State Aid Programs

HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) is a lottery-funded program that provides financial assistance to eligible in-state students attending Georgia institutions of higher learning. Students do not have to be classified as full-time students to receive HOPE benefits.

Students must be United States citizens or eligible non-citizens for 12 consecutive months immediately prior to the first day of classes of the academic term for which HOPE benefits are sought. Full-time employees of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), their spouses, and their dependents are not exempt from this requirement.

Students who meet the Georgia residency requirements of the Technical College System of Georgia at the time they graduate from high school, complete home study programs, or successfully pass the GED must also meet the Georgia residency requirements for 12 consecutive months immediately prior to the first day of classes of the academic term for which HOPE benefits are sought.

Students who do not meet the Georgia residency requirements of the Technical College System of Georgia at the time they graduate from high school, complete home study programs, or successfully pass the GED must meet the Georgia residency requirements for 24 consecutive months immediately prior to the first day of classes of the academic term for which HOPE benefits are sought.

Military personnel on active duty and stationed in Georgia or who list Georgia as their home of record shall be treated as Georgia residents for purposes of HOPE eligibility. This status also applies to the military spouses and dependent children of the military personnel on active duty and stationed in Georgia or who list Georgia as their home of record.

Students who were correctly determined to have met the Georgia residency requirements of the Technical College System of Georgia for purposes of HOPE eligibility and who began receiving HOPE benefits must continue to meet the Georgia residency requirements in order to remain eligible to receive HOPE benefits. Students who have a break in enrollment for two or more consecutive semesters and reside outside of Georgia for 12 or more consecutive months must re-establish Georgia residency for 12 consecutive months before regaining eligibility to receive HOPE benefits.

Students who have a break in enrollment for two or more consecutive semesters and who reside outside Georgia for less than 12 consecutive months will continue to meet the Georgia residency requirements provided they re-enroll in classes within 12 consecutive months from their most recent date of enrollment.

Students who earned the GED credential from the Technical College System of Georgia receive a $500 voucher they can apply toward the cost of education. Students may use this voucher anytime within 24 consecutive months immediately following the date the Technical College System of Georgia issues the HOPE GED voucher to students. Students who received the $500 voucher and later earn the HOPE Scholarship may have to return the voucher to the Georgia Student Finance Commission.

Students (except HOPE-GED recipients) must maintain satisfactory academic progress in order to remain eligible to receive HOPE benefits. HOPE and Zell Grant/Scholarship regulations do not require students who attend public institutions such as Athens Technical College to enroll full time to receive financial assistance.

Students must be in compliance with the United States Selective Service System requirements prior to the financial aid application deadline as indicated in the Academic Calendar in order to be eligible to receive HOPE benefits.

Students will not be eligible to receive HOPE benefits if they are in default on federal Title IV or State of Georgia educational loans, owe refunds on federal Title IV or State of Georgia student financial aid programs, or are in violation of federal Title IV regulations or State of Georgia student financial aid program regulations.

Students who have repaid defaulted loans, repaid refunds, or resolved default statuses may be eligible to receive HOPE benefits beginning with the academic term in which the repayments were made. Students may resolve their default status by satisfying one of the following means:

• Completing an acceptable rehabilitation plan.
• Having the loan repurchased by the original lender and the default status reversed.
• Consolidating the loan in order to remove it from default.
• Receiving an approved Title IV debt settlement, including a compromised settlement.

In accordance with the Georgia Drug-Free Postsecondary Education Act of 1990, O.C.G.A. §20-1-24, students convicted for committing certain felony offenses involving marijuana, controlled substances, or dangerous drugs are ineligible to receive HOPE benefits from the date of conviction to the completion of the following academic term.

Students are ineligible to receive HOPE benefits while incarcerated. Upon release from prison, they may begin receiving HOPE benefits if they meet all eligibility requirements.