House votes to expand HOPE grant for technical college students

Georgia’s House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would pay full tuition for the state’s highest achieving technical college students.

House Bill 697, sponsored by Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Smyrna, would create a Zell Miller Grant Scholar designation for tech students earning at least a 3.5 grade-point average.

The legislation is part of Gov. Nathan Deal’s plan to expand the HOPE grant program, but it differs from Evans’ initial proposal that would have paid full tuition for all HOPE grant recipients, which requires at least a 2.0 GPA.

The grant expansion is expected to cover about 20 percent of students, or 16,000, currently enrolled in the state’s technical college system.

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