HOPE changes turn up heat on some tech students
By Erika Capek; The Brunswick News: Some Altamaha Technical College students who depend on HOPE grants to cover tuition may have to work harder beginning this fall.
For the first time, students at the state’s technical schools will have to maintain at least a B average, just like their counterparts in college.
It’s one of the changes made to the lottery-funded program that Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law last week to keep the HOPE fund solvent.
The HOPE scholarship has always been merit-based for students receiving a college degree. The HOPE grant, designed as an economic development engine, is not merit based and has been awarded to students in certificate and diploma programs at technical schools.
The change on technical school students will be felt, predicts Lorette Hoover, president of Altamaha Technical College.
“The HOPE grant was specifically designed to help them get quick training ... and get back into the workforce,” Hoover said. “Changing it to merit-based is going to be difficult for our students.”
The change will affect about 1,400 students in the Altamaha Technical College system, officials said. Of that number, 341 attend the technical school at Golden Isles Career Academy, 4404 Glynco Parkway.
Altamaha Technical College has campuses, in addition to Glynn County, in Jesup, Baxley, Hazlehurst and Camden County.
While some technical students receive the HOPE scholarship, depending on the program they are in, the majority have been eligible only for the grant.
Changes passed by the Georgia General Assembly also narrow the pool of students eligible for the full HOPE scholarship by raising the grade point average from 3.0 to 3.7. Students must also earn a 1200 on the SAT.
The scholarship will cover 90 percent of tuition for eligible students who have a 3.0.
There’s another change that will affect technical school students. Those with a college bachelor’s degree will not be eligible for the grant to attend a technical
college.
Hoover said a small percentage of HOPE recipients are enrolled in technical schools. Of the total number of students receiving HOPE tuition benefits in Georgia, 52 percent receive the grant while 48 percent receive the scholarship.
When it comes to HOPE funds, only 23 percent of the pie goes to the grant, Hoover said.
“We’re serving the majority of citizens in Georgia using the least amount of funds,” Hoover said.
She said Altamaha Technical College is doing as much as possible to reduce the burden on students.
Students can apply for additional scholarships to help cover costs.
Deal overhauled the program because it could not keep pace with rising college tuition and enrollment and was set to go broke.
Altamaha Technical College President Lorette Hoover, left, and Vice President for Student Affairs Karla Eubanks discuss the HOPE grant in a culinary class at Golden Isles Career Academy.
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