- Collection:
- Georgia Government Publications
- Serial:
- Press release.
- Title:
- Press release [Nov. 13, 2003C]
- Creator:
- Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Contributor to Resource:
- Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Date of Original:
- 2003-11-13
- Subject:
- Georgia
- Location:
- United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
- Medium:
- publications (documents)
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- Open access; Unrestricted online access star GAGAL
July 29, 2002B; title from Georgia Government Publications citation, viewed September 19, 2007. - External Identifiers:
- Call Number GA L412 .P1 P7 2003/11-13C
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2003-s11-h13c-belec-p-btext
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2003-s11-h13c-belec-p-btext
- Language:
- eng
- Holding Institution:
- University of Georgia. Map and Government Information Library
- Rights:
-
11-1893-5046
Georgia House of Representatives Public Information Office
Room 131, State Capitol 30334 404-656-5082 1-800-282-5800
November 13, 2003
For Immediate Release
McBee Concludes Probe into HOPE Scholarship Program
Goal is to Keep Program Solvent in the Face of Rising Costs
Atlanta Representative Louise McBee (D-Athens) presided over the fifth, and final meeting of in a series of fact finding hearings for the Joint House and Senate HOPE Scholarship Study Committee. The committee has been conducting a study of the conditions, needs, and issues related to the HOPE Scholarship's economic viability. They will use this information to make recommendations to the General Assembly on how best to preserve this highly successful program.
"During the course of the last few months we have examined virtually every aspect of the program, and gathered every piece of information possible," said Rep. McBee. "Protecting the HOPE scholarship for future generations is such an important issue for Georgia and its citizens that we definitely want to make the most informed decision possible."
The HOPE Scholarship, which is funded entirely by lottery proceeds, pays for tuition, books and other fees for Georgia students who graduate with a `core curriculum' course average of at least a `B' and maintain those grades throughout college. More than 675,000 students have received the HOPE Scholarship since 1993 at a cost of $1.8 billion.
However, analysis shows that unless some action is taken to reduce HOPE costs, the scholarship could run a deficit as early as FY 2006, and would be unable to meet its financial obligations by FY 2007.
Today's hearings marked the end of the fact finding phase, and commission members were
surveyed on the actions they were likely to recommend to the General Assembly during the 2004
session. Among the recommendations considered were:
<
placing a credit-hour cap on the number of hours a student is eligible for HOPE
<
excluding persons with a bachelor's degree from receiving the HOPE grant
<
eliminating book and fee payments
<
standardizing the grade point average requirement statewide at 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
<
standardizing in-state eligibility requirements for all HOPE recipients
The University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute on Government will now compile a draft report of all the prospective recommendations, and the committee will meet on December 18, 2003 to polish the draft into a finalized report of committee recommendations.
# # # For further information please contact Rep. McBee at 404-656-5069.