Report on the Expenditure of Lottery Funds Fiscal Year 1997

HOPE and Other Scholarship Programs

• Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) and Other Scholarship Programs

• Other HOPE Programs

• HOPE Lottery Expenditures

• HOPE Enrollment by Institution Type

• Post-Secondary Options Program

Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) and Other Scholarship Programs

Scholarship Programs as a Percentage of the FY97 Lottery Budget

The Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) Scholarship Program

The Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) Scholarship Program provides financial assistance to Georgia students who meet eligibility requirements. Eligible students must be enrolled in a degree, diploma, or certificate program at a Georgia public or private college, university, or technical institute. The HOPE scholarship program has four primary components:

1. The Technical Institution Component. It provides every Georgian with the opportunity to work toward a diploma at any public technical institution in Georgia tuition-free.
2. The Public College Scholarship Component. It provides every Georgia high school student who graduates in 1993 or later with a "B" average the opportunity to attend a Georgia public college or university tuition-free.
3. The Private College Tuition Equalization Grant and Scholarship Component. The Tuition Equalization Grant provides Georgia high school graduates who attend a Georgia private college or university with $1,500 per year toward their education costs. The grant is being phased out and will be replaced with the Private College Scholarship. This scholarship provides $3,000 per year toward private college tuition to Georgia high school graduates with a "B" average.
4. The GED Component. Georgia residents who earn an equivalency diploma receive a $500 GED voucher that can be applied to the costs of post-secondary education.

The HOPE scholarship program was created to help Georgia students afford post-secondary education and to keep our most high-achieving students in the state. Governor Zell Miller explained, "It has never been more important for our students to get a college education, but it has never been harder for families to pay for. The Lottery for Education has provided HOPE so Georgia families will be able to give their children the educational opportunities they must have to succeed in the 21^st century." (For more information on the impact of HOPE on public college students, see the Council’s report, Evaluation of the HOPE Scholarship Program, 1996.)

Tables 4-8, respectively, give greater detail about the technical institution component, the public college scholarship component, the private college tuition equalization component, the private college scholarship component, and the GED component. Each of these components has specific eligibility requirements and other guidelines, which are described in the following tables. In addition, the tables show how each of the components has changed from year to year.

Table 4. The Technical Institution Component

A Georgia resident who is accepted into a diploma program at any public technical institute may receive financial assistance regardless of his or her grade point average. The technical institution component of HOPE expanded in FY95 to cover mandatory fees in addition to tuition costs. In the same year students were also given a $100 voucher to defray the cost of books and other necessary supplies. No further changes have been made or are anticipated for FY98.

Georgia high school students who graduated in 1993 or later with a 3.0 average in the college preparatory curriculum or a 3.2 average in other curricula in high school and enter a degree program at a public technical institute may attend tuition-free. HOPE will pay for mandatory fees and provide a book allowance to these students. Beginning in the 1997-98 school year, degree-seeking students at technical institutes who earn a 3.0 grade point average in their freshman year will be eligible for HOPE grants their sophomore year. The grant will cover tuition and mandatory fees and provide a book allowance.

Table 5 describes the most widely known component of the HOPE scholarship program, the public college scholarship program.

Table 5. The Public College Scholarship Component

The HOPE scholarship program provides every Georgia high school student who graduates in 1993 or later and has a "B" or better average with the opportunity to attend a Georgia public college or university tuition-free. Students must maintain a "B" or better average to continue receiving the HOPE scholarship until graduation. Recent changes to the eligibility requirements open the way for older students and students who did not earn a "B" average in high school. These changes are described below.

The public college scholarship component of the HOPE program has expanded eligibility requirements over the last five years. In the first year, the program targeted low to middle income, high-achieving students who attended public college and universities. The second year saw a rise in the household income cap (to $100,000). In addition, to covering tuition, the scholarship also began to pay mandatory fees and provide a book allowance. Furthermore, the program was opened up to all juniors and seniors in college who met the other eligibility requirements.

In the 1995-1996 school year, two significant changes occurred: (1) family income restrictions for HOPE eligibility were removed and (2) students who are already in public college or are returning to public college became eligible for the HOPE scholarship. Students who lose the scholarship their sophomore year due to poor grades may re-enter HOPE if they earn a "B" or better average by the end of their sophomore year. The 1996-1997 eligibility requirements remained the same. In the 1997-1998 school year, students who are already in public college or are returning to public college can become eligible if they have a "B" or better average after 45-quarter hours or 30 semester hours. While Georgia students who were home-schooled in high school may can not receive HOPE their freshman year, they will be reimbursed for public college tuition if they receive a "B" or better average at the end of their freshman year.

Current high school students have already been alerted as to future changes in eligibility requirements. Students entering high school as freshmen in the 1997-1998 school year must earn a "B" or better average in the core academic curriculum to receive the scholarship. The next school year’s high school freshmen class must take an extra mathematics course to be eligible for the scholarship.

Table 6 outlines the requirements of the private college tuition equalization grant. Table 7 describes the private college scholarship component, which will replace the private college tuition equalization grant.

Table 6. The Private College Tuition Equalization Component

The private college tuition equalization grant component of HOPE supplements the Georgia Tuition Equalization Grant of $1,000, which is received by all Georgia residents attending a private college. This grant is being replaced by a HOPE scholarship program for private college students. During the phasing out of this grant program, only students who received the HOPE scholarship before the new rules may be eligible for continued financial assistance from HOPE. These students must have attended private college for at least one school term between summer 1995 and summer 1996. They are eligible for financial assistance from HOPE through spring 1999.

Table 7. The Private College Scholarship Component

The 1996-1997 school year marks the first year that students who receive the HOPE scholarship for private college must meet the same requirements as the HOPE recipients in public colleges. All students must earn a "B" or better grade point average in high school. To continue to receive the award, they must earn a "B" or better GPA in college. High school students graduating in the year 2000 or after must earn a "B" or better average in the core academic classes.

Table 8 details the GED component of the HOPE scholarship program.

Table 8. The GED Component

Georgia residents who pass the GED examination receive a $500 voucher that may be used for education-related purposes. These purposes include tuition, books, supplies and other expenses related to the furtherance of the resident’s post-secondary education.

Other HOPE Programs

Four programs have been added to the HOPE scholarship since its inception. These programs are more narrowly focused than the HOPE scholarship components detailed above.

The HOPE Teacher Scholarship Program. Teachers who are obtaining advanced degrees in teaching areas with a shortage of prospective teachers are eligible for this program. The program provides loans that are forgiven after four years of teaching in Georgia public schools. In fiscal year 1997, 2,273 students received the HOPE teacher scholarship, at a total cost of $5.1 million. Ten million dollars was appropriated to this scholarship program.

The HOPE Promise Teacher Scholarship Program. College juniors who desire to become teachers and have a 3.6 or higher GPA are eligible for this program. The program provides annual loans of $3,000 that are forgiven after four years of teaching in Georgia public schools. It aims to attract high achievers into the teaching profession. In fiscal year 1997, 327 prospective teachers earned this scholarship, amounting to about $934,000. In the same year, the legislature appropriated $2 million to this program.

Georgia Military College Scholarship Program. Forty-five Georgia Military College students received this military scholarship in FY97. Eligible students received a low interest loan, which is forgivable with military service. In FY97, $567,000 was appropriated to this scholarship program, of which $416,150 was spent.

Law Enforcement Personnel Dependents Scholarship Program. This program, formerly the Law Enforcement Personnel Dependents Scholarship Program, provides full scholarships to children whose parent was employed as a public safety officer and was killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. Thirty-two students received this scholarship in FY97, at a cost of nearly $153,000. In FY97, $235,600 was appropriated to this scholarship program.

HOPE Lottery Expenditures

The following figure illustrates the change in expenditure for the main four components of the HOPE scholarship program: (1) public college scholarships, (2) private college grants and scholarships, (3) technical institute grants, and (4) GED vouchers. Two of the components, public college scholarships and technical institute grants, have experienced consistent growth since inception. The increase in the amount of expenditures for the public college scholarships is due to the expanded eligibility requirements. While eligibility requirements have not changed for the technical institute grant program, some of the increase in expenditures is due to the expansion of what the grant will cover. Previously, the grant covered only tuition; now the grant covers tuition and mandatory fees and provides a book allowance. Some of the growth is probably due to students staying in state, rather than going to school out-of-state. Furthermore, the programs are increasing access to post-secondary education through the financial assistance.

The expenditures on private college grants and scholarship has decreased, as eligibility requirements have become more stringent. Expenditures on the GED voucher program have remained stable over time.

Figure 3. HOPE Expenditures by Component, Fiscal Years 1994 – 1997

The number of students participating in each of the programs corresponds to the amount of expenditures. All programs, except the private college grants and scholarship program, have shown an increase in the number of students participating. Figure 4 illustrates the number of students in each of the programs over the past four years.

Figure 4. Students Participating in HOPE Programs, Fiscal Years 1994-1997

HOPE Enrollment by Institution Type

Tables 9-18 show HOPE recipients and expenditures by institution type for fiscal years 1994-1997. Tables 19-22 show HOPE recipients and expenditures for the private college scholarship in fiscal year 1997 only since this is a new program.

Table 9. HOPE Revenue at Technical Institutions, Fiscal Years 1995-1997

^† Formerly Ben Hill-Irwin Technical Institute

 

Table 10. HOPE Students at Technical Institutions, Fiscal Years 1995-1997

^† Formerly Ben Hill-Irwin Technical Institute

Table 11. HOPE Revenue at Two-Year Public Colleges, Fiscal Years 1995-1997

^‡ Formerly Brunswick College

Table 12. HOPE Students at Two-Year Public Colleges, Fiscal Years 1995-1997

^‡ Formerly Brunswick College

Table 13. HOPE Revenue at Four-Year Public Colleges and Universities, Fiscal Years 1995-1997

Table 14. HOPE Students at Four-Year Public Colleges and Universities, Fiscal Years 1995-1997

Table 15. HOPE Grant Revenue at Two-Year Private Colleges, Fiscal Years 1995-1997

Table 16. HOPE Grant Recipients at Two-Year Private Colleges, Fiscal Years 1995-1997

Table 17. HOPE Grant Revenue at Four-Year Private Colleges, Fiscal Years 1995-1997