{"64664":{"#nid":"64664","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New HOPE Provisions Presented, Debated","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELast week, Georgians got their first\nglimpse of the long-awaited proposal to preserve one of the nation\u2019s most\npopular merit scholarship programs.\u0026nbsp; At a\npress conference at Georgia State University on Tuesday, Governor Deal and\nlegislative leaders released their bill aimed at preserving HOPE and its\nbenefits for Georgia\u2019s students. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe legislation, now known as HB326,\ncreates two scholarship levels for students at Georgia\u2019s public colleges and\nuniversities.\u0026nbsp; The first, coined the Zell\nMiller Scholarship, will continue to cover full tuition for the highest\nachieving students like the current scholarship.\u0026nbsp; The second, which will have the same\neligibility criteria of the current scholarship, will cover a percentage of\ntuition, 90% for Fall 2011.\u0026nbsp; Neither\nscholarship will include funding for mandatory fees or a book stipend.\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ETo be eligible for the Zell Miller\nScholarship, students will be required to earn a 3.7 GPA in high school and a\n1200 on the SAT (or 26 on the ACT).\u0026nbsp; Once\nin college, they will be required to keep a 3.5 GPA to continue receiving the\naward. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAs the proposal stands, these changes\nwill affect students immediately with the Fall 2011 term.\u0026nbsp; Students who met the requirements for the\nMiller Scholarship upon high school graduation and have a 3.5 college GPA will\nbe eligible for full tuition coverage while other HOPE\u0026nbsp; scholars will receive the 90% award. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThis lack of a \u201cgrandfather clause\u201d\nwas an area of concern for Georgia Tech Student Body President Corey Boone when\nhe testified to the House Appropriations Higher Education Subcommittee on\nWednesday.\u0026nbsp; He asked legislators to\nconsider including a provision that would lessen the immediate cut to students\ncurrently in the system and continue to encourage the Georgia Lottery to pursue\nnew revenue streams.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBoone\u2019s comments, in addition to the\nremarks of other USG students, were well received by Chairman Earl\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs), who committed to\nlook into concerns.\u0026nbsp; The subcommittee\nlater passed the legislation to the full Appropriations Committee, where it was\ngiven a \u201cdo pass\u201d recommendation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe bill now awaits action by the\nRules Committee before it is debated on the House floor. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a statement released by the USG,\nChancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. thanked Governor Deal and legislative leaders\nfor their work on the HOPE proposal.\u0026nbsp; He\nnoted that the proposed changes \u201chave been designed with the aim of fulfilling\nthe original educational intent of the program.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAll have been asked to sacrifice\nsome in order that HOPE endures for all.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHB326 also contains changes that will\naffect students attending other higher education institutions in the\nstate.\u0026nbsp; Those attending private colleges\nand universities and receiving the HOPE tuition equalization grant will see a\n10% award cut.\u0026nbsp; Students attending a unit\nof the Technical College System of Georgia on the HOPE Grant\u0026nbsp; will, for the first time, see a 3.0 GPA\nmaintenance requirement to continue receiving funding. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe HOPE legislation appears\nto be on a fast track for House consideration.\u0026nbsp;\nIt will then go to the Senate for review and passage, likely next week.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Governor unveils recommendations to preserve program; House committee passes legislation"}],"uid":"27331","created_gmt":"2011-02-28 12:29:42","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:18","author":"George Ray","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-02-28T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2011-02-28T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"64662":{"id":"64662","type":"image","title":"State Leaders Unveil HOPE Changes","body":null,"created":"1449176765","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:05","changed":"1475894569","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:49","alt":"State Leaders Unveil HOPE Changes","file":{"fid":"192063","name":"1197434236_img_2348_(1).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1197434236_img_2348_%281%29_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1197434236_img_2348_%281%29_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2175427,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/1197434236_img_2348_%281%29_0.jpg?itok=DDzd7nyq"}}},"media_ids":["64662"],"groups":[{"id":"47398","name":"GCR (Office of Government and Community Relations)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"7784","name":"Georgia General Assembly"},{"id":"8300","name":"Georgia Tech Office of Government and Community Relations"},{"id":"3358","name":"Governor"},{"id":"11742","name":"hope scholarship"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorge Ray\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOffice of Government and Community Relations\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:george.ray@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Egeorge.ray@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["george.ray@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}