College-bound Cherokee County students may be impacted by a possible hike in out-of-pocket expenses at Georgia universities this coming fall.
Gov. Nathan Deal on Tuesday announced a plan to make cuts to the state's lottery-funded HOPE scholarship program.
The proposals in HB 236 would cut the tuition scholarship from 100 percent to 90 percent for students who meet the 3.0 grade point average requirement.
A HOPE-qualifying student attending the University of Georgia, for example, under current tuition rates would have to pay $353 per semester to make up the gap.
Students with a 3.7 or higher GPA would qualify for a new scholarship named after former Gov. Zell Miller, who created the HOPE program. That scholarship would cover 100 percent of tuition at state schools.
The changes also would affect students currently attending college on HOPE scholarships and only allow students one chance to recover the scholarship if their grades drop below the requirements.
Cherokee County school board member Janet Read of Towne Lake said the new GPA requirement would affect students' decisions and means to go to college not only in Cherokee, but also across the state.
"For the kids that want to go to college and have worked hard... to have this be another stumbling block is a challenge," she said.
T'Keyah Card, a senior at Sequoyah High School, said she plans to study nursing at either Berry College in Rome or Kennesaw State University this fall.
With a current GPA of 3.0, she said the potential HOPE changes would impact her plans to pay for college.
"For me, I'm just afraid it's not going to cover enough for what I need to get through school," said the 17-year-old daughter of Keith and Kira Purcell of Canton. "I will definitely have to get a part-time job and get student loans ... I search scholarships.com every day."
Even students with a GPA high enough to qualify for the full scholarship might be influenced by these changes.
Dan McNeil, a senior at Etowah High School, has a 4.0 GPA and options for scholarships at in-state and out-of-state schools. He said the HOPE changes will not have a great impact on his decision where to attend, but they are something to consider.
"It's a small factor in should I go to a state school, because what if there are more cuts to the program? That might concern me more," said the 18-year-old son of Scott and Cindy McNeil of Towne Lake.
The proposed legislation, which has bipartisan support, also would change the private college annual awards from $4,000 to $3,600.
Reinhardt University President Dr. J. Thomas Isherwood said students will "feel the difficulty" and "will have to adjust."
Of the 820 undergraduate students at the Waleska school, about 438 receive scholarships from HOPE, he said.
Remedial classes for students who drop below the required GPA will be cut in the proposed changes, but Isherwood said Reinhardt would offer these courses for free to students in the summer.
"The other side of the issue is yes, they lose $400, but the governor is saving $3,600, and I can really appreciate that," Isherwood said. "They have done what they can to protect as much [of the HOPE program] as they can."
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