In addition, only one in 10 students earn scholarships from the private sector. This means that most students will look to money from federal and state grants, and money from the college they plan to attend. Depending on the company a parent works for, students may also look forward to receiving employer tuition assistance.
The reason why Caucasian students are more likely to receive funding is because scholarship providers are individuals who often support students with their shared interests. Kantrowitz gives the example of a scholarship offered for students involved in equestrian sports. There’s no deliberate discrimination, but chances are white students are more likely to be involved in this type of activity.
Minority students are more likely to receive Pell Grants, which are based on applicant income and assets. As minority students sometimes come from families with lower income, they have a 38% chance of securing this award, compared to 20% for their Caucasian counterparts. The percentage jumps a little higher for African Americans students.
It all goes back to the importance of saving, says Krantrowitz. He dispels the myth that saving could actually hurt scholarship chances; however, Krantrowitz does say that you can be “penalized for up to 5.64 percent,” but it also allows for greater flexibility when searching for colleges.
Though the odds may look uneven and a bit daunting, the more scholarships you apply to the better. It’s also good to keep education tax benefits such as the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit in mind. You can claim it by following your federal income tax return.
Democrats, Students Challenge HOPE Bill
(AJC) — A day after the Georgia House overwhelmingly approved an overhaul of the HOPE scholarship, Democrats and college students attacked the bill and released alternative plans to restore the cuts. Senate Democrats proposed giving full tuition scholarships to high-achieving students whose families earn up to $140,000 a year. The income cap would provide full scholarships to 94 percent of Georgia families, Sen. Jason Carter, D-Atlanta, said Wednesday.
The plan also tweaks the proposed Zell Miller Scholarship so that it would cover tuition, books and fees for students who graduate in the top 3 percent of their high schools, he said. About 10 percent of HOPE recipients would qualify for this, Carter estimated. The suggestions countered the changes outlined in House Bill 326, which is Gov. Nathan Deal’s plan to overhaul the cash-strapped program. The bill, which had bipartisan support in the House, moved to the Senate.
The bill looks at students’ grades and does not take income into account. It ties the award to lottery revenue, not tuition rates, so it could vary annually. For this coming fall, it will be 90 percent of current tuition levels, meaning it won’t cover the double-digit tuition increase expected at some colleges. Students also would lose money for books and mandatory fees.
Students in Georgia Lose HOPE
If the Georgia education system had one thing to tout, it was their HOPE scholarship program. Under the program, which has served more than a million students, high-schoolers with good grades were awarded a free college education. Now, due to soaring college costs, the scholarship will only be offered to students with a 3.7 GPA instead of 3.0, and students will have to score at least a 1200 on the SAT. Those who don’t quite make the cut will get some tuition help, an amount that could change from year to year, reports The Huffington Post.
Many high school seniors have already decided what school they will be attending in the fall, but news like this could drastically change things. Students counting on the HOPE scholarship but don’t meet the new qualifications will now have to scramble for aid money late in the process.
Read more: HOPE Scholarship Cuts: Georgia’s Trendsetting Program on The Chopping Block
Ga. College Students Fight Cuts
(AJC) — The legislative session has just begun and Georgia’s college students already feel like the designated losers. Lawmakers propose cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from the higher education budget for this fiscal year and the next. They’re revamping HOPE, the popular scholarship program that for years has covered tuition if high-achieving students attend a Georgia public college.
Georgia Facing a Hard Choice on Free Tuition
(New York Times) — Students here at the University of Georgia have a name for some of the fancy cars parked in the lots around campus. They call them Hopemobiles. But there may soon be fewer of them. The cars are gifts from parents who find themselves with extra cash because their children decided to take advantage of a cherished state perk — the Hope scholarship. The largest merit-based college scholarship program in the United States it offers any Georgia high school student with a B-average four years of free college tuition.
HOPE, Pre-K Face Cuts
(AJC) — One sure bet this legislative session: Changes are coming that will affect the bottom line for participants in the popular lottery-funded HOPE and pre-kindergarten programs. Lawmakers have been warned that the programs — collectively serving about 200,000 college students and about 82,000 preschoolers — have to be scaled back, given forecasts of a $320 million deficit in lottery money to cover the programs’ expenses for fiscal year 2012. A variety of potential changes have been suggested — including raising the GPA requirement for HOPE eligibility. The ideas tossed around for pre-k include making it income-based or charging an annual fee of $500 to $1,000 a year. The program is currently free and open to all 4-year-olds.
HOPE's Dwindling Finances Worry Lawmakers
(Atlanta Journal Constitution) — Students and their parents better start saving more money for college. Georgia’s popular HOPE scholarship is at the tipping point as demand outstrips its funding.
“This is not a train wreck about to happen,” said Rep. Len Walker (R-Loganville), chairman of the House higher education committee. “The train wreck has happened.”
Lawmakers agreed Monday that changes are needed to keep the merit program used by more than 200,000 students annually financially viable. That legislation isn’t expected until this winter. Instead a joint meeting between the House and Senate higher education committees served to shock lawmakers into understanding the severity of the situation.
