Gov. Kemp Announces Plan to Fully Fund HOPE Scholarship

GEORGIA (WDEF) – $61.5 million dollars of Governor Kemp’s budget proposal will be dedicated to revamping the Georgia HOPE Scholarship.

For the past decade, the HOPE scholarship has only covered around 60% of a student’s college tuition.

Through Kemp’s proposal, students will receive even more help.

Kemp said students “will receive roughly $1,000 in additional financial assistance in the coming school year.”

Georgia Governor Zell Miller created the HOPE scholarship in 1993.

It originally covered 100% of tuition for students.

However, in 2011, legislators cut back on the grants funding due to lower lottery revenues, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

The cut resulted in loss of full tuition coverage for students.

“That is why, for the first time in over a decade, and in the 30th year of this program and the Georgia Lottery, we are once again fulfilling Governor Zell Miller’s vision and returning the Hope Scholarships and grants awards to 100% of tuition,” Kemp said.

According to Governor Kemp’s office, the HOPE scholarship has helped over 2 million Georgia students so far.

However, Governor Kemp’s plan is not a forever fix.

Unless legislators revise the series of cuts signed in 2011, funding could be cut again in the future.