Hope in trouble again. (Valdosta: health insurance, student loans, high school)

[MathmanMathman]

Hope is in trouble once more.

HOPE’s future may be more dire *| ajc.com

Seems that the new Zell Miller scholarship has 5,000 more qualifiers than anticipated. The Zell Miller scholarship, according to the AJC, is the one which pays full tuition. But does it covers other expenses such as fees?

And the Zell Miller scholarship is concentrating the beneficiaries at just two schools, UGA and Georgia Tech. This has resulted in 70% of Zell Miller scholars picking either UGA or GT. But that's no surprise. I could have told them that beforehand when the requirements are a 1200 SAT and 3.7 GPA. The possible effect of this is while the Zell Miller scholars get the full cost coverage, the other Hope recipients will have their awards reduced.

I'm not sure but I got the impression that a lot if the ideas of this new Hope plan came from students at Georgia Tech? Possible new solutions are to instead give the Zell Miller scholarship to the top 3% from each high school and reinstate the income cap. Instead of a cap, I think it should be a sliding scale. And if this goes through, this might make schools like Walton less popular. Making the top 3% at Walton would be tough.

[SW30303]

I don't know the answer to your question about Tech students and what Hope currently covers.

Overall, I think the Hope scholarship is a good idea despite some of its problems, but as with everything else, government programs tend to cost more money than originally projected. Most of these students will have to take out some student loans to cover the additional cost. If they cannot take out loans, then some current students will need to "downgrade" to a community college and/or apply for other scholarships to fill in the gaps. Some may have to drop out and work and return later, which is harder to do in many cases. I think some of this is the sign of economic times: declining state revenue and continued higher costs.

[AcidSnake]

To think this scholarship was once conceived as a program for families making $66,000 or under. Now because of scope creep, the need for HOPE outpaces the ability for the scholarship to fulfill that need.

Oy vey.

[aries4118]

More on this...

Most kids could get less HOPE so a few can get more. Seems unfair to me. | Get Schooled

[ATLTJL]

This may be a stupid question.....

But instead of making set rules about who gets the scholarship and who doesn't, why don't they just make it like most other scholarships where everyone has to apply? Then a board can review a mix of grades, test scores, extracurricular activities, need, etc. You know, not unlike getting into college itself.

That way, qualifications required to receive the scholarship naturally fluctuate up and down with how strong or weak competing applications are.

I'm sure it would be a major undertaking, but institutions like UGA seem to be able to manage their huge pile of applications every year.

You can set ground rules on how you have to perform in college to keep the scholarship, but why not make students compete against each other instead of a concrete list of requirements in order to receive the scholarship in the first place? They should at least have to write an essay.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by SW30303

I don't know the answer to your question about Tech students and what Hope currently covers.

I just seem to remember that Georgia Tech students approached the state with a plan very much like what we have now. It struck me that it favored Georgia Tech (and even UGA) students as the full ride scholarship requires at least a 1200 SAT. A 3.7 GPA is even easier than when I was in school because I think you can earn better than a 4.0 for some classes. An SAT of 1200 is about UGA's average and Georgia Tech's is well over 1300. It would seem to favor GT but holding a 3.3 at GT is harder than it sounds.

[testa50]

imo we should really find some alternate funding sources (ie casino gambling). HOPE is not only vital for the students who depend on it (although getting even half of tuition covered is a sweeter deal than you get in most states), but we need to keep it enticing high-performing students to attend GT and UGA. Those universities are already at the level where they are major job creators, and having the HOPE scholarship over the past two decades has been a big part of this.

Every year, the relative value of UGA and GT (as well as GSU) is increasing against their peer institutions. We absolutely need that trend to continue, and keeping HOPE strong is the most obvious way of doing so.

[lastminutemom]

Tech students had some influence on some of the minute details, but the big picture came from Deal.

Many, many Tech students, who are eligible for the Zell Miller aren't getting the full amount because it requires a minimum of 15 hours and many Tech students take 12-14 hours because of the difficulty of the course load.

I don't have a simple answer for this. I would really like it to go back to means tested. (income requirements)

Many upper middle class families are using it, most of whom could afford the instate tuition at Tech/UGA/ etc. (about 8,000 -9,000 dollars a year with fees not including room and board which HOPE doesn't cover)
In state tuition at GA colleges is still cheaper than any other out of state options barring big grants or scholarships that the vast majority of students won't get.

I know many parents convince their kids to stay in state use HOPE and as an incentive offer a car, nicer clothes etc.

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by testa50

imo we should really find some alternate funding sources (ie casino gambling). HOPE is not only vital for the students who depend on it (although getting even half of tuition covered is a sweeter deal than you get in most states), but we need to keep it enticing high-performing students to attend GT and UGA. Those universities are already at the level where they are major job creators, and having the HOPE scholarship over the past two decades has been a big part of this.

Every year, the relative value of UGA and GT (as well as GSU) is increasing against their peer institutions. We absolutely need that trend to continue, and keeping HOPE strong is the most obvious way of doing so.

In this economy and given the relative bargain that UGA and GT are in terms of tuition for in-state students, if HOPE disappeared tomorrow, I don't think that many families would change their desire for the children to stay in state. Remember that most of these families would not be eligible for need based aide at most colleges and merit money is hard to find in amounts to bring down tuition costs to UGA and GT.

In addition, HOPE has failed to improve the standings of second and third tier schools at nearly the same rate as UGA and GT have improved. This is probably because parents who can afford it opt for higher rated state flagships in surrounding states like Alabama and TN over schools like Georgia Southern, Valdosta, etc.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by testa50

imo we should really find some alternate funding sources (ie casino gambling). HOPE is not only vital for the students who depend on it (although getting even half of tuition covered is a sweeter deal than you get in most states), but we need to keep it enticing high-performing students to attend GT and UGA. Those universities are already at the level where they are major job creators, and having the HOPE scholarship over the past two decades has been a big part of this.

Every year, the relative value of UGA and GT (as well as GSU) is increasing against their peer institutions. We absolutely need that trend to continue, and keeping HOPE strong is the most obvious way of doing so.

Until recently, HOPE also was the cause of out-of-control fee increases. HOPE doesn't cover any new fees now but before, schools could add on fees and HOPE would dutifully cover them. College costs have been rising faster than the rate of inflation and HOPE just makes the increases that much more palatable. Sort of like what health insurance has done to medical costs. If however you say to your doctor that you are paying out of your own pocket, chances are good that you'll get a substantial discount.

I think the university system is bloated and could go on a strict diet and would be just as good if not better.