www.sampleresume.net

HOPE Scholarship

Article on HOPE Scholarship

The HOPE scholarship is a program that was created in 1993 by Georgia Governor Zell Miller to provide merit based educational scholarships to prospective students living in the state of Georgia. It is funded from the revenue generated in the Georgia Lottery. The scholarships are administered by the Georgia Student Finance Commission. Nearly $8 billion dollars has been awarded to students since the program was created! $216 million dollars are set to be dispersed to students between 2010 and 2011. Because many students would otherwise be unable to afford a college education, this is one scholarship that truly does provide HOPE for students while motivating them to strive for academic excellence.

How the HOPE Scholarship Works for Public Universities

Financial need is not a factor in determining who is eligible for the HOPE scholarship. Because this is a merit-based program it is awarded to students who show exceptional work effort and meet the strict requirements listed below. Though income generally does not exclude a student from this scholarship, in the past those whose family earned an excess of $100,000 per year were generally disqualified. The HOPE scholarship will pay for the entire tuition bill and offers an additional $150 per semester to help pay for textbooks.

How the HOPE Scholarship Works for Private Universities

The type of institution the student will attend affects the amount of money offered in the Scholarship. When attending a private college or university, the HOPE scholarship will provide fulltime students $2,000 per semester or $1,333 per quarter. Part time students would receive $1,000 per semester or $666 per quarter. Whether using the scholarship toward tuition or the cost of living while in college, it has helped a great number of students in the past 17 years.

Eligibility Requirements

There are quite a few strict guidelines that must be met in order for you to be eligible. You must have graduated from a HOPE eligible high school and have earned a minimum of 3.0 on your GPA if you have attended a college preparatory program, for all other types of diplomas you must have a 3.2 GPA. You can also be eligible by completing a home school program with a 3.0 GPA as long as it is recognized by HOPE. You must meet the residency requirements mandated by HOPE in addition to being a US citizen or eligible non-citizen.

Conditions for Disqualification

If you have been convicted of any drug offenses you are ineligible for the HOPE scholarship, so be sure to stay clean! You must also be sure that if you are not in default on any existing student loans. It is vitally important that once you receive the HOPE scholarship to maintain eligibility you must keep your GPA above a 3.0 because this is a merit based scholarship.

The HOPE scholarship is an innovative program for students who want to attend college in Georgia and may otherwise be unable to attend. It is merit-based which means that students who are awarded the scholarship are making every effort to keep their grade point average as high as possible. This is a true scholarship in the sense that students must meet or exceed expectations in academics to qualify. For further information, contact any college campus in the state of Georgia or visit the state’s Department of Education online.