Thousands of students in Georgia’s technical colleges will again be eligible for the HOPE Grant under a bill Gov. Nathan Deal signed Wednesday.
House Bill 372 reinstates the 2.0 grade-point average requirement for students in the Technical College System of Georgia. The lottery-funded award covers most tuition.
Deal signed the bill during the system’s annual leadership conference. Educators applauded the change.
The new rule responds to criticism and concerns that thousands of students lost the award — and dropped out or decided not to enroll — because they were unable to meet the higher 3.0 GPA rule. Lawmakers added the new requirement in 2011 when they overhauled HOPE to prevent it from going broke.
Technical college students are older and many have been out of school for years when they enroll in college. They also tend to work full time and support families while going to school.
Education and business leaders worried that a failure to restore the old rule would make it difficult for industry to hire needed employees.
The law won’t affect the HOPE Scholarship, which requires students to maintain a 3.0. This award is mainly used by students in the University System of Georgia.
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