Immediately upon my election as governor, I learned my first budget would require major cutbacks in state spending. The state faced an $800 million deficit in the general budget and a $300 million shortfall in lottery-funded programs: the HOPE scholarship and Georgia pre-k.
My choice was not between reform and the status quo; my choice was between reform and bankruptcy. When you inherit shortfalls, you have two choices. You can complain and throw your hands up in the air while the situation continues to worsen, or you can roll up your sleeves and begin working toward a fix.
I believe the people of Georgia expect the latter. Members of the General Assembly and I worked together to make the necessary tough decisions to save HOPE for the students today while ensuring that the program survives for the best and brightest of tomorrow.
The necessary changes may come as a surprise to many Georgians, but the numbers no longer add up. When this program began, lottery revenues exceeded expenditures. In 1994, within our University System of Georgia schools, we awarded HOPE scholarships to 9,548 students with an average scholarship of $1,067.
In 2010, more than 88,000 students within the University System received a HOPE scholarship, and the scholarship award amount had increased to $4,467. Within our Technical College System, in 1994, we awarded HOPE grants to 16,378 students with an average grant of $275. In 2010, 137,647 students with an average grant of $1,267.
For the first time in 2010, Georgia was forced to dip into reserves to cover benefits. We now are raiding those same reserves at an alarming rate. With tuition hikes and increased expenditures in all lottery-funded programs, Georgia’s nationally acclaimed HOPE program would have been bankrupt by July 2012.
Gov. Zell Miller made his promise for a college education to every Georgia student starting in 1994. Access to a free college education was a relatively new concept, but within one generation, Georgians have come to depend on and expect this scholarship.
Facing a $300 million shortfall this year, we could not afford to grandfather in current students; the money simply isn’t there.
But through long talks and negotiations, we’ve crafted a new law that stabilizes HOPE and pre-k long into the future — and maintains the most generous benefits in the nation.
But we refused to stop there. The General Assembly and I took an additional step to aid students by funding the One Percent Loan Program.
We’ve allotted $20 million to allow students to borrow money for school at an unheard of interest rate of 1 percent. Furthermore, in our efforts to improve education on all levels, we decided to forgive loans for those students who plan to teach math or science in Georgia classrooms. For those graduates, one year of teaching will forgive one year of loans.
As the son of two educators and a husband to a retired teacher, I have worked to save HOPE for future generations. This program has helped turn our University System into one of the best in the Southeast, with two institutions ranked in the top 20 of public universities in the country.
An investment now will ensure economic prosperity for our state in the future. This legislation will not only provide a way for Georgia to keep our best and brightest students here in the state, but it also will provide financial assistance to students in need, ensuring that financial obstacles don’t stand in the way of a student going to college in Georgia.
The Enduring HOPE legislation garnered bipartisan support because we worked with legislators on both sides of the aisle to accomplish these objectives.
Being a Georgia student has incredible benefits, whether you are a 4-year-old or a college-bound 18-year-old. I firmly believe this law does the greatest amount of good possible for Georgia families with our existing resources.
This plan truly delivers on Gov. Miller’s vision to provide opportunity to all Georgians and to keep our best and brightest right here at home, to study and then to begin their careers. In my estimation, that’s why he endorsed this plan.
Nathan Deal is governor of Georgia.
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