Financial Aid for High School Students
The Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC) administers the ACCEL program to provide high school juniors and seniors at eligible Georgia public and private high schools the opportunity to take certain courses from postsecondary institutions that count for both high school graduation credit and perhaps credit toward a college degree.
To be eligible for ACCEL funds, high school students must enroll in associate degree-level courses approved by the Georgia Department of Education in the areas of the core graduation requirements for college preparatory students (English, mathematics, social studies, and science) (see ACCEL Program Admission). Georgia residency and U.S. citizenship requirements for HOPE program eligibility apply to ACCEL award eligibility. ACCEL applicants must be in compliance with Selective Service registration requirements as well.
Degree-level college credits attempted by students while in high school will not be included in the semester hours used to determine when students have reached the maximum number of hours for which they can receive payment from any combination of HOPE Scholarship, HOPE Grant, and ACCEL programs provided the students met the academic requirements to be a HOPE Scholar when they graduated from high school and the student's college accepts those credits. The attempted hours will be included in the hours used to determine the maximum hours for which they can receive HOPE benefits if ACCEL students did not meet the requirements to be a HOPE Scholar when they graduated from high school and were, therefore, ineligible to receive the HOPE Scholarship as entering first-year students.
High school students should carefully consider whether to participate in the ACCEL program in that the GSFC will apply the credit hours for which students receive ACCEL payments toward the maximum number of credit hours of payment they can receive from the HOPE scholarship after they graduate from high school because they have the risk of not meeting the requirements to be a HOPE scholar. High school students and their parents, high school counselors or principals, and postsecondary institution officials should be confident that it is in the best interest of students to participate in the ACCEL program.
The Dual Enrollment-HOPE program offers additional educational opportunities for motivated high school students to earn technical college credit as they meet their high school graduation requirements. Dual Enrollment-HOPE will cover tuition according to the year's factor rate for the coursework required by their programs of study. The factor rate is set each year by the Georgia General Assembly. Dual Enrollment-HOPE does not cover required fees, nor provide students with a book allowance.
If they meet all other requirements, high school students who are simultaneously seeking technical certificates or diploma programs of study at eligible public postsecondary institutions are eligible for the HOPE Grant (see Dual Enrollment-HOPE Admission). The credit hours attempted by Dual Enrollment-HOPE students while in high school are not used to determine when students have reached the maximum number of hours for which they can receive payment from any combination of the HOPE Grant and HOPE Scholarship programs.
The credit hours attempted by Joint Enrollment students while in high school are used to determine the maximum hours for which they can receive HOPE Benefits (see Joint Enrollment Admission).