University of Georgia President Jere Morehead outlined plans Wednesday for a needs-based scholarship initiative and an academic task force.
The Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program will create 400 to 600 needs-based scholarships, some of which will begin in the 2017-18 school year. To fund this, the UGA Foundation will match any $50,000, $75,000 or $100,000 gift. The size of the scholarship award will increase over time as the endowment grows.
“Scholarships are life-changing,” said Morehead in the annual state of the university address. “They remove barriers and open doors. They create for our students and their families pathways to futures that would otherwise be unreachable.”
The scholarship program was kick-started by a $30 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, the largest single gift in the university’s history.
The HOPE scholarship program offers merit-based scholarships statewide, but there is no needs-based equivalent, leaving universities to pick up the slack. Georgia Tech currently leads the state in offering university-funded scholarships based on financial need. It has provided scholarships to more than 800 students since 2007, including 153 last year.
The Georgia General Assembly commissioned an independent study of college affordability after a 2016 state auditor's review showed the cost of attending a state college or university has risen 77 percent in the past 10 years. Over the same period, average awards from HOPE scholarships decreased $1,087 each year.
State Sen. Fran Millar, R-Atlanta, chairman of the Committee on Higher Education, said state legislation creating needs-based scholarships is unlikely this session, as the Assembly awaits the findings of the affordability study. He also noted that Georgia has kept education affordable despite increasing costs.
“If you look at Georgia, we are a real bargain compared to our peer group,” Millar said.
The National Center for Education Statistics estimates the average total cost of attending UGA for an in-state student after receiving financial aid is $13,280 per year. That estimate includes the cost of housing, food and textbooks. UGA's average cost is approximately $5,000 less than Ohio State University and $1,000 less than the University of Florida, universities that UGA recognizes as peer institutions.
Legislation sponsored by state Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, and state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, would create two gaming resorts, the proceeds of which would fund scholarship programs. The resorts would be taxed at 20 percent, and 70 percent of the proceeds would fund HOPE scholarships while 30 percent would fund needs-based scholarships.
Later in the address, Morehead discussed the President’s Task Force on Student Learning and Success, which will be charged with finding ways to raise the academic level of the university. The task force will build on recent successes, including the fourth consecutive most academically qualified class of first-year students in UGA’s history, an all-time high four-year graduation rate of 66 percent and a record tying 85 percent six-year graduation rate.
UGA serves more than 36,000 students and estimates its economic impact in the state to be $5.25 billion.
“The state of the university is strong and growing stronger,” said Morehead. “That I can say with confidence.”
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