State senate study committee formed to explore ways to fund college tuition

A state senate committee formed to study additional ways to fund college tuition in Georgia holds its first meeting today. The state’s lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship program has been highly successful, covering most or all of college tuition for more than 2.2 million Georgians since its inception in 1993. But Georgia lawmakers are considering expanding state aid to public college and university students beyond the merit-based HOPE program to a need-based scholarship initiative. A key issue shaping the upcoming debate over higher education affordability will be whether the state should focus more on helping deserving high school students who can’t afford college gain access to postsecondary education or on students who are nearing a degree but struggling to pay for the final credits they need to graduate. Another factor lawmakers will have to consider is the cost to Georgia taxpayers of launching a need-based scholarship program. Georgia and New Hampshire are currently the only states that don’t offer a need-based scholarship program in their four-year public colleges and universities.