An effort to make more technical college students eligible for the HOPE grant was overwhelmingly approved by House lawmakers. It passed by a 169-1 vote to applause by legislators.

House Bill 372, which has the blessing of Gov. Nathan Deal, would change the eligibility requirement to a 2.0 grade-point average. That’s down from the current rule of 3.0 and a return to what existed before lawmakers overhauled HOPE in 2011 to prevent it from going broke.

Nearly 9,000 students lost the grant last year because they couldn’t maintain a 3.0 average.

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Inventor Lonnie Johnson stands with his Super Soaker water guns at JTEC Energy on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. Johnson, a former NASA engineer, is currently working on a new energy technology through his company’s JTEC device that turns thermal heat into usable energy. (Natrice Miller/AJC)