Georgia’s Hope Scholarship is available to Georgia residents who have shown academic quality. The scholarship provides funds to assist students with a portion of the tuition cost at a Hope Scholarship-eligible college or university. Let’s dive in!
Hope Scholarship Review
Hope Scholarship is a merit-based award open to Georgia residents who have demonstrated academic achievement.
To be eligible for the Hope Scholarship, a recipient must earn a minimum 3.00 grade point average (as determined by GSFC) upon high school graduation and continue to maintain a minimum 3.00 cumulative grade point average in postsecondary education.
Students seeking an undergraduate degree at a Georgia college or university that is eligible for the Hope program are eligible for tuition help through this program.
Students who receive the Hope Scholarship for the first time after the summer term (FY20) or later are limited to ten years. For students who receive the Hope Scholarship for the first time, there is a seven-year limit.
Once a student reaches the 127-semester or 190-quarter-hour limit, they are no longer eligible to receive monies from the Hope Scholarship.
Eligibility Criteria
In order to be granted the Hope Scholarship program, students must first fulfill the basic eligibility requirements after graduating from high school and continue to be eligible while enrolled in an approved college or university (postsecondary institution). Every eligible student must:
- Meet the conditions for non-citizenship or U.S. citizenship;
- Fulfill the Georgia residency criteria for postsecondary schools;
- Be enrolled in a Georgian USG, TCSG, or qualified private hope-eligible institution or university as a degree-seeking student;
- Satisfy Georgia state law’s requirements for federal selective service registration. Males who were born on or after January 1, 1960, who are at least 18 years old, who are citizens, or who are eligible non-citizens who arrived in the country before the age of 26 are required to register;
- Fulfill the satisfactory academic progress (sap) requirements of the eligible postsecondary institution;
- Maintain excellent credit on all student loans and other financial assistance schemes;
- Abide by the Georgia Drug-Free Postsecondary Education Act of 1990.
It should be noted that students cannot be in arrears on any state or federal student loans, grants, or scholarships in Georgia.
Before being eligible for the Hope Scholarship, a student must repay any federal or State of Georgia student loans that have fallen into default in full or get their default status cleared.
In order to be eligible for a State of Georgia grant or scholarship, students cannot be in debt. Before one’s eligibility for the Hope Scholarship can be ascertained, the entire refund amount must be paid.
Student Document Upload
Students with an active GAfutures account can upload documents for the state financial aid programs the Georgia Student Finance Commission manages.
- Save your document(s) as one electronic file.
- Log in to your GAfutures account (create one if you don’t have one)
- Choose Document Upload, located on the left-hand side of the page.
- Pick the appropriate document type.
- Attach your document file and choose the submit button (acceptable file types: pdf, jpg, jpeg, png, bmp, tif, and tiff).
Graduates from out-of-state high schools or unaccredited home study programs can submit their academic evaluation records as a single electronic file by using the Student Document Upload option.
Documents that are uploaded are examined in the order that they are received. A review takes seven to ten business days on average. You will receive an email if more information is required. Give yourself ten to fifteen working days to complete any transcripts or academic evaluations.
The same document should not be submitted more than once. It won’t shorten the time it takes to review and process your document(s).
Award Amounts for the Hope Scholarship
To find out how much you will be awarded, please study the Zell Miller and Hope Award amounts.
A Hope Scholarship award amount is given to students who satisfy all eligibility requirements and are enrolled full-time or part-time in an eligible public college or university.
The award amount can be applied toward standard undergraduate tuition, up to a maximum of 15 hours, for the specific number of hours enrolled.
A Hope Scholarship award amount is given to students who satisfy all eligibility conditions and are enrolled full- or part-time at an approved private college or university.
The award amount can be utilized toward ordinary undergraduate tuition, up to a maximum of 12 hours.