On opening college education for all who can benefit

[Demsrule86]

27. My niece was forced to drop out of college

This program requires a very high-grade average...most of these kids would get other scholarships which have dried up since this program was implemented. My niece was attempting to work her way through school...paying tuitions which have gone up substantially because of this program. She also had to deal with red-lining by the banks...this was before Obama took student loans away from the banks...she joined the Air Force in order to get an education. This program fails the middle class and poor Georgia students.

"The Wall Street Journal determined that Georgia students from zip codes with median incomes greater than $50,000 were almost three times as likely to win Zell scholarships as those from less affluent areas. The analysis also found that seven zip codes—all in metro Atlanta, all with median incomes over $100,000—produce 10 percent of Zell scholars but only 3 percent of the state’s fifteen-to-nineteen-year-olds.

The GSFC has projected that about 14 percent of HOPE-eligible students qualify for the Zell. So today they account for a relatively modest portion of the budget. But as Zell awards keep pace with tuition, and as HOPE Lite does not, top-tier students will receive more of the limited lottery pie.

Conversely, the gap between tuition and HOPE grows ever wider. According to the GSFC, HOPE now covers about 64 percent of tuition and fees at UGA. In four years, it will cover only 55 percent. For many students, that shortfall makes or breaks their chances at a four-year diploma."

- See more at: http://www.atlantamagazine.com/colleges/hope-scholarship-cons/#sthash.c0sRW7jm.dpuf