Half of Students Who Lost Georgia HOPE Grant Do Not Re-Enroll
Tuesday, October 29th, 2013
More than 11,000 Georgians lost HOPE grants to attend state technical colleges when the state Legislature imposed tougher academic requirements in 2011, and more than half have not re-enrolled in school as of this fall, according to Technical College System of Georgia statistics.
As a way of curbing the costs of the lottery-funded HOPE program, state lawmakers in 2011 raised the minimum GPA students had to keep in their first year from 2.0 to 3.0.
As a result of the cost-saving measure, 11,471 students in the system’s 24 technical colleges lost their HOPE grants.
Last year, with lottery revenues up, Gov. Nathan Deal and lawmakers reversed field, restoring the minimum GPA to 2.0 for students this fall.
Of the 11,471 people who lost their HOPE grants last year, 3,286 have their grants renewed and are enrolled this fall in Georgia public technical colleges, system officials have announced.
