There are only a few times that a Yellow Jacket and a Bulldog see eye to eye, but we both agree that attending Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, respectively, represents the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Unfortunately, it appears that this dream may be deferred for thousands of Georgia’s college students if our state Legislature fails to act.
During the election season, we heard bluster from both parties promising to finally make the HOPE scholarship sustainable. Nevertheless, as the ideas come forward, we have one adamant reminder: Remember the original purpose of the HOPE scholarship. HOPE exists to make a secondary education accessible to outstanding Georgia students. So, it is surprising to hear proposals that recommend increasing GPA requirements and implementing funding caps, as this would not effectively and permanently resolve the HOPE scholarship’s current weaknesses.
When we considered the options on the table, we immediately knew that despite our differences, we needed to come together to find a solution for HOPE. With that said, the students of Georgia Tech and UGA have several recommendations on how the state can address this problem. We encourage our governor and Legislature to keep these points in mind:
1. The HOPE scholarship currently funds remedial courses, a free pre-k program, a portion of private college and university tuition, and access to a technical school education. We cannot justify that a student enrolled in remedial courses is qualified to receive a merit-based scholarship and we encourage our lawmakers to no longer fund remedial courses through the HOPE program. We also question whether funding a for-profit education was in the original scope of HOPE. And if college students must make concessions, the pre-k program and the technical education system must make equitable concessions as well. We must take a very close look at where every penny of the scholarship is spent and contrast that expense with the original intent of the scholarship. That includes adding a means test to the current pre-k program and placing grade requirements for the HOPE Grant.
2. Revenues from HOPE are solely based on the lottery system. Our lawmakers need to work with the Lottery Corp. to explore alternative revenue sources for the scholarship such as Sunday alcohol sales or video lottery terminals. Studies show that video lottery could increase revenue by nearly 40 percent. That is a significant amount of money.
3. HOPE must always fund 100 percent of tuition. To meet the original intent of the merit scholarship, students who are deserving of HOPE in Georgia should not have to go into debt in order to cover tuition. For many Georgia students who dream of a college education, every dime matters.
As leaders and student representatives from the Student Government Associations of the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech, we recognize that concessions must be made on both sides. Nevertheless, we the college students across the state expect to be engaged in the process. Limiting the total amount awarded to an arbitrary cap disproportionately harms the state’s research universities that have higher tuition rates.
Solving this issue will not be easy, but we did not send our lawmakers to the Capitol to make easy decisions. We sent them to make the right ones. Through the rest of this process, we will advocate for a seat at the table to ensure that the voices of those most affected by these decisions are heard.
Corey T. Boone is student body president at Georgia Tech.
Joshua Delaney is student body president at UGA.
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