H.O.P.E for the Future?

Since its inception in 1993, Georgia's HOPE Scholarship fund has provided nearly 3.5 billion of dollars of aid to exceptional students. Through the years, the overall distribution of scholarship money has risen exponentially. In the 1993-1994 school year, 42,797 recipients throughout the state received $21.4 million to pay for University expenses. In the '98-'99 school year 141,105 students were awarded $189.0 million. Just last year (2008-2009), 212,940 students were awarded $486.8 million. Do you see where I'm going with this?

Where does this money come from? Well, in a nut-shell, the Georgia Lottery writes the checks. See, you buy your tic

kets; you lose, more than likely, and the money spent gets pooled with everyone else's in a separate stash for the HOPE scholarship fund.

Easy money you say? If you ask me, not really. Students coming out of high school are required to graduate with a 3.0 grade point average for college preparatory and a 3.2 grade point average for other degree types. Students must then maintain a 3.0 or above g.p.a in college to keep the scholarship.

But like all good things there's always a catch. in this case it comes in the form of dollar amounts. The scholarship is designed for students not to slack and maintain an above average grade point average to get money, but the transition from high school to college in terms of difficulty is leaps and bounds. I personally know plenty of students w

ho started their college careers with the HOPE scholarship, who're now working to pay their way through or relying on federal loans to provide the means to pay for school.

With the state suffering from financial woes as of late, how will this effect the overall distribution of scholarship money? There were state legislative talks in 2005 for raising the requirements to qualify after Georgia ranked 50th in average SAT scores...ouch...Fortunately enough, the tightening of the belt didn't happen and lives were spa

red (lol).

Last May, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed a bill that passed as law allowing students of military parents an easier transitions into the state's university system. Pretty much they have clearance to begin school before nearly any paper work gets processed...fair to those struggling to make ends meet with HOPE, what about those with out it? A second bill passed gives military dependents the same rights as life long Georgia residents when it comes to receiving the HOPE scholarship.