Georgia HOPE Scholarship Update

There are several bills in the Georgia Legislature which may change the Georgia HOPE Scholarships. HB 159 will place an maximum family income limit of $66,000 for eligibility. House Bill 326 is making it's way through the Georgia Legislature and includes many changes to the Georgia HOPE Scholarship eligibility requirements and awards amounts, which will be cut for the upcoming year. Books and fees won't be covered by the new HOPE.

Going forward, students graduating high school in 2015 and beyond will be required to take advanced courses in math, science, foreign languages or advanced placement in core courses to be eligible for the HOPE. 2015 grads will need two of these courses, 2016 grads need three and 2017 and beyond will need four.

The bill proposes a new Zell Miller Scholarship, which would cover the entire tuition cost for students who meet the eligibility requirements which include a 3.7 GPA and a minimum 1200 SAT score.

New Mexico extends Legislative Lottery Scholarships to include Tribal colleges.

House Bill 92 has passed in the House and has been sent on to the Senate which would allow the Legislative Lottery Scholarships to include students at tribal colleges. Included in the bill would be resident undergraduates attending the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development in Santa Fe, Navajo Technical College in Crownpoint and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque which have been accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

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State Legislatures' College Scholarships Updates

In New Mexico, the House passed a bill which would allow students to take a year off before atending college and still be eligible to apply for the Legislative Lottery Scholarship. Curerntly students need to begin college in September of the year they graduate high school. The legislation would allow up to 16 months for students to begin college. The legislation (HB 62) is currently with the Senate Education Committee.

The Wyoming House passed a bill (HB 13) that would allow students to qualify for each of the four levels of scholarship in the Wyoming Hathaway Scholarship Program without taking any foreign language courses. However, the Senate has amended the bill for the top two levels of scholarship to require at least two years of a foreign language to qualify. The Senate passed an amendment which would also allow for exceptions and waivers for certain small school districts which may not have the funding to offer all the necessary courses.

In Indiana, under Senate Bill 0577, children of military veterans with less than 100% disability would no longer be guaranteed a 100% waiver of college education costs. Children of 100% disabled vets would still qualify for the 100% reduction, but those with 80% or less disability as determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, would receive 20% plus the amount of the disability. So, if a veteran has a 50% disability, his child would be eligible for 20 + 50 = 70% reduction.


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New Federal Budget Could Mean Trouble for College Loans and Grants

When President Obama sends his proposed budget to the Congress on Monday, there could be changes included for Pell Grants and Perkins Loans.

According to cnn.com, the administration is looking to save $100 billion over ten years by making a couple of changes. These changes would first allow only one Pell Grant per year instead of the two now available (one for the regular school year and another for the summer session) and also stopping the subsidy on loan interest for graduate students. Implementing these changes would allow the maximum Pell Grant to be held at the current $5,500.

The Boston Globe reported there is concern over the Perkins Loan program which is set to expire in 2014. Without the program, hundreds of thousands of students would be forced to find alternative funding, which would probably mean higher cost private loans. Hopefully there will be good news about the program when the President's budget hits the hill.

Upcoming Scholarship Deadlines

Buick Achievers Scholarship Application deadline: March 31, 2011. However, students getting their applications in by 11:59 p.m. CT, February 25, 2011 may receive early consideration for five of the Buick Achievers National Scholarships.

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More States Tightening the College Scholarship Belt

Indiana's Twenty-first Century Scholars Program has been helping low and moderate income Indiana students make it through college for more than 20 years now. Students in the 6th through 8th grades who meet the financial need requirement, need to sign up and promise to keep up at least a 2.0 GPA, not use illegal drugs or alcohol, or commit a crime and apply to an eligible Indiana school when it's time for college and they will receive tuition for up to four years of college.

But now the Indiana legislature is thinking about tightening up the standards to save money in an attempt to keep the program going. Over the past several years, the cost has exploded as more students took advantage of the program. This past year they needed to take more than $15 million dollars from other accounts to help pay for the program. Likely changes are moving the GPA requirement from 20.0 to 2.5 and also requiring that the financial need still exists when it's time for college.

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